The Thrill Of Watching Others Grow
It's hard to believe but this will be my 10th year coaching high school and middle school football in Indianapolis. After May, nearly every day around 4 pm, I've taken off the employee hat and put on my coach/Uber hat. And anyone who's ever coached in the inner city can tell you... you're essentially an unpaid Uber driver for 4 months of the year 🤣.
You skip the after-work networking or being able to grind until 5, 6, or 7 pm on a project or assignment that will help catapult your career forward.
You invest 1000s of hours of your time away from family, $ 1000s of your own money, which most of it is not reimbursable.
It's a big commitment. It's a sacrifice. It's hard. Physically and even more emotionally as you grow so close to these young men, who oftentimes, are without strong male role models.
At times, you end up wanting more for your young men and their lives, than they do for themselves.
And if you stop at this point of the post...you're probably asking yourself, "well why would you do that?
I would argue that there is no greater thrill, no greater joy, no deeper satisfaction that you can experience than watching a young person grow.
The change in the posture you see in them once they start believing in themselves.
The sense of pride you notice they have when they're easily crushing a skill repeatedly that they couldn't do at all before.
The change in confidence they have when they know that their coaches and teammates have their back.
It's addicting and life-changing. For them and for you. I encourage you to get in the game with a local youth organization here in this city. It doesn't matter if you know the X's and O's of whichever sport you get involved in.
Let me save you some heartache... they're going to mess up whatever perfect X's & O's you draw up at some point. Not an if, but when. The plays don't matter.
Being available. Being consistent. Being a friend. Being a truth-teller when they need it. A person to have a meal with. A person to text when they don't have anyone else they think they can call... and if you stick around long enough... the person they ask you advice on for jobs, colleges, marriages, and parenting.
There's no greater thrill. Get in the game.