Coaches are unsung heroes who deserve more than a simple week of recognition.
I say this largely because my kids have been taught by coaches so patient and thoughtful I nearly cried when they changed sports - and because I coached t-ball myself and barely survived the trauma. (Think of five-year-olds swinging bats within an arm's length of one another and you get the picture.)
There is no way to thank the coaches for all their dedication: the soccer coach who turns up in a hailstorm carrying a string bag of balls and a ready smile; the baseball coach who huffs in frustration when a player shows up late for practice and then gives him an "attaboy" when he slides into first base; the football coach who practically single-handedly revives a moribund high school football program and unites a community around it (that's Farhan Lalji, my son's coach in New Westminster).
The kids, of course, come in all shapes and sizes, and all have to be treated with (more or less) equal consideration. Some arrive on the soccer pitch with only a few words of English and can barely stay steady on cleats, yet coaches make sure they get an equal share of playtime.
It is tempting to keep the best pitcher on the mound or the best striker on the field but coaches know the job needs to be shared. Parents sometimes forget this when they stand on the sidelines and criticize a coach for either not playing their own son or daughter more often or for giving a less-skilled player more game time.
Games are supposed to be about player development, not the win, even at the higher levels, where competition is tough and it's more acceptable to keep the better players on the field. I was reminded of the importance of this recently by a coach who was filming my younger son's football game. I had made the mistake of being overly enthusiastic about the team's outstanding winning streak and had to be brought down a notch or too.
There is always room for improvement, I was told, even after a string of wins. Doubly so after a string of losses.
Coaching, too, could always be improved. I've seen more than one coach dress down a young player when a more sensitive approach would have done the job. The best coaches know how to inspire in the dressing room or during practice and don't yell and humiliate players from the sidelines during the heat of competition.
But the truth is that coaches have a tough job and it has been getting tougher. They face a gauntlet of angry parents, blistering politics, painful bureaucracy, fundraising and criminal record-check hassles, concussion forms and medical alerts, and, increasingly, media storms about bad members of their brethren.
Yes, there are coaches who step out of bounds, who abuse their power and act like the children they are supposed to teach. Fortunately, these individuals - many of them born in an era when coaches were all-knowing and god-like - are few and quickly brought to justice by alert parents and sport authorities.
In B.C., sport associations have made a concerted effort to provide excellent training for coaches and, in Port Coquitlam, coach development is expected to be part of a sports excellence centre at the new Pitt River middle school.
With so many children in sports, the need for volunteer coaches is great and there is never enough opportunity to say thanks. Given a chance, I'd be the first to sign a card of gratitude for all my kids' coaches.
Got a felt pen, anyone?
