Over the weekend I was given the opportunity to announce a large multi-team (22 schools) Thanksgiving Invitational swimming meet at the huge South Davis Recreation Center about a block from our house. After 30+ years of successful coaching AND announcing swimming, my expertise the last few years has primarily been the 'voice' of our football and basketball games at my high school, which, admittedly, I know little about...(after a few test drives I found it didn't take a rocket scientist to read the scoreboard and say 'second and three at the 45 yard yard line').
Being back in the swim of things was surprisingly comfortable and a lot of fun, and I know it is good for the moms and dads in the stands to have someone at the mike who understands some of the nuances of competitive swimming. The meet was long, the heats sometimes seemed endless, but watching coaches and athletes interact and the enthusiasm of clean competition was invigorating. My wife is a former competitive swimmer (coincidentally, for the same program I was asked to announce for) so her help was welcome and a great way to share the experience.
One of the most rewarding moments was announcing the son and daughter of a swimmer who competed very successfully under my tutelage, and the reunion, though brief, reminded me of the critical importance Educator/Philosopher/Coaches play in the lives of student/athletes they spend so much time with...sometimes as much as 25-30 hours a week for swimmers, FAR more than their English teacher, AP Chemistry teacher, and sometimes, even their parents. Paul Bergen, one of my favorite philsopher/coaches said to me succinctly once, "You're seriously meddling in these kids lives".
Bruce (who went on to college, medical school, and a successful medical practice...one of MANY of our athletes to do so on the discipline they learned in sport), his wife, and I laughed as we visited sharing fond memories of the grueling lessons learned in the pool and out, and the 'Lauber'isms' shared with their offspring as platitudes for success...some I'm still proud of, and some just plain funny. It was a warm, fullfilling feeling that I know not too many teachers get to share after the fact, but not too many teachers share the bond student/athletes and coaches share through the strong emotional bond of the struggle for excellence that also includes a struggle against the physical pain of daily training.
I have said MANY times, and still maintain, most Americans do not understand sport...they sit in their easy chairs on a Saturday or Sunday watching over-paid chemically enhanced thouroughbreds play at a kids game, hoist their Bud Light, and call it 'sport'...it is better called what it really is: spectacle. I saw a little girl finish the 50 yard freestyle in 2:37 on Saturday (it's typically a :30 second swim), get out of the pool and hug her mom, excited at her 'best swim', who understands sport a whole lot more that those arm-chair quarterbacks who can quote the latest Green Bay stats, or a MLB players batting average. This is the subject for a whole blog in the future which will certainly get my Man Card revoked, so look forward to that. Back to the business at hand...
John Wooden, famed basketball coach at UCLA always booked himself as a teacher first, then a coach. IMHO opinion his writings and platitudes (Wooden'isms, if you will...) should be required study for ALL aspiring coaches who want to work with kids, and probably classroom teachers as well. We've lost touch of much of the humanism, and a lot of the wonder and joy of teaching through over-specialization and focus on 'winning' when the root meaning of competition in it's simplest sense is merely 'to strive together'...to work together, to bring out the best in one another.
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