Once upon a time, I had played football at Ursinus College. I came in as a freshman with big dreams and an open mind. However, as fate would have it, it did not work out for me as I had planned it. I had suffered a concussion, a knee injury that required surgery, and a shoulder injury. All of these culminated in my “early retirement” from the game. In a way I think it saved me from years of arthritic pain and other health complications, but it robbed me of the glory of the game. The chance to strap on the pads once more in hopes to make that big hit.
I stopped playing my sophomore year and began to help out with the team. I did not want to leave the game I so loved, so I helped out in other ways. I made sure that things were going smooth; I ran the music for practice, got the snack at the end of the night and did other odd jobs the coaches had asked of me. I must say though, it was very rough at first, depressing in a way. Seeing all your teammates compete on the field while you wallow away on the sidelines is not a good feeling. However I have learned a lot about myself and about life from this experience and it seems to be working out.
As I mentioned before the transition from player to coach is not easy by any means. You have to take your physical aggression and transform it into mental fortitude. The hours are long, and quite frankly it is hard. It eats at your psyche in the fact that you can no longer strap on the pads and play, but you get through it.
I have learned you need to be flexible, things change at a moment’s notice. You need to be smart and adapt, or you will fail. If someone gets hurt; you need a contingency plan. I have also learned that things are not nearly as easy as they look. There is more then just blood, sweat and tears that go into coaching. You can't help feeling sad when the players feel sad, happy when the players feel happy and frustrated when the players feel frustrated. So much of your being goes into being a coach is it scary. If your heart isn’t in it, it shows. As they say, if it was easy everyone would do it.
