Most people in the world have played some sort of sport. Whether they were a part of a baby soccer team or on a very competitive club field hockey team, any type of team requires coaches. When you are at practice, you have a very distinct relationship with your coach, so what do you think would happen if that coach was your parent? A great deal of people out there are just like me, at least one of their parents is or was a coach. But you see, I am even more different, as both of my parents are coaches. Both of them also coached me at one point in time for a team. My mother was my high school track coach for a year, and my father is still currently my unofficial personal trainer. It can be hard sometimes, especially at practice or in the gym but they are my parents and I love them. Here are some main things that I know any son or daughter of a coach will relate to:
1. They are harder on you than on the other athletes.
This is because you are their kid, and they want you to be better. They are going to push you harder than any other kid on the team because they care about you and your performance the most. It's out of love, I promise.
2. They do not respond to Mom or Dad at practice.
This was probably the most frustrating thing for me to get used to. It was weird to call them Coach, but they would never respond to Mom or Dad or even their first names! I learned the hard way later that it made them mad if I called them anything but Coach, so I learned to get used to it.
3. They are always at competitions.
They never once missed a meet or a game because they had to be there too. They always got to see me race because they were timing me and critiquing how I can go faster. It was nice to have my parent at meets for money for food or tee shirts, but I could never ever leave early because they had to stay the entire time. And sometimes those track meets took 12 hours (not an exaggeration).
4. Switching from coach to parent is hard.
I have learned that in a season, you parent is your coach 95 percent of the time. They are constantly pushing you to do extra work outs on days off, and to motivate you when you just wanna take a nap. It's like they have switches in their head and sometimes it just gets stuck on coach and they forget that you need a mom at the moment. It all works out eventually, but there are those times that they get stuck on coach and the duration of it varies depending on the person.
5. They are double proud when you do something awesome
If you get a new PR (personal record) in the 100-meter hurdles, your coach will be so excited and proud, but then her mom half kicks in and you get extra love from that part of her too. Or if you finally lift that squat goal you have been working on for weeks then your trainer will be super psyched, and then dad kicks in and there is some more love from him.
All in all, having coaches for parents can be hard, but it is rewarding. You realize that everything that they do is to help you and to try and make you better. They are only going to do what is best for you, and sometimes it seems like they are going about it in the wrong way. But in all honesty, I would rather have my mom down my throat about going for an extra run, than her not say anything at all. So thank you, parents, I appreciate you being my coaches on the field and at home.
