A lesson we all learn as we go through life is who to hold on to. Some people have a way of building us up and making us stronger people, hold on to those people. Yet, there will be a few people who make you want to be a better person, who help you become that person, and sticks by you through it all. Those few people have a heart of gold and do it all out of the goodness of that heart. They genuinely care.
I am lucky enough to call one of those people my coach.
He lead multiple groups of girls to consecutive championships in two different sports, and he taught each of us the hard work it takes to succeed. In many ways, he taught me how to be successful in school and at work. Some days nothing came easy. Some days I needed a few extra ground balls hit to me. Some days I had to take more time in the batter’s box. No matter the situation, he reminded me that taking the extra mile is what will help you stand out in the crucial games. Every day for two hours, he engrained that in my brain until it, unintentionally, became a habit in everything I do.
Leading us to success year in and year out inevitably instilled pride in every single one of us. Being proud of individual and team accomplishments is okay. My modest-self tended to shy away from compliments, yet not everyone is like that. For each of us, he gave us the recognition we deserved, but did not allow any of us to feel any individual was bigger than the team. He led by example in this sense. In any given conversation with him, you would not know how much hardware he has in his office. He does not gloat about his Coach of the Year awards; he puts it all into team context.
From the beginning, he saw the potential in me. He saw the player I could be on the field. He watched me transition from the quiet underclassman to the semi-obnoxious senior captain. He showed me how to be a team player in both aspects. Because of that, I came to realize the importance of every teammate’s personality. By the time I was that semi-obnoxious senior captain, I was able to relate to all of the girls on my team because I was, most likely, once in their place. Even when I was the quiet, little second baseman, I never felt overlooked or undermined. Coach took me as I was.
To this day, he compliments me on the leader I have become. I am not sure if he knows that I am that way because of my days on softball field. He showed me every day that I could be the player I wanted to be with hard work, humble pride and the people around me. If I knew then that I would look back on the days of eyeblack and callused hands four years later, I would have said “thank you” a few more times.
So, thank you, Coach, for everything.
