No matter how many times I always said, "I wish you weren't my coach", I want you to know, I meant none of them. You have always been and will always be my coach.

I can remember the times when I would come home from Jr. High practices and say, "Your practices are no fun. My junior high practices are so much better". I had always thought that a good practice amounted to how much my teammates and I laughed in two and half hours. That was always how junior high practices went -- laughing and full of fun.

And then I would go to high school practice-- JV and Varsity. I'm not saying that the practices were not fun, there was of course laughing, but that was not the main premise of the practice. It was spent how a practice should be spent: lots of drills... and running. Lots and lots of running. And that is why I was thankful that I was still just a little junior high player, because I didn't have to endure that terrible running.

But then it was my turn to go through those practices-- you always found the best ways to make me hate running more than I had thought humanly possible. I remember going through the practices wishing that they would end, just so the running would stop.

I remember all of the games. I remember all of the times I would come home and not talk to you because I knew you were upset with how I had played that night and I really didn't want to hear it from you. But you always pushed me to be a better player, and that is something that has always stuck with me.

Even after you were not the coach anymore, you were still mine. That never changed. I would look up in the stands just to see where you were before the game, so that I would know where to look when I missed a free throw or a jumper, because I knew that you were going to let me know how to fix it.

I never really appreciated your coaching, until it was gone. And for that I apologize, but I am so happy that I got the chance to play for you.

I've come a long way since the girl who would come home and say to you, "I wish you weren't my coach", or "I hate that you're my coach".

But the truth is, when I look back at my years of playing in high school, the ones I cherish the most are the ones where you were coaching. Because there is no person more passionate about the sport than you.

So thank you, dad, for always being the best coach.