Moving On

What a day. I was going to write this little piece on fear. Well, there is no fear tonight. After completing some end of the year tasks, seeing a couple of the players for the last time, and generally just doing work it was time to celebrate. See, coaching has become what I am. Players come in and leave as productive citizens. They want to be great, most of the time, and attempt to conquer everything. Sometimes they have the tools and other times they must learn to master what talents they already have. These guys not only change themselves and the people around them, but they also make changes to me. I have always enjoyed the time my players spend with me. It is amazing to hear about the experiences they create after leaving, whether that is for a career or for more advanced degrees. As much as I enjoyed the times I shared with them I feel that I never really took the time to learn about those guys and what they really hoped to become or what they had learned before they moved on. Over the past couple of years I have diligently made it my mission to learn something unique about all the players on my team and even players that I interact with not on my team. This has led to an epiphany. These kids (young adults) are pretty dang cool. Now the part that sucks on a selfish scale; they leave. It is a must. They have completed the task of acquiring the degree. It is time to move on and get what they said they wanted or at least start trying to figure that out. Hell, I’m almost 40 and sometimes I really don’t know if I’m doing what I should be doing or if this is really what I want to be doing. Moving on is sometimes not the easiest thing especially if the experience has been fantastic. Remember when you were a little kid and mom would say in 5 minutes you are out of the pool and we are leaving. You prayed that mom lost track of time and even though you had been warned you pitched a fit when it was actually time to leave. Well, these guys don’t pitch fits but the process of leaving is prolonged as long as it can be. Why leave when you know everyone around you likes you. You know where everything is and how it all works. You know the hot spots, the hot girls, and when and where everything is going down. That is part of moving on. Embracing the new challenges that face you and using what you have learned in that four years. If the nurturing and guidance was correct, by the fourth year they have become the nurturer to the new crew. I’ll admit it is really never easy to say good bye because even though we are warned not to get too close these people become your extended family. Also, no matter how small, you have had a part in their growth and you have taught them how to move on. You never know if you will see them again. Sure there is facebook, twitter, email, and whatever else some creative drop-out creates, but those face to face interactions, those moments of pure success, and the bonds you have created are amazingly hard to re-create. Moving on, I preach it as a coach and I preach it as a friend. Gentlemen, move on to your next endeavor and tackle it with as much drive and determination that you did here. I’ll be in your ear telling you repeatedly, keep moving!