Coach

I coached an athletic team once.  I was drafted to coach a community soccer team for 7 and 8 year olds in the introductory year of a youth soccer program.   Never played soccer myself.  Thankfully, neither had my players.  So, we learned together.  It was like herding cats.

In recent years I have had the opportunity to coach again, but this time not in sports.  This time I’m coaching life.

I work with a group of ten sophomores at Lake Forest High School.   I have been working with them monthly since they were in seventh grade.   They are a high energy group with lots to say.  The school provides me with the monthly lesson.  Over the years we have addressed setting goals and making commitments.  We have had lessons on careers and decision making.  We have had lessons on interpersonal skills and communication and college choices and SAT scores.  We have had a lot of fun.

I not only look forward to our monthly gatherings – I look forward to running into my kids when I visit the high school.  We’ve gotten close over the last 4 years.  It has been a joy to watch them grow. 

I also coach a group of 14 seventh graders at W.T.Chipman.  We have been together for two years.   Seventh graders challenge my patience in ways that sophomores don’t.  But, I love them all the same and look forward to spending time with them as well as seeing them outside of our coaching sessions. 

Dr. Joe Murphy of Vanderbilt University does a lot of work with Delaware administrators.  He tells us that students will be more successful in a culture “ where they are known, cared for, supported, respected, feel they have ownership and membership and an opportunity to participate, be recognized and exercise leadership.”

That’s what we try to establish through our coaching program.  I’m glad I agreed to participate.  The rewards for me have been greater I’m afraid than the rewards to the kids.  They have blessed me with their optimism and energy.  They have kept my feet on the ground.