A vast majority of kids who quit sports do so because of either a coach or parent. I have heard the following rationalizations:

-The coach was too tough
-The coach was not tough enough
-The parents thought their kid was the next (insert ANY superstar's name here)
-The kid's parents are idiots
-The kid has no talent (this coming from a coach of a team of soccer players...who were five years old!)

I coached my son's teams in baseball, basketball and football for eight years. During that time, I NEVER once spoke of winning or losing. I had every team focus on simply getting better during practice. Winning and losing is simply a by-product. We experienced defeat many times, but never had a "losing season."


I recently ran into a player that I coached years ago, who was with his mom. His mom recalled a game when he came off the field after he ran a long way for a ball that he missed resulting in the other team scoring a run, putting them ahead. He was upset as he came off the field and apologized to me. His mother said that after six years he still remembered my words, "Keep running, always run and next time it's yours", as I hugged him.

I didn't remember the incident and have no idea if we won or lost the game. It struck me that we never really know whom we touch and in what way we can impact someone's life-either positively or negatively.

 

--Coach Walje