Oh, no. There it is again. The Athletic Director's favorite line and the one coach's dread to hear. I'm still not sure exactly what that mean's but I suppose it's a euphemism meant to soften the blow of "You're Fired." I have heard these words a few times myself and it's frustrating. Personally, I would rather have the truth and use that information to better myself. I am also not a big fan of blindsiding someone and think that even coach's can use support and guidance. I was recently informed by an Athletic Director that the Administration wanted to "take their program in a different direction." After some pressing, I was told that they wanted someone with more lacrosse experience. That was all well and good except that I had practically been begged to take the position, even after I proclaimed my lack of experience (two years on the junior varisty level). The Athletic Director said that my positive manner and professionalism as their Head Girls Volleyball Coach was more important and that was what they were looking for in Lacrosse as well. I took the position and made it through the first season, where we made it into a playoff game to get into the state tournament. The toughest thing was learning thirty plus players and their personalities, strengths and weaknesses. At the season's end, the junior varsity coach and I were proud of what we had accomplished, especially with the new and younger players, and looked forward to continuing our success this season. Alas, that was not to be. So I am back at my old junior varsity coaching position and the good thing is that I have freed up my time so that I will also be able to watch my son play in his lacrosse games.
What prompted me to write this today though, is not my story, but one of another well-liked coach, who recently heard the the dreaded words that the school would like to go in a "different" direction. I met this coach in his third season as a head coach when my son wrestled on his team. He was positive, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, patient, and understanding. All good qualities in a coach and a good role model for the young men on his team. He also lugged wrestling mats around in his car because the school did not have enough mats for the team to practice on. My son ended up transferring to another school but we still remember his support when my family made that difficult decision. This coach's stats are listed in an article in today's NJ Sunday Herald (http://www.njherald.com/story/17248003/hs-wrestling-pope-john-parts-ways-with-wrestling-coach-koch) . He states that he thought the program was going in the right direction. It looks like it to me, too. It's sad if a coach is let go for one bad season. As my son pointed out to me, there were individual wrestlers on the team who had great success, partly due to this coach. In fact, in the same sports section, one of the grapplers was named to the All-Herald Wrestling First Team.
Positive coaching and a positive experience by most of the team members is something you cannot quantify as easily as wins and losses. I believe that the lessons learned and friendships forged while competing on a high school team are ultimately more important than the wins. Some of my most memorable coaching moments are not from games we won, rather those games we felt like we won because of teamwork, playing from the heart, and the players giving it their all.
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