High school basketball went by too fast. I have had some of my best and worst memories playing the sport I will always love. I would have never thought I’d be where I am today due to a game where a round ball goes into a metal hoop, but it’s gotten me places. It’s taught me a lot of real-life skills and some pretty important life lessons. Most of those skills, advice and lessons were learned from my high school coach, someone that I will never be able to repay. So, here’s to you Coach.

Dear Coach,

You’ve yelled at me more in my four years of high school ball than I’d like to admit. There were practices where I questioned why I was even there. Why I played this sport because during those suicides I wanted to quit. I thought of all the other things I could be doing other than putting myself through this hell of a practice. I’ll even admit to the thought of faking a pass-out to get out of running sprints. Let me state again that I wanted to quit during those practices where, it felt like, we never touched a ball. I wanted to quit during the practices where I kept messing up and you kept pointing it out. In those moments, I hated basketball. During those moments I asked myself what kind of coach makes you want to quit the sport you love? And the answer I came up with was simple: a great one.

You’re the coach who pushed your players and not everyone was ready for that, or better yet, not everyone could handle that. Your tactics could be questionable to some. I mean, “yelling” at a parent’s precious little baby girl because she messed up is a new concept in todays sports. Regardless of how much I might have hated you during those grueling practices, I knew they had to be done. Let’s face it, there has to be bad practices. There has to be some kind of pressure because games aren’t stress free. Regardless how much we ran or messed up in practices, come game day, you were every single players biggest fan. Every play, every second of the game you cheered us on and had us work as a team. You believed in the program that was built and the players you coached. You always said the hardest working players would play and there was never a time I thought you went back on your word.

Now a lot of players and especially parents confused your coaching style with someone who didn’t care about their players. That is something that is a complete and utter lie. All the hours you spent reviewing game film, scouting other teams, calculating game stats and preparing a pre-game pep talk doesn’t sound like a coach who doesn’t care to me. As a matter of fact, I’ve never had a coach who cared more about the game and his players than you have. You saw the potential of each player that came into your program and time after time I witnessed you push players to greatness. That is what a coach is suppose to do. Turn average players into great players. Turn a group of athletes into a team. Coaching is a tough job where everyone else has an opinion of what should be done or how a coach is messing up. No one else besides the coaches and players know what happened at practice or what was suppose to happen during the game. Therefore, no else besides the coaches and, sometimes, players should be stating their opinion of what should have happened, who should have gone in, or how the coaching style should be changed. Coaching is a difficult job. But yet, you’ve stayed with it and have continued to build a program of dedicated athletes and great students.

Basketball is a tough sport and something that I have always, and will always, care about. It’s no surprise that I have cried because of basketball. I’ve cried tears of frustration after a terrible practice. I’ve cried tears of sadness when I played my very last high school basketball game. I’ve cried tears of anger when I was mad after a game I knew we should have won. I’ve even cried tears of jealousy when I wasn’t put in the game because I didn’t understand my role on the team. Even with all those terrible tears, I’ve also cried tears of happiness. Tears of happiness after being the under-dogs and, for the first time in 20 years, winning sectionals for our school. Tears of happiness when I realized I’d be playing collegiate basketball because you helped me get there. You made me understand and love the game of basketball more. You made me the player I am today. Your coaching style is tough and because of that you prepared me for the next level, that is what a great coach does.

You know, everyone always confuses yelling as something bad, but it’s not. Most people will never understand that you yell at players because 1. They need to hear you on the court or just get their attention. 2. You’re trying to win the game. 3. Or you are trying to help your players. A coach would not take a job to solely ruin anyone’s love for the game. Anyone who thinks that has never actually played sports, coached a team before or heard of or watched an actual sporting event in their entire life. Playing basketball for you was not an easy thing, but sports shouldn’t be easy. Sports teach you to work for your chance to shine.

So Coach, you have yelled at me a time or two… I don’t blame you, freshman year I was a real turd! If I recall correctly, you even stated that I was the reason you were getting gray hair (Again, I completely understand). Basketball is a roller coaster, there are ups and downs, twists and turns but through it all you have been there to make me better. You made me into a better basketball player and person. You have taught me so much about the game of basketball and about life. You taught me that hard work pays off. You have taught me how to deal with high pressure situations, whether that be on the court, in the classroom or in the workplace. You have taught me that I’m capable of more than I know and if I set my mind to something I can achieve it. If I could make it through the practices of endless running, practices where nothing I did seemed to be right, then I can make it through anything that life throws at me. You have taught me how to be a leader and how to handle those responsibilities. You have taught me how to stand strong in what I believe in, even if everyone else is telling you it’s wrong. It's because of you, I have realized that I want to coach basketball, too.

I want to thank you for always pushing me to give nothing less than my best. I want to thank you for the countless hours you spent in the gym, reviewing film, scouting other teams and putting your heart and soul into your basketball program. It’s coaches like you that build better athletes. I know you have my back and I got yours, Coach.

Sincerely,

The Girl with the Turnover Record