Thanksgiving

Being Thankful as a coach… This has been an incredible blog to write...a personal inventory... The moments for which I have been most thankful as a coach might surprise you. Most important, is the very fact that so many of you parents have been willing to share your precious children with me.   I have never been one to deny that I have cried when great things have happened, but what one  person might consider great,  another may not.  The fact is, I cry easily when it comes to my swimmers.  What is the definition of thankful?  Webster’s says it is being “conscious of benefit received”.  What are the benefits I have received as a  swim coach? Have you ever tried to count the number of water drops in a pool?  Impossible.  Rather, here are five positives that I have taken from the millions that I want to share. 1.       Having a positive influence on lives.  It goes without saying that if you care about what you do then you can affect the people around you.  As a youth coach you have the ability to make a lifelong impact on how children develop.  We are not talking role models here.  I have never tried to be a role model for anyone.  What I have tried to do is instill values and morals into people that will help young people succeed in the future.  One of the key ingredients in that progress requires PMA.  Having a Positive Mental Attitude can influence every aspect of a young athlete's life.  We always want our swimmers to become great people.  When you have been coaching for as long as I have you get the opportunity to see your swimmers become parents and professionals.  This is so cool.  Past Student-Athletes have become teachers and they have passed that on to their students…giving thanks…. 2.      Watching swimmers overcome adversity.  I have seen  athletes overcome physical illness or even life adversity to take swimming to the next level.  I can think of two very distinct examples.  I watched one young lady overcome a family adversity to regain faith, confidence and belief in herself to achieve some incredible things in the pool and in the classroom.  The key was support which helped her realize the greatness she already had inside of herself. As a coach, I was able to instill in her the faith that she already had everything she needed to succeed, plus the understanding to do incredible things.  With a couple of bumps along the road, which ultimately reaffirmed her faith in her own ability, she  exceeded expectations.  A true success story.  To this day, I cannot be more proud of the person she has become. Another unexpected example of overcoming adversity occurred with a young swimmer who suffered a burst appendix.  When I went to visit her in the hospital my heart dropped to my feet.  Seeing her there was one of the toughest things I have ever had to deal with.  As I talked with her and her mom, I was sure that she would pull through. This little girl had to spend two weeks at the mercy of a hospital room, laying limp, when I was used to seeing her battle her way through challenging practices every day in the pool. Just seeing her up, walking around and happy again would be all that I could ask for. It broke my heart to see her and her family waiting helplessly by her bed. She did pull through.   And ever since she has been back in the pool every day has been an adventure.  I wondered, will she have the will and energy to push forward?  Will she continue to push for best times? At the last meet, I put her in the 200 Freestyle knowing she would not be thrilled with doing such a challenging event. As her coach, I knew she could do it.  She is one of the toughest kids from an amazingly supportive family. Could she do it and have a positive outcome?  I trust my instincts as a coach, but I still wonder, did I make the right call? When I put kids in events for the first time I never do it unless I am 100% sure they can swim it successfully.  I knew this particular swimmer could do it, but I wanted her to get out of the pool with a smile.  Two minutes before she swam I went up to this smiling 10 year old and went over her race plan.  I wished her good luck and asked her to smile.  She “fist bumped” me and smiled.  I knew right then that it was not about time but about the finish.  She did it…and set the bar in the event which I am sure the next time she swims, will be faster.  She is like the first young lady I spoke of. She is a swimmer who  will always overcome any adversity in her path, because that is who she is at heart. 3.      Watching Best times happen – Coaches are always thankful for our swimmers getting Best Times.  It is the carrot at the end of the string, the light at the end of the tunnel.  All clichés aside, we coaches live for watching every swimmer achieve something that only the stopwatch will tell.  So many laps, yards, workouts, practices and more, we have lived and hoped through it all.  When  personal bests happen we are elated.  I once had to get down on all 4’s and bark like a dog for a girl when she got her best time in the 500.  When a certain backstroker broke the school record in the 100 back we had to go to Spencerport High School pool and pull the old  record off with a lifeguarding pole.  Recently, one of my 10 and under boys got his best time in the 100 IM after more than a year.  For a young guy, a year is like forever.  We knew he had the time. We only hoped that he keep his smile at his accomplishment as long as we coaches do.  I have said  many times that swimmers will not swim their best time every time their bodies touch the water.  But, when best times happen, and every time they happen, we rejoice.  Celebrate! Bask in the feeling of progress!  Then move on. 4.      Goals missed but an accomplishment still attainted – What happens when you get that close, almost, but not quite what you were hoping for?  The answer is (with the proper coaching) something just as incredible.   As a coach, I have experienced all of the "almosts".    The let down for swimmer and coach is relatively brief.  WOW…that hard work and dedication got you to a place we had dreamed of.  Even if you did not go all the way, you still did something very special.  I had a backstroker that swam at a summer camp of mine.  We swam in the exact pool that Sectionals would take place in.  I jokingly predicted that one day she would win the 100 back from the very lane she was practicing in….lane 1.  Three  months later, she swam the race of her life, probably one of the best race plans executed ever, placed 3rd and missed the New York State cut off by.04 in the exact same lane.  To this day, regardless of the outcome, I am so proud of her.  To Elizabeth, Sarah, Dale, Pola, Brett, Jillian, Heather, Jennifer, Jessica, Beaner, Boggs, and more…I did my best, you did your best and I will always be thankful that we got where we  needed to go. 5.      The blessing of being a swimming coach.  So who is Scott?  I am a Swimming Coach.  After writing this blog I am more proud of the opportunities I have had as a coach, now more than ever.  I look back on the years, the faces, the kids, the young adults; I am truly blessed and thankful.  Everyday I get to do what I love.  I go to work happy everyday; I come home excited about tomorrow.  I don't know what I would do if I was not a Swim Coach.  Recently one of my best friends and fellow coaches knocked me off my feet by announcing to his team that he thought I was one of the best teaching coaches he had ever met.  I was just happy to be able to work with those particular swimmers in the pool.  I am thankful, I am blessed, to be able to live everyday helping young people do something they enjoy and become the best possible person they can be.  That is a gift.  A blessing. I will never forget a face, or a name, of any of my swimmers.  No one is forgotten.  Everything is important.  This is my life.  I am blessed.  As a coach, I have so much for which to be thankful. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you to all the parents and swimmers that I am fortunate to be a part of their swimming lives. Coach Scott