Why Coach?

I often reflect on why I continue to coach. Its a pretty thankless job, and can come with a lot of headaches. Every time your team takes the field you're under scrutiny. Not to mention the hours away from your own family. This week's Sports Illustrated's Point After "Confessions of a Coachaholic" reminded me why I continue to coach. Its the diagramming of plays and the challenge of getting it to work on field like it works on the paper. It's the jotting down of line ups to get the most out of each individual's strengths while trying to hide, or at least minimize, weaknesses. But mostly it's about building the connections with players and the memories built throughout a season and a player's career. One of my favorite memories is of a freshman catcher almost in tears because of the frustration of being unable to make a good throw to second to throw out base stealers, and two years later watching this same player throw out a base stealer for the final out of a state tournament game.


I'm always looking for ideas. Please comment and add what you do that works well.