That Was for You, Coach!

 

Yesterday was a busy day for me. This year, I’ve been the head coach for my oldest son’s school soccer team. So far, we are undefeated.

But yesterday, well, it was a close one.

 

We had to travel up to Dalton to play at Heritage Soccer Complex. Seph’s school has the use of transit-type passenger buses, but in order to get there and get warmed up in time for the game to start at 4:15, we were going to have to leave Calhoun no later than 2:45.

 

I got to the school at 2:20 to load up the gear and pick up the kids. And to my surprise, instead of the two buses reserved — and needed — to get our whole team transported up to Dalton, only one bus was parked in the designated pickup location.

 

To make a long story short, the other bus went MIA.

 

I could only fit 14 of my 19 players on the bus, so we had to make arrangements for a minivan to take the others. This put us leaving 15 minutes late, and I was nervous.

 

Thankfully, we got to Heritage about 25 minutes before the game started and had time to warm up.

 

Heritage is an interesting field in that it’s made of turf. When playing soccer, this means the ball moves very differently than it does on regular grass — which is what we have played every other game on this season.

 

The other difference was the goals. We were used to regulation goals that are 8 feet tall and 24 feet wide. These were only about 6.5 feet tall and 18.5 feet wide.

 

We found out quickly that the difference between 8 and 6.5 feet is massive when it comes to shooting on goal. For most of the game, our top shooters were sending the ball over the crossbar. Those same shots at home would have been right in the net.

 

So that made for an interesting game.

Then there was the turf.

 

I quickly noticed that my players would go to kick the ball and, instead of making good contact like normal, they would whiff — meaning they barely made contact with it.

 

The ball was moving slightly faster on the turf than it did on grass. So when my players went to kick, their timing was off and the ball was farther in front of them than they realized.

 

This became a real problem on defense because one of the main jobs of a defender is to “boot” the ball downfield after taking it from the opposing team. If you whiff, the ball stays in play on our goal side for the other team to work with.

 

And that’s dangerous.

 

Speaking of the opposing team, they had played — and I assume practiced — on this field before because they didn’t seem to be experiencing the same problems shooting or clearing the ball that we were.

 

Because of all that, toward the end of the second half, we were behind 3-1.

 

And I was very nervous.

But then, out of nowhere, one of our strikers figured out his timing, shot a low ball and put it right in the net.

 

My team went wild.

 

The tension continued to rise as the clock counted down and we only had minutes left.

 

Again, the same shooter found the ball under pressure and put another one in to tie the game.

 

Everybody went wild.

 

But my favorite part of that whole interaction was when the shooter came running over to me, jumped in the air with a huge grin, gave me a big high-five and said, “That was for you, Coach!”

 

I beamed.

 

Not because of the goal, but because of the gratitude I felt getting to be a part of all these kids’ lives.

 

You know, I didn’t really know what I was agreeing to when I signed on for this position. I had never been a head coach before. It has certainly been a time commitment — one I grossly underestimated.

 

But it has also been a fulfilling season.

 

And once again, not because of our record.

 

It’s because I have gotten to lead and have a positive impact on these kids — especially my son.

 

What I have found this season is that coaching isn’t really about the sport. It’s about making an impact on kids and helping them learn the internal skills they need to be successful in life — things like how to correct negative self-talk, how to be persistent, and how to show up and give it your all when it’s nearly 100 degrees outside and you just want to lie down and do nothing.

Being part of that is the kind of thing you can’t buy.

 

For me, it’s the kind of stuff that makes for a life worth living — finding a place where you can make an impact that outlives you and builds others up.

 

And I am both glad and very grateful that I was asked to do it.

 

Speaking of being grateful, because we have our rentals, my income didn’t take a hit every Tuesday and Thursday since the season started in August when I had to leave work at 2 p.m. to be at the school in time to pick up the kids for practices and games.

 

I know a lot of coaches have to contend with lost wages or getting time off from their jobs to be able to do something like this.

 

And I’m very grateful that’s not something I have to deal with.

 

But back to the game.

 

The clock ticked down to zero, and the ref blew the whistle to end it. Because there was another game scheduled right after ours, we had to settle for a 3-3 tie instead of going into extra time to determine a winner.

 

So, we’re still undefeated.

 

And with only two games left, we’ve already secured a winning season.

 

But regardless of what happens in those last two games, I think I’ve already figured out what made this season a win.

 

Joe and Ashley English buy houses and mobile homes in Northwest Georgia. For more information or to ask a question, go to www.cashflowwithjoe.com or call Joe at 678-986-6813.