In the past 10 years of my life I have played on seven different softball teams and played many other sports on many other teams not including softball, so it’s safe to say that I have had a lot of experience with different coaches and their unique coaching styles. When I am at practice I am not thinking of anything other than the game that I am playing. I think that coaches are the teachers of the sports world; they mold young athletes and determine the track that they’re going to take in the future. I have known so many people that quit their sport because they were going home crying after every game because of a coach that just didn’t feel like putting in the effort that they signed up for. And it truly is a shame that because of a faulty coach we’ll never know what their true potential in their sport could have been.

I know most people will say that it is most important to be a student first and an athlete second, but I disagree and think that sometimes being an athlete is equally as important as being a student. For a lot of people playing sports is an outlet and a stress reliever, but it sucks when I’m going from a stressful day at school to go play a sport that I normally love, but it doesn’t help relieve my stress anymore because I’m showing up for a coach who doesn’t care anymore. 

From all the many teams I’ve been a part of, it may come as a shock for me to say, but they were not all championship, top of the league, winning teams. I remember one specific team that I played on a couple of years ago that, although we didn’t win every game and we didn’t play our best in the games, was led by a coach who showed up and was there for us like we were winners. That change in attitude helped point us in the right direction to continue to improve and win more games than we had lost that season. As a coach, it can be really easy to give up when things aren’t looking your way and especially easy to give up when it’s not going your way and your athletes’ ability to play is not in your control. But seeing that a coach has given up halfway through a game does make a difference.

I also know that everybody has their own personal preference for what drives them to work harder, and coaches have their own tactics on how to push their team to be the best. Personally, I don’t work to the best of my ability when I am getting yelled at, but I know a lot of people who do thrive from that. I don’t have anything against constructive criticism because I know it’s going to make me a better player in the long run, but it’s about delivery. A good coach will tell me what my problem has been and then give me a solution, and I’ve noticed that a coach who doesn’t care will tell me the problem and just expect me to go fix it on my own. 

Having somebody that gives you tips and pointers in your sport almost everyday, somebody who you see everyday, and somebody who just shows up for you everyday is what a real coach should be. From rec league, to club teams, to high school ball, I think it’s so important for the growth and molding of young children as they grow up. I see often that when somebody has a bad coach it can affect their self worth and how they view themselves not only as a player, but as a person off the court or the field or wherever their sport takes place. Especially in sports with younger children, that is when they are the most moldable and they will hold anything negative with them as they grow up. It is not the end of the world if a young athlete makes a mistake on the field; I think it’s more important to have fun.