Since my mom was my cheer and dance coach for eight years, I wanted to know what she thought the hardest thing about being a coach actually was. She told me that it was “turning a ME-mentality into a sustainable WE \-mentality.”

She also always had a saying when we were younger that she would repeat to all of the teams — before we performed, during practices, at the beginning and end of each season, any opportunity she could — she would remind us "when one falls, we all fall" and as an athlete, we are a part of a team. A team with a high set of individual skills, no doubt, but a team nonetheless.

Your job as a coach is to train, develop, build, and maintain your athletes, in order for their future success whether they continue their athletic career or not because there is so much more than just the physical capabilities that you are able to teach them as well.

You teach them strength and perseverance for when the time comes to compete, they will be ready with the understanding that first place is obtainable, but giving up is never an option.

You teach them teamwork and what it is like to be a part of something bigger than themselves for when they look back on the time and effort they put into the process, they leave with no regrets and a greater appreciation for those who were right alongside them.

You teach them pride and humility for even in the toughest losses, they find the silver lining; and in the greatest triumphs, they see more ways to improve.

As a coach, you are the one they look to in a time of need, the one they put their trust in when enduring the sport they are passionate about, the one that should know how to lead not just to fulfill physicality, but to amplify characteristics that go beyond receiving a piece of medal or trophy.

It is one thing to train an athlete to become a greater athlete, but it is another to train a person to become an even greater version of themselves.

No one human comes with a manual; it takes an extensive process of time, effort and patience of getting to know your athletes, their strengths, and weaknesses, their capabilities and areas of improvement, their attitude and personality, all of the above, to truly know how they should be coached, and you should be willing to give that to them.

If they are going to be there for you, be there for them and if not, then you are in the wrong position.

As a coach, you have the ability and the power to nurture and guide one athlete, if not them all, into their future success; but you have to be willing to do so; because if you’re not, what makes you think they will?

A season or two will come and go and you will have X amount of athletes that you go through the same exact process with on a regular basis; the only difference between them all is what they learned.

You could have 300+ athletes that you are responsible for at any given time, but when asked, even just one individual, what you did to help them succeed; they shouldn't name a trophy placement, a medal received or any sort of award they were given...they should speak about how their coach taught them the importance of when you fall, you get back up or if you lose, what can you do better the next time and so on.

Your time as a coach can change by the words of just one individual because you were there to help change their time as an athlete, and it only becomes apparent if you were too willing to endure the process from day one.

They can’t learn if you don't have the knowledge, skill set, or willingness to help them.

Be your athlete’s guide first, and a best friend later, but never give up on them because if you do, they will too.