133 - It is our choices that show what we truly are... - See one, do one, teach one

When I saw the first Harry Potter movie, I wrote down this quote immediately. I was probably 12 or 13 and that quote spoke to me because at that age, I was stuck somewhere in my thinking of what I was capable of as a student athlete.   I had 2 big brothers and a big sister who were competing for spots on high school sports teams (well, my sister ended up being valedictorian, she was competing in an academic realm vs. an athletic one) , and I knew that my brother was probably not as talented as the players around him, but he chose to pull me outside on hot summer and cold winter days to rebound for him so he could shoot.   I quickly learned that if the kids with greater abilities than my brother were not out there shooting every day like he was, he was quickly going to surpass their skill. More than that, he was showing the discipline that it took to put the hours in to get better. Those other kids didn’t need to show that discipline as they relied on their talent alone.   Our choices as coaches show who we truly are, far, far greater than our abilities to ‘naturally’ coach. Our choices on how we interact with our kids, the words we use, the drills we do, the qualities we emphasize as important to our program, those say so much more about us than our abilities or our former abilities as athletes.   My challenge to you is to look at the choices you’ve made this week as a coach. Did you choose to plan out practices? Did you choose to yell and scream at your kids? Did you choose to embarrass a kid on the field after he or she made a mistake? Did you choose to empower your kids to lead a drill or warm up? What choices did you make, why did you make them?   Each of us has the ability to become incredible at what we do. We need the right strategy, and we need the right coaching ourselves. More important than that, as Dumbledoor says, is our choices on what we want to become.