I was a freshman and didn't know any better.
I thought highly of myself that as a freshman I was being recruited to a varsity team. My sport was something I loved to do in my free time and something I always did growing up. My dad played the sport too and we would often spend time practicing and working together.
Looking back, if I had known my coach would have completely ruined my passion for the sport I played, I may never have started playing to begin with. It didn't happen quickly; I loved it at first. Maybe the older, worn down teammates should have been a sign that I should have ran the other direction.
But I stayed, thinking that could never be me.
Freshman year on the team was good. I was a newbie so everyone was nice to me, including the coach. We would laugh and make jokes to each other and when I got hurt he was there for me through the whole process. I wasn't close to making the top of the team, but I was happy and having fun. When the season ended and we lost some of our top girls, practices got harder the next year. I knew he was struggling to find replacements for the girls that had graduated because no one was as good as they were.
He would LITERALLY run us at practice until we couldn't go anymore.
He thought strenuous practices would make us better, but all it did was hurt the team and our spirits.
More and more girls got injuries and the team just wasn't fun anymore. There wasn't a sense of team anymore and he wasn't doing this for us to have fun, he was doing it so he could win. He didn't care about us or our needs. There was too much competition and even when we went our best it was never enough, and that is what still scares me from that sport. That no matter what, I'll never be good enough.
Among other things, the hard practices took a toll on everyone including myself. I got season-ending injuries that all of my doctors said could have been easily prevented with better coaching. While yes, you have to work hard to get better, it's a whole other thing to work athletes to death thinking that they'll get better from that. I haven't played on a team for two years and still when I try to play alone I get flashbacks that no matter how hard I go I'll never be good enough.
So to the coach that ruined my sport for me, thanks a lot for sucking the fun out of something I used to so highly enjoy for your own benefit. I hope your new prodigies learn early.
