As an athlete, it’s rare to find one or two good coaches in our lives, but once we do, it’s more than a reward, it’s life-changing. When a player is trying to develop their skills in a sport, they depend on the coach's expertise and input to be the best version of themselves. Even at the highest levels of sports, we see players still needing that coaching support because without it, players will never achieve their full potential.
Coaches are like teachers in a classroom; they dictate how they inspire or change a student's life. Sometimes, they become like family. If we take a look at the relationship Deion Sanders has built with the players he coaches, most notably Travis Hunter, he is like a second father to Hunter and the other players he coaches. He never brings them down, he breaks them to build them up and become the best versions of themselves.
I believe what Deion Sanders is doing is more than being a coach, he is helping his athletes for life after football. How a coach talks to athletes makes a difference because it is how players build their mentality. Players who are under a coach who speaks life into them tend to react to more positive feedback and develop an “I can” mentality.
A coach who cares more about their own success than their players' infringes on the players’ confidence, which is why I believe having great coaches matters. Here is the cool thing: I was able to experience both sides of the coin.
My basketball experience with coaching was bad. The verbal abuse was enough to make anyone quit altogether. My high school coach told me to quit and that I wasn’t smart enough. The coach would also let me get bullied by my other teammates; even though they viewed it as a joke, to me, it was hurtful.
There were times when I would go home and cry, and it got to a point where I wanted to give up on life. That is what bad coaching can do to you. If it were not for my supportive cast, only God knows where I would have ended up.
On the other side were the coaches who believed in me and treated me with the utmost respect. If you are trying to guess who these coaches were, it was my Amateur Athletic Union coach and her friend. They showed me what it feels like to have coaches truly care about your development and reward you for the hard work you put in.
They restored my faith in coaches and made me realize that there are good ones out there. You can work hard and train all you want, but it is the supporting cast that makes a player and their mentality. For me, it was the result of great coaches who lit a fire inside me and motivated me to rise to any occasion.
The opinion desk can be reached at opinion@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Ken Smith
