Hey Coach!

"Hey Coach"

I never get tired of hearing those words.

I actually missed hearing them.

As many of you know, I have coached my son, Kameron, for the last 5 yrs. This past football season, our team (9 and under) finished off a great season. We had a season where we won 9 games and lost 2. We won our division and made it to our league championship game. Unfortunately, we didn't win the game. We lost to a team that we had beaten 22-0 a month earlier. On this day, we lost 20-8. To be honest, I had a hard time remembering the score of the game that day. I was too hurt to look at the scoreboard. We just didn't show up to play that day. We didn't play our game. And it cost us.

Losing that day hurt. I can't lie. As a coach, you hate to lose but you REALLY hate to lose to a team that you KNOW that you were better than. We just weren't better than them that day. And that's not to take anything from them. They beat us and i tip my hat to them. But I'm sure that THEY will tell you that we were the better team. Nevertheless, it hurt to walk off the field that day. I remember walking into our team circle and seeing all of the kids on our team crying. I looked for Kameron. He was in the middle of the circle. He was crying like a baby. I was blown away because Kameron is not emotional. He's very even keeled. Calm. Much like his father. Seeing him crying almost made ME cry!!! As passionate as I've always been about football, I've only had 2 games that brought me to tears. One in high school and one in college. On this day, I held back the tears...cleared my throat and spoke to the kids. I told them that I was proud of them. I said "Sometimes in life you work hard and still come up short. But that makes you work harder the NEXT time."

I remember walking off the field with Kameron and someone said "we'll be back next year." That's true...but it takes a lot to get back. The unfortunate thing about sports is that you can't pick up where you left off from the previous season. You have to start all over. We will start over. We will be back.

Last Saturday, we had our team banquet at Georgia Tech. This was our first time together for since that championship game. It was fun seeing the kids again. I missed those lil dudes. It was also good to see the coaching staff. We have a great staff. No egos. We enjoy coaching and we enjoy being around each other. During the season, we send emails and text msgs and have meetings daily about our team. The banquet was a lot of fun. It's always good to seeing little boys dressed up in suits. This collection of kids, coaches, and their parents is more than a team. We are a family. I look forward to the practices in 90 degree weather. I look forward to starting from square one. I look forward to see what Kameron does next year. This past season, he started at tight end and cornerback. He played well all year. He even surprised me with his ability to catch the ball (you know where he got that from). I look forward to being with my family.

I look forward to stepping on the practice field and hearing those 2 words...

Hey Coach!