From a Coach's Perspective
Summer is coming to an end, which means the once quiet halls of schools are beginning to be filled with faculty and staff getting ready for the upcoming school year.
http://goaustinhighathletics.com/
Most students are still enjoying their last few weeks of summer, student-athletes; however, are beginning to prepare for their upcoming seasons. If you take a look at the high school football fields across the state of Texas, you will see a group of boys out there, running, throwing, and catching in the 100 degree Texas heat.
But why would a 17-year-old boy trade sleeping in and laying by the pool for sweat, scrapes and bruises?
I’d be lying to you if I told you every one of these boys were doing it for the same reason, but while everyone has their own motivation, the sport of football brings them together to give them an experience that they will never forget. Kids, who would otherwise be strangers, meet on the field and become teammates, and in the following months, ultimately, become a family.
It is said that you can tell more about a person through an hour of competition than you can in a year of conversation.
The sport of football is more than just tackles and touchdowns. You can find out a lot about a person based on the situations in which they find themselves on the field. Just like life, the sport is filled with many ups and downs. Everybody wants to succeed and be a winner, but the truth is failure can be more prevalent than success is. Often times, a teenage boy will find that the person in front of him is bigger and stronger than he is, so he is left with two options: accept defeat or give everything he is to become victorious. A player will find himself on his back and again he is left with two options: stay down or get back up. Although most kids won’t play past high school, by the end of their playing career, these student-athletes will be equipped with skills and habits they can use for the rest of their life. Accompanying these young men on the field are the coaches.
It is the coach’s job to put these athletes in the best situation to succeed. In order to do this, a coach must do their best to teach them the intangibles of life, such as resilience, perseverance, and work-ethic. They must show them what it looks like to have a great attitude and be committed to get better each and every day. Coaches will spend more time with the athletes than they do with their family, but it’s a sacrifice they are willing to make if it means having a positive impact on the players.
August is an exciting time for high school football. It is a time when programs all across the state begin their preparation to accomplish something special for the school they represent.
