Making an Impact
Being a strength and conditioning coach is not much different than being a sports coach, a school teacher or even a music teacher. We all teach something. The skills or the material we teach is different, but in the end, it’s pretty much all the same. Kids will learn something from us that will make them better at something.
So in a way, we need to have a pretty good mastery of the material or the skills we teach. We also need to be able to communicate well in order to help the kids get better. Being a good player will not guarantee that you will be a good coach, or that you will be good at helping the kids become better at playing their sport.
But other than teaching kids to get better playing guitar, playing hockey, learning history, or improving the way they move and helping them get stronger, what are we there for? Being a teacher or a coach in whatever field is also about making an impact in kids lives.
No matter how old the kids you’re coaching or teaching are, kindergarten or college, you can make an impact. You can make an impact by making them better at what they do, but it goes far beyond that. Some kids need guidance, encouragement, rewards, better self-esteem, and sometimes just someone to talk to. The impact you can make in a kid’s life is huge. So many of the kids we train at Endeavor leave after training for a couple months with us with more confidence than they ever had, and sometimes it’s all it takes for them to become a better soccer player, baseball player, hockey player, etc.
Too often we underestimate the influence we can have on a young person’s life. Many habits, lifestyle changes and values can be taught through strength and conditioning, like any sport, discipline or school subject. Kids are very influenceable and very moldable and there lives are just waiting to be shaped by their parents, family, friends, coaches, teachers and whoever comes in their life.
One of the stories about a coach’s influence in an athlete’s life that I really like is the one of Cus D’Amato and the impact he had on boxing legend Mike Tyson. D’Amato, who was a nearly retired boxing manager took Tyson under his wing and made him one of the greatest boxers of all time.
Tyson with his late manager and mentor Cus D’Amato
With the help of D’Amato, Tyson found discipline, work ethic, respect and got his life together; D’Amato was the father figure he never had in his life. Tyson always attributed his success and rise to stardom to D’Amato who helped him have structure in his life. What is amazing about this story is that Tyson before D’Amato was a bum, who grew up in high-crime neighborhoods all is life, who has been arrested over 30 times by the time he was 13 and lost his mom at 16. Despite everything in his life that was pointing to him becoming a criminal, Tyson had the chance to cross path with D’Amato, who put him on right track and gave his life structure.
And if you’re not convinced of the positive impact of D’Amato in Tyson’s life, just take a look at how his career turned after D’Amato died in 1985, and after he fired Kevin Rooney in 1988 (who was his trainer under D’Amato); Tyson’s career started to decline, he started having problems inside and outside the ring and he never was the same boxer again.
Of course it is a peculiar situation, and you can’t expect all the kids you coach or teach to be little Mike Tysons who need someone to put them on the right path. But there is always a way you can impact a kid’s life in a way you can’t imagine.
How are you going to make an impact with your athletes today?
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