Redheaded Jill

If you have ever stepped outside or looked at a newspaper or turned on a tv or a nanosecond chances are you have seen or heard someone talking about the coach of a sports team.

I have no idea who these people coach, but names like Bill Belichick and Ted Lasso are not foreign to me.

I don’t watch football, but Remember the Titans and other sports movies always fill me with appreciation for the art of the game. I love the idea of a coach having such an effect on the teams that he makes his players better men. That he is the father figure they perhaps never had. That there is a love and camaraderie among the players that is similar to men who serve together in the military. Brotherhood. Kinship.

There is a teacher who coached in my district who had such a profound effect on my friend’s son that she sings his praises regularly even though he no longer works in the school system. That is great.

I have had several coaches over the years and I have NEVER had that experience.

In high school I played tennis. (I was forced to pick a sport and the tennis season was the shortest and could get cancelled most easily due to rainy weather.) Our coaches were intimidating to say the least.

We had an assistant coach who was a youngish dude. I’m not sure what he taught, but he was connected to the high school. This man… was hard to deal with. He played favorites, was flirtatious with some of the girls on the team, and when we played other schools he openly mocked their players. I will never forget him making crude comments (WITH ANOTHER COACH) about the size of the girl we were playing against. Being no petite flower myself I asked him, “Do you talk about us like that when we’re playing and out of earshot?” He said no, but who can believe him?

Unfortunately, he wasn’t even the worst. There was another local coach who was a known perv by everyone near and far, yet because he was connected to sports he was celebrated.

It’s super unfortunate who we overlook behaviors because we have heroes who are good at throwing a ball, or instructing others to throw the ball. If I ever have kids and they want to play sports I plan to be very involved and obnoxiously aware of all the things the coaches say/do.

Give me a life coach over a sports coach any day.