I am not a great athlete; that is one thing I will agree with most people on. I have played many sports and tried to be the best at each. Honestly, my best is not a LeBron nor is it a Rory McIlroy. But I can say that I have loved having my father be a basketball coach my entire life. Throughout the years, he has not only been my father but my coach as well. I've learned so many lessons from him over the years but here are just a few.
The first lesson I have learned from him would be to always try your hardest. Talent is great and all, but at the end of the day if you work harder than the talent, you have a bigger chance to shine. In his basketball analogy, he would always tell me, "You may be a good scorer, but if you do not run back down the court and play defense, you are relatively useless." This lesson has taught me to always work hard, even if I don't believe I'm good at what I do. It has also taught me to never give up and to never be a quitter. Things get in the way sometimes, but if you have passion and work hard, that is what truly counts And no matter what you do, leave the last note of your critiques with a positive. You always need that little push to keep going and never stop trying.
The second lesson I think about would be to always put my education first. He has always told me that one day your time being an athlete will be up, and after that, what will you have left? Some may answer nothing, but he would tell you your mind and education. This has stayed with me since high school. That is when I started to understand this a little better. It became a short-lived reality when I was injured in the fall of 2014. I suffered a knee injury and was really torn up about it, but I remembered what my father had told me, "Education is all you have at the end of the day." This is probably why I am not the best athlete in the world. I put all my focus into the books.
The last isn't truly a lesson, but I have been able to understand my coaches on another level. My coaches my be hard on me, but my father will always be worse. It has taught me to be tough. And to be ready for whatever comes at me in life. Of course I will stress and freak out every now and them, but I am able to take on more pressure than some thanks to my dad. Also everything he has done has taught me to put trust and faith in my coaches.
It sucked at times for my dad to be both my coach at practice and then to still be my coach at home. There was always ongoing criticism. I feel like the criticism never stopped at times; between that and always having him analyze whatever sport I played at the time, it was super hard. But at the end of the day, I am forever thankful for him. He may not have missed many minuscule events in my life, but I know my father is not only a wonderful man but a great coach! I feel so privileged and blessed to have him as a father. I hope I haven't nor will ever disappoint him.
