Farewell and Thank You to My Players

A few weeks ago I had to say some goodbyes. After fourteen years of coaching high school sports, I had to bid farewell to my players, fellow coaches, and Athletic Directors. With all of life’s ups and downs, the one constant for me was coaching. Aside from spending time with my family, I can easily say the time I spent on the court or the field was the best part of my day. There were certainly stressful times but I always knew that even a bad day coaching was a good day. I loved working with the high school athletes and watching them grow as players and as young women. In my final year of coaching, I had two different coaching positions. The first was as a Head Volleyball Coach. It was my first season at this particular school and though I felt it was a rebuilding year, the team actually had one of their best seasons ever. The players were so eager to learn and willing to play their part that they made it easy for me. When I announced to the team that I would not be returning, there wasn’t a sound in the room. It was a rather sudden decision for me as and one I truly struggled with. I didn’t want to leave this team or program with so much potential. (I decided to relocate to another state.) In the spring, I was the Assistant Lacrosse Coach at a different high school. I have been there since the inception of the varsity program in 2009. I saw many players enter the program as young freshmen and learn the game and become amazing athletes and set school records. I struggled with how to say farewell to them. There were twelve seniors graduating and I did not want to take away from their awards dinner but I knew I couldn’t leave without saying good-bye. There is an amazing group of sophomores and juniors that I will miss coaching and in the future. I was humbled to hear them say that they would keep in touch with me and I will definitely follow their season next year.  So to my players, I thank you so much for the opportunity to coach you and guide you and be there for you. You definitely gave more to me than I could ever put into words and I consider myself lucky to have known you all.