Wednesday, February 01, 2006
I just can't let go.
As many of you probably know, last spring I coached the Purdue Women's team. It was a dream season - we swept the region, qualified for nationals. Nationals was disappointing, due to the combination of hot weather decimating our thin roster and the team just not being ready for the tougher marking from the nationals teams. (Me not being there the second day didn't help, either.) But still, a dream season. My only real regret was that I only coached them for 5 months, in stead of 2 years like I should have.
OK, so fast forward to the present, I'm in Denver, a good 17 hour drive from Purdue. Another local club guy has taken up the coaching duties. You'd expect that I would wish them the best and move on, right? Well, I'm having a hard time with that. In stead, I'm composing e-mails to individual players breaking down their play on video from Michigan indoor, and sending the current coach and captain drill sequences for practice, and pdf diagrams of new plays to run.
Why am I doing this? Possible reasons that are probably all true to some degree:
- I like the players on the team and want to see them succeed for their sake.
- I want to believe that I've "created something" at Purdue, and last year wasn't just a flash in the pan, so continued success will somehow validate last year.
- (Less charitable variant of above) Further success will just underscore what a great job I did and feeds my ego.
- I found coaching really fulfilling and just want to do what I can in an effort to satisfy my coaching joneses.
- (Less charitable variant of above) I enjoyed the authority associated with being the coach, and my current efforts are an attempt to still have some small degree of influence.
Uh... so, maybe I haven't painted the prettiest picture of my psyche there. I don't think coaching is mostly about ego and control for me, but I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't about that at all.
What I really need to do is land a coaching gig somewhere around here. There's actually a pretty healthy high school league around here, and I have my coaching certification, so I'm sure I could find something. Of course, that could mess with my 1:1 Season:Regional Title ratio, but I think I could deal with it.
OK, so fast forward to the present, I'm in Denver, a good 17 hour drive from Purdue. Another local club guy has taken up the coaching duties. You'd expect that I would wish them the best and move on, right? Well, I'm having a hard time with that. In stead, I'm composing e-mails to individual players breaking down their play on video from Michigan indoor, and sending the current coach and captain drill sequences for practice, and pdf diagrams of new plays to run.
Why am I doing this? Possible reasons that are probably all true to some degree:
- I like the players on the team and want to see them succeed for their sake.
- I want to believe that I've "created something" at Purdue, and last year wasn't just a flash in the pan, so continued success will somehow validate last year.
- (Less charitable variant of above) Further success will just underscore what a great job I did and feeds my ego.
- I found coaching really fulfilling and just want to do what I can in an effort to satisfy my coaching joneses.
- (Less charitable variant of above) I enjoyed the authority associated with being the coach, and my current efforts are an attempt to still have some small degree of influence.
Uh... so, maybe I haven't painted the prettiest picture of my psyche there. I don't think coaching is mostly about ego and control for me, but I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't about that at all.
What I really need to do is land a coaching gig somewhere around here. There's actually a pretty healthy high school league around here, and I have my coaching certification, so I'm sure I could find something. Of course, that could mess with my 1:1 Season:Regional Title ratio, but I think I could deal with it.
# posted by Tarr : 2/01/2006 08:01:00 AM
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Well, I sort of coached the men for two and a half years, even if I was never officially the coach. The ladies gave me the title after I worked with them for two practices in the fall.
You also have a twenty page playbook covering vertical stack flow offense - the most detailed playbook I've ever written. And you have my zone D write-up as well. If I thought I could write up a great description of how to run a clam D, I already would have. But I'll keep you guys in mind if inspiration strikes.
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You also have a twenty page playbook covering vertical stack flow offense - the most detailed playbook I've ever written. And you have my zone D write-up as well. If I thought I could write up a great description of how to run a clam D, I already would have. But I'll keep you guys in mind if inspiration strikes.
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