We've all been there, you're ten years old and in the middle of practice and you think you know more than your coach so you start slacking. Of course now that we are older and probably a little wiser than we were back then, we realize our coach was right. All the extra work and effort was necessary in order to be the best, and that they probably could've done without all the eye-rolling. Now that we realize they were right, we also realize there are a few things that we forgot to thank them for. So coach, here you go, thank you.
1. Thanks for always pushing me
You always pushed me to run a little farther, or faster, or both. You knew that in order to have the stamina and endurance I would need to be competitive in this sport would come only if I ran, and ran some more. If I started to feel like giving up, you were always there to give me that little extra push I needed. Thank you.
2. For putting up with my sass
I was young. That's my only excuse I have for this. When you would tell me to do something and I hesitated or did it very reluctantly, you handled it in the almost-kindest way possible. For the numerous amounts of eye-rolls and huffing and puffing, I'm sorry. But thank you for putting up with the extreme sass levels and always reminding me who was in charge, you.
3. Thanks for the extra practices.
At the time we all hated it when you would add an extra Saturday practice or two, but in the end you knew that we needed it. In the end, those extra practice were worth all the sweat and tears, thank you.
4. Thank you for encouraging team bonding.
No, not everybody got along all the time, but we did become much more than a team. Because of you always encouraging us to do "team bonding" we became a family. Thank you.
5. Thank you for loving us even in our awkward years.
Yep, especially middle school. We all go through are awkward stages and you had to deal with some of the most awkward years of our lives. Thanks for loving us and encouraging us even though we were awkward beyond words.
6. Thank you for conditioning us after practice.
We hated hearing that we had to condition after we had just finished a hard two or three hour practice... In order to be in the physical shape we needed to be in though, I guess it was actually necessary, and you weren't really trying to kill us like I thought at the time. Thank you.
7. Thank you for not sticking to your promise of "just one more time."
"Just one more time I promise." Yeah right! We all know we had a lot of improving to do, so thank you for making us do it one hundred more times rather than "one more time". This is one promise I'm glad you broke, thank you.
8. Thank you for supporting us even when we didn't win.
Everyone has their "off" days and we had plenty. You loved us and reminded us to use this feeling of defeat to work harder and win the next one. Thank you.
9. Thank you for always being our biggest fan.
No matter what you were always cheering us on. You were on the sidelines jumping up and down screaming and cheering for us, over everyone in the crowd we could always here our number one fan, you. Thank you.
10. Thanks for kicking my butt.
You pushed me way past every limit I thought I had. Every practice was hard and every practice kicked my butt. I never knew I could do so much while being so sore. I know I needed it though, so thank you.
11. Thank you for being the best coach.
You knew just what we needed to improve and just how to do it. You were just the right one for the job. Thank you for putting up with all of our nonsense and forgiving us when we forgot to thank you sooner.
Bottom line is we couldn't have done it without you. You helped me learn and grow, not just as an athlete, but as a person. For everything you have done for me and my teammates, I am forever thankful.
