Coaches either receive great praise or handfuls of hate . This is to my coach: the coach that didn’t destroy my love for the game, but inspired my passions.

Growing up, sports were my go-to, and often, my spare time was spent shooting hoops or throwing softballs into the air and pretending that I was an all-star collegiate athlete. I would count down and shoot buzzer beaters to win the game, or rob a home run with a great catch. These small things became my main source of happiness. I always practiced hard because I wanted to be better, and there was always an improvement that I could make. I was involved in little league and AAU basketball during my middle school years, and I continued these sports into high school. Instead of being cursed with bad coaches, I was blessed with inspiring coaches.

My basketball coach.

My coach loved the game of basketball and the competitive spirit that came with it. During games she wasn’t just one to sit on the sideline quietly. No, she was on her feet giving us her all just like she expected us to give our all. I will always remember our game against Traverse City West when we were becoming extremely submissive--we were letting them walk all over us. She knew what it took to get our head in the game. She had been coaching us for years so she knew how we started most games kind of cold, and she had the knowledge to snap us out of it. She called a time out and screamed at us, and this is what pumped us up. We went out there and left it all on the court. We were no longer intimidated by Traverse City West. We were playing basketball, and we were playing basketball not to lose, but to win.

Practices were the key to our success. We always had to practice hard, because if we weren’t giving our 100 percent at practice then how would we ever be prepared for the game? And that’s what practice was for after all. If we weren’t giving it our all or if we started to have a poor attitude, we were on the baseline and running guts. At first, I remember thinking she was crazy, that maybe this was a little excessive, but I learned something from those practices. She wasn’t making us run because she got some happiness out of it. She was making us run because it got us back to where we needed to be, and got me in the best shape that I would ever be in.

She didn’t kill our passion. She fueled it. Hard work and dedication was the key to being successful on her team, and if you gave your all and worked hard, you were going to play. She knew our potential and instead of killing it, she harvested it. There was never a time while on her team that I didn’t feel like I was good enough, because even if I was having an off game and she had to pull me, she never said things to further bring me down. Instead, she gave me ways to fix what was wrong. I’ve heard of coaches telling players that they "can't do it" and that is something I never heard from her mouth, and I have limitless respect for her because of this.

Sports prepare us for life in many ways and a coach who builds you up instead of tearing you down, and who expects 100 percent from you 100 percent of the time, is a coach that teaches you the most. The coach who shows you that your hard work does pay off and that good things come to those who don’t give up is a coach that deserves recognition. I know that I learned many important things while playing on her team, but the biggest thing I can take away from it is that with hard work and dedication you can, and will succeed.

Thank you coach, for pushing us. Running guts sucked, but it enhanced our speed and our fitness, and that was one of the only reasons we were able to keep up with some of the teams we played. In likeness, sometimes life is hard, and sometimes it sucks, but all of these trials, all of this practice is preparation for the big game of life that we are out there to win.

Good coaches may be few and far between, but I know that I’ve been blessed with some great ones.

Thank you, Coach