Cross Country

I have yet to mention on this blog that I have been helping coach the Cross-Country team at my school. It has been tremendously rewarding and a terrific learning experience. One of the reasons why I wanted to become a teacher is to coach at the high school level. I enjoyed being the captain of my cross country and track teams in high school and I think it provided a good foundation. I was a little unsure if I could handle the stress and time commitments of coaching and student teaching, but the head coach has been tremendous in allowing me to miss practices if I need to.

On that note, the head coach is and will be a huge influence on me. The program that he runs at this school is absolutely amazing. It goes beyond the fact that his teams go to state every year. It is about his level of commitment, how he makes running fun so kids want to come out, and how he demands their best, without being a jerk about it.

The great part is that the head coach right now is so completely different from my own high school cross country coach. They were/are both very distinguished head coaches, but that is were the similarities end. I am now able to see two completely different approaches to coaching and also craft my own vision for the type of coach I want to be.

I have gotten out of coaching just as much as I have put in. The one main lesson that I have learned from coaching is that it is still teaching, but just in a different environment.