Winning lacrosse games does not matter
For all the effort put into winning, winning does not matter. Wins and losses come and go, they do not define me as a coach or my players as student-athletes. It is my goal through my lacrosse program to help young athletes grow, mature, and evolve as young men off the field through the lessons that they learn via lacrosse. Winning a game will not get me to this goal.
After four years the opportunity to provide guidance to a young man on a day to day basis comes to an end. Upon graduation they will be starting the rest of their life and wondering what they get out of all the time they put in. What did they learn that really mattered? That is what a lacrosse program should be all about; the life lessons that come from being a lacrosse player. A lacrosse program is about personal development that comes from playing this amazing game and how athletes can bring those lessons into their everyday lives. A lacrosse program is not going to be about the wins. It is vital to give everyone that is involved with my program a greater perspective on what it is we are trying to achieve through lacrosse.
The incredible amount of time that we put into lacrosse may seem silly. If it is about the wins, then it is not only silly but it is pathetic. If we can become aware of what we can teach through this game to help our boys become great men then the time we put into lacrosse is not silly at all, in this sense lacrosse means everything.
It is on the field we learn such valuable lessons as:
- Being patient with others
- Knowing when to lead and when to follow
- Valuing timeliness
- Helping somebody less gifted and/or with less opportunity
- Treating others with respect
- Maintaining dignity in the midst of intense frustrations
- Caring about others success more than your own
- Being humble in victory and gracious in defeat
- Overcoming obstacles
- Relying on others to accomplish a goal
- Communicating effectively with people who have more or less authority then you
Being able to teach these lessons and so many more is a tremendous opportunity, this is lacrosse as life. Ironically the only way we can learn these life lessons through lacrosse is by doing our best to win games. If we decide to not try our best to win on the field then the boys will not try hard and will not get anything out of it. It is in school we gain knowledge, it is after school, on the lacrosse field, we learn how to apply it.
I will commit to creating the best lacrosse program I can. I am training my players for life. I am training them to become players in this world. I am training them to become strong, well-rounded men capable of taking on anything that life throws at them. I am training them to make sure every day the world is a better place because of their interaction with it. It is in this that I find my passion to coach, never winning.
