from my myspace page

Ok for those of you who dont know ....I love to coach! I have coached baseball....teeball...and now flag football. I instruct my son on how to play soccer, wrestle, basketball, swimming and golf once or twice....I just love to talk and teach sports. Out of all of the teams I have coached I favor my flag football teams the most.
In my first year of coaching I was lucky enough to get some VERY talented players on my team....alot of the kids had never played before and most were at the younger end of the age group. My 1 veteran on the team ended up being the leagues star player and carried us to an undefeated championship year. I am greatful that I had him on my team and will always love the memories that were mde that season. I felt like most of the kids tried thier hardest on most plays and learned what they could about the game....When the season started I told the parents not to expect much out of the kids as I was going to focus on teaching the basics of the game and having fun...winning would be encouraged but not focused on.....I heard a grumble or two but nobody really complained. 13 games later we were undefeated and won a championship beating the steelers coached by Dan Will ( who I will face again tomorrow in the championship game). More times than I can count in that season Isiah Wilkes the star player pulled off a couple game changing plays and helped us win a game we otherwise would have lost.....at seasons end I walked away thinking it could get no better. the parents loved me as a coach the players loved me and the other coaches respected me...I mean we were the only team running the offense out of the shot-gun!!!! 5-7 year olds running the shot-gun...and running it well! but there were whispers of "if they didnt have wilkes". As a coach that annoyed me!!! we were a team and every kid contributed at some point in some way...sure he made the game easier but thats what star players do right?
It wasnt until my 4th consecutive loss at the beginning of this season that I realised how much I as a coach had leaned on him..... As a coach I had let him take the game into his hands and run away with it.....4 games into this season (with the help of my wife) I realised that I wasn't coacing this team like I did last years team...I was stressed and wasnt having fun....I was yelling at the kids and actually looking to my own son to perform on the level that my star player performed on...I was breaking down my sons confidence in himself and in his teammates....I was tearing apart my team and my son from the inside out all because I was trying to live up to my reputation as a coach......I gave into the hype of all the parents requesting thier kids to be on my team thinking that they wanted thier kid on the winning team and thats why they were comming to me. I put the "W" before the fun and it took Anna to point that out to me.
I immediately changed my attitude toward the team and the game...trying to focus on teamwork and having fun. I saw an immediate turn around in the way the kids played the game....It is amazing to me that my attitude toward the game can have such an astounding effect on the outcome ....when I shrugged off penalties and bad plays and said get back to the ball and we willl get it next time the kids seemed to have more confidence in themselves.....I started trying to focus on fixing the flaws in our game in practice and just preaching the get it next time tactic in the game...I know now that positivity on the field will get you further than anythig , thanks to anna....
We swithed a few things on the defensive side of the ball and started exploiting our opponents weakness. We put the pressure on them to score and just had faith in the fact that our offense would eventually put up points......in effect I took the game out of my hands and put it into the hands of the kids....I let them play to thier strenghts.
I sit here tonight on the eve of my second championship apearance in my second year of coahing. I am proud of what the team has accomplished...they came from dead last a 5 game losing streak to start the season all the way to a strong 2nd place finish in the regular seson and a spot in the championship game. I could not be more proud of a group of kids....they work as a team...they think as a team and the play as a team....i see the quarterback out there blocking for the running back, I see the guard help pick up a block for the center,...I see kids running reveres, and diving for tackles, and changing the snap count,.....I see my boys turning around thier season and playing with heart...I see them making me VERY proud, and out of all this what i have learned is the most important I see them out there making memories and having FUN.
I love my Cowboys.....every cowboy team I coach offers me something to love about each and every one of them but what I love about this team more than any other is that they have tought me how to coach....how to enjoy it all and not seek the glory of a win....how to love watching 9 kids work togethr to make themselves as well as thier teammates something they love ....the feeling of a big win...... No matter the outcome of the championship game tomorrow...you are all winners in my book and no team out there deserves it more or has worked as har to get where you have...I love my boys....you amaze me with every play...I will never forget the fond memories you guys have given me.

Update: After a hard fought game and some amazing plays...the cowboys wee defeated with less than a minute left in the game when the oposing team had a heads up moment and ran the ball before the defense was ready....the running back took off up the left side of the field and before anyone knew what was going on he was only a step away from giving the steelers a 5 point advantage with too little time for the cowboys to mounta a comeback drive.....good job steelers on your great season and congatulations to coach dan for finally getting that championship...see you all next year.