If I could take anything away from these four days, it would be this: repeat yourself. It helps in the long run.
Last week, I worked the Brian Leonard Football Camp, which is a local football camp that's run by NFL veteran Brian Leonard, along with several talented coaches from our area. I had been to the camp in years before, starting the summer after my freshman year in high school, and it was a really fun experience for me, one of the highlights of my summer. The wealth of experience that was made available to me helped me become not only a better football player but a smarter human being and overall athlete.
I had a lot of fun in my years there, so I knew that the camp would be the place that I wanted to volunteer at after I left high school.
Currently, this is my second year as a coach and my fifth year overall. Last year, I had limited experience at coaching, and it was more or less a somewhat apprenticed activity. I was paired with a Division 1 defensive back coach, and I watched as he worked through the drills.
This year, I took charge of a group of younger kids. First of all, I would just like to say that coaching is hard, and if you don't think so, you're wrong. Little kids aren't very inclined towards listening, and it reflected as such on the first day. I jumped right into the fire and got burned.
The first thing that I learned was that even if you're a little befuddled by what you're doing, you can get it done if you use confidence. Confidence can honestly take you so far even when you feel overwhelmed with whatever you're dealing with. Feeling like you can get something done translates to actually getting something done.
This overlaps with my appreciation for the power of positive thinking. Coaching can be frustrating. It's very easy to become flummoxed with a problem, such as a particular concept failing to get through to someone. At that point, that's where the power of positive thinking will prevail.
Thirdly, and finally patience. For the love of everything on Earth, be patient. Good things take the time to form and develop. Keep good spirits.
Eventually, these three lessons come together and culminate in one excellent life experience. It's rewarding to see when people pull what you teach together, and it's even better to see people excel. I'm so happy that I was able to participate, and I came away from the experience feeling a sense of pride, because of the fact that I was able to make a small difference in someone's life.
