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I'm not sure what drove me to become a pants kicker (coach). Perhaps it was the numerous hits to my head over the years; it definitely wasn't money because my bank account seems to have a large hole in it. For me, coaching hasn't been all give, though; I've received a mental and physical rejuvenation from the players.
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I remember the first time I became reacquainted with a football helmet after twelve years away from the game. I was the spring of 2005 and Johoku's football team was scrimmaging and I saw an unattended football helmet sitting on the ground. I walked over and tried it on; the familiar stench dictated I take it for a test drive. Immediately, knew what I had to do; I entered the scrimmage at receiver. Two plays later, I caught a pass in the flats and took it to the house; damn near pulled a hamstring.
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Long ago, when my neighborhood friends and I first discovered organized football we thought we'd died and gone to heaven. Up to that point, we'd always played tackle football on a grass field with no equipment. My first year (1976) playing organized football, we only played away games because the park we practiced at didn't have a regulation football field. We only won one game that year against the San Pedro Dolphins, but we happily took our lumps; tellingly, all of us returned to play the following year.
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My teammates and I lived for gamedays and we measured ourselves by what we accomplished on the field. Unbeknownst to my young teammates and I, we didn't really need the game; we needed a kick in the pants (discipline) within the context of something that appealed to us. For my teammates and I, the coach, our opponents, and the game itself combined into one dynamic curriculum.
.My teammates and I lived for gamedays and we measured ourselves by what we accomplished on the field. Unbeknownst to my young teammates and I, we didn't really need the game; we needed a kick in the pants (discipline) within the context of something that appealed to us. For my teammates and I, the coach, our opponents, and the game itself combined into one dynamic curriculum.
Despite it's status as the holy grail of objectives, winning as a primary goal is a narrow a focus. Character development and discipline, on and off the field, is where it's at. You can plug almost any coach with a pulse into a fertile football program and get a good result on the field. Athletic adversity is an effective tool for teaching youth life's lessons, especially, when dealing with young and impressionable boys. There will always be the few who, for whatever reason, didn't receive the proper dose of pants kicking (discipline), needed to excel, or abide by the established behavioral norms. Perhaps the player's parents, or guardians, are absent, ill-suited, or just plain busy. What better surrogate than a pants kicker with a whistle to step in. As far as winning goes, if everything is addressed in a balanced and thoughtful manner you'll get a good result, on and off of the field.
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