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Notwithstanding the brutality of the sport, there are\nconsiderable football skills to be learned and internalized. By the end of the summer sessions I was fighting\nharder than ever to show my skills and make the September cut. After an especially hot Friday practice, I\nshowered and headed for home. Trudging\nalong a sidewalk that ran parallel the practice field, I wondered if all the\neffort would pay off. Was my playing\nokay? Would I make the team? In the\nheat of battle, it\u2019s hard to know who\u2019s winning. Suddenly a car approached from behind, and a\nreassuring voice called out, \u201cWould you like a ride, Bruce?\u201d It was my coach, Bill Mackrides. I was\nhappy he even knew my name. \u201cSure,\u201d I\nsaid and climbed into the car. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know,\u201d coach Mackrides said, \u201cthe seniors are being pretty rough on you, but you\u2019re doing fine.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The words hit me like a shot of adrenaline.\u00a0 He\u2019d noticed my play on the field.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re making a good effort,\u201d he continued. \u201cIf you stick with it you could be a starter.\u201d The word \u201cstarter\u201d burned into my mind.\u00a0 But the coach\u2019s encouraging tone, in sharp contrast to the daily barbs I got from my juvenile teammates, was far more significant to me.\u00a0 His behavior informed mine.\u00a0\u00a0 In that moment, my doubt and uncertainty were transformed to resolve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a no doubt that coach Mackrides\u2019 game knowledge on the practice field, enabled me and others to venture beyond our technical comfort zones.\u00a0 He knew the science of football and he led from personal experience \u2013 leading passer in college football and former member of the Philadelphia Eagles\u00a0\u00a0 — two facts that never<\/em> came up while he was my coach.\u00a0 \u00a0He was all about the team, which did win a few games in a tough Pennsylvania league.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, William Mackrides had a superior understanding of the technical part of football, which he selflessly shared; but far more memorable, he had the ability to inspire and enable kids like me to reach higher.\u00a0 The aches from long-ago breaks and bruises are now amplified by time, causing me periodically to wonder if perhaps there might have been some less corporal way to spend my youth. \u00a0Football is, after all, a sport where the players intentionally run into each other at full-speed. \u00a0\u00a0Nah!\u00a0 No way I would have missed the chance to play for coach Mackrides!\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you think of a coach in your past that caused you to reach higher?\u00a0 Please share a story.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n