"LESSON IN LIFE"

 

Kelsey Bug

 

Many years ago I realized that football was so much more than a sport.  It is our job as coaches to constantly teach the "Lessons in Life" that every young person needs to be successful in the game of life.  I have often stated (in this blog) that we have a huge job on our hands, and these little lessons in life are often ignored (or forgotten) until much later in a player's life.  A coach is never really sure if his lessons are actually getting through to a young person, but sometimes we are reminded, in the most innocent way, that indeed the kids are listening. 

 

Let me set this up a little.  When my granddaughter Kelsey came to Florida and visited with me over the summer, I signed her up for the Shark's Cheerleading Camp being offered over the summer.  This was a very special time for me because I was able to spend some quality one-on-one time with the love of my life.  Kelsey would hang with the cheerleaders while I worked with the players over the summer.  It was awesome. 

 

 I noticed that the cheerleaders (and the campers) would run a single lap on the track to get warmed up before the practice.  Of course, all of the little girls would wind up walking the lap, and I noticed that Kelsey was no different...she was actually walking with the other little girls while the regular cheerleaders were running ahead of them. I was running my regular laps around the track and I ran up on Kelsey (who was walking) behind the cheerleaders.  I jumped her little ass: "KELSEY, get your butt running and FINISH your lap.  We are ZALEUKES and that is NOT what we do!"  She took off like a rocket and ran the rest of her lap.  I sort of chuckled to myself and finished my own run. 

 

Lets fast forward to this past weekend.  Kristin (and the kids)  were watching the Atlanta Falcon's game on TV last weekend.  I guess there was a "Hail Mary" pass to the endzone that a receiver could have easily caught and scored....if he would have kept running.  This infuriated Kristin of course.  Then, Kelsey pops off:  "WE DON'T STOP! I AM 7 YEARS OLD AND EVEN I KNOW THAT!"  I love this story of course.  It just proved to me that indeed Kelsey was listening to my lesson in life.  It also taught me that we have to keep teaching these kids.....you just never know who is listening to you. 

 

Randy Bethel is a great coach...much better than I realized.  It is interesting to watch him navigate these playoff waters which are not so familiar to this program.  He always has something to say which is appropriate to our situation.  He is demanding that we coaches keep our tempo up high this week, yet he is demonstrating complete calm and confidence at the same time.  I certainly get pissed off at Randy at times, and I often get aggravated with him, but make no mistake, this guy knows what he is doing.

 

Don't make plans to go away for Thanksgiving folks.  We will be practicing on Thursday morning. 

 

GZ