I Believe

This past summer, as we walked into Coach Stortz' office in Lake Zurich (IL), Coach Stortz tossed me a book. It was a book that he had required his entire staff to read that same summer. "I Believe... In Cream, Apples, & Football-Thoughts for Coaches" is the title of the book. Written by long time coach Larry Beckish.
"You can take it," he said.
Since then, not a week has passed that I don't pick up the book and read from it. It is filled with short stories from Coach Beckish's coaching career and even better quotes. To pick a favorite would be impossible, but I would like to share the quote that has been most prominent in my mind of late.

"I Believe...If you walk around with a game face on all the time, you won't have a face for game day."

When I first read it I laughed. But it was less than a second later that I was looking into my own actions to see how I measured up. Often times, throughout the school day I can see when the kids grow a little tired of me. If they missed lifting that morning, the kids will always walk or at least look the other way when they see me coming down the hall.
It is a constant struggle for me. I don't want to bug them, but I do have this overwhelming desire to see each of my athletes reach their full potential and no matter how hard I try, I will always eventual ask why they were not in attendance that day. Some days, it'll way heavily on me as I wonder if I'm asking too much of these kids. To lift weights 2 times a week before school nearly all year long. But it always comes back to this thought. A coach's job is to push an athlete further than he will go on his own. I really wish my school had a weight lifting class like many of the schools throughout Illinois and likely the nation. This would take the 'Bad Guy' tag off of my head. But we don't. So my options? My football team doesn't lift weights, or I push like crazy to get them there in the morning.
Fortunately, I really think this is the only area in which I struggle with this 'Take your game face off from time to time' concept. The kids enjoy talking with me for the most part. Though I do have to constantly play games with myself. How long can I go without talking about football? You want to know my saving grace? Video games. Though I don't get to play as much as a kid. I can still be found playing on my XBOX 360 1-2 hours a week in the off-season. It's amazing how the words 'Modern Warfare' spawn instant conversation in a high school classroom.