I got an email the other day from a woman with a son who she said was very depressed because he’d injured his neck during practice with his high school football team. It wasn’t life threatening and there wasn’t any fear of his being paralyzed, but he was told by doctors that surgery, to fuse two discs, was required and that he would never play football again.
She told me the surgery went well and he couldn’t wait to go out to football practice just to see his teammates. As he was standing on the sidelines, wearing a neck collar, a number of his teammates came over on their way out just to wish him well, but only one of seven coaches stopped to ask him how he was doing and it wasn’t the head coach.
The mother told me it bothered her son a great deal and her as well. The coaching staff went straight out onto the field and got busy “coaching”. This young man was no longer any use on the field, so he was no longer important, or so it seemed.
I don’t want to be overly critical because I don’t know the coaches, but it’s a stark reminder that anyone in the the coaching business is “Coaching for Life” and to get so wrapped up in the game could mean that you’re leaving behind a trail of tears.
Is that worth it?
August 20, 2008 at 1:03 am |
This is a great example where ability has taken over the priorities in a team concept and people are on the backburner. As coaches, we are in the people business and we must never loose sight of the big picture of character being the ultimate goal.