BY: Liz Hardie
Growing up in the sports world my whole life I have had a wide range of coaches
From soft spoken to loud, kind to nasty, honest to biased, competent to incompetent
You name it, I had “that” coach that every athlete loves or every athlete despises
Instead of letting the terrible coaches make me feel weak, I used them to raise my confidence
The horrid coaches did not define me as a person, they could never take that from me
It was those who cared, who listened, who took time to encourage instead of tear down
These are the coaches that I kept in my head, that kept me positive, that made me work hard
They saw the best in me, never gave up on me, cherished each moment I excelled and had grown
Unfortunately I had very few, but those few will always hold a special place in my heart for all time
Not only did they lift me up when others were tearing me down, they never judged me for anything
The sports world is supposed to be fun, a place for kids to release energy and improve mental health
Many of them make a point to drain the athlete, mentally and physically, negativity is all they bring
I know many athletes are exhausting on coaches, they are not very talented yet they believe they are
Parents can be to blame for this, as many never let their kids fail, blame is placed on everyone else
As much as I do believe there are terrible coaches, kids must know they have to always work hard
Money, phone calls to coaches, inflating kids ego, approving of their child’s laziness and disrespect
Amazing coaches ignore the negativity thrown at them, they are there to coach not to make friends
But unlike the parents, they want the athlete to work harder, be stronger, be proud of accomplishments
Many parents and many schools push coaches out for this, it isn’t about talent, its about money and power
Money and power is huge in sports, every level you will see it, power, lying and acting inconspicuous
I will not name any of my terrible coaches, those close to me know who they are, I also say thank you to them
And thank you to my parents, being middle class and “no name”, I was taught values, respect, hard work
I am sure there were times they felt needed, yet I always told them I had it handled, just working harder
I never felt I was the best at anything, there is always room for improvement, I was determined to make my mark
What I choose to do is speak highly of the coaches who helped me become the strong person I am today
Their passion and knowledge for the sport made me love it more, when I failed they pushed showing their faith
I know personally I was difficult at times, head hanging low, foul words coming out of my mouth
The best coaches motivated me and made me find that fire inside of me that at times had zero flame
So thank you again to those coaches that I still speak of 40 years later, to the coaches that instilled in me hard work. Thank you to my family, especially my mom and dad, for all of their love and support, and for always showing up.
Photo by RDNE Stock project: https://www.pexels.com/photo/word-coach-made-of-letters-and-ball-8341809/