Dear Coach,

There are not enough words to describe everything that you did in my life to make me the person that I am today, even if it was for a short period of time. You believed in me, and at the time, it was all that I needed to keep moving forward. You weren't just my coach on the field, but also a life coach throughout the years that you worked with me. I grew into a much better athlete and person when you were around, and I thank you for that.

If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be working my ass off to fix my mistakes from last season. If I never had you as a coach, I would have never found out what path I was supposed to be taking in life. I learned to fight for what I want and for what I deserved; whether that be on the field, in the classroom, or in relationships. I learned a lot from you in two years. A lot about our sport, but a heck of a lot more about how to deal with life and whatever may be thrown my way.

You were the first coach who actually paid attention to my mental health, and that means more than I can ever put into words. You wanted to work with the problem to try to help it, not just pretend it wasn't there. You made working through freezing morning practices and burning afternoon practices suck a little less. You told us to 'fire it up' when we were having a crappy practice and to always aim for the next field over when throwing. When officials weren't marking correctly and we were ready to riot, you were there to tell us to just move on with our next throw and put our anger into the field. You let me vent about my daily struggles from my coffee machine breaking to falling weeks behind in work because of anxiety and stress. You helped me channel the good days and my bad days into our sport and the weight room.

There are things that I would have never expected myself to become involved in without your help, and because of that mentoring, I am doing everything that I never thought that I would ever be able to accomplish. Bringing me to your team was such a blessing that I never imagined would amount to everything that it has. Being your athlete taught me discipline that I can use through the rest of my life.

Thank you. Thank you for picking me out of the group. Thank you for giving me a chance when nobody else would. Thank you for pushing me beyond what I thought I was capable of.

You told me to make you proud, and this year, I damn sure will.

-Your Athlete