Thursday Night Memory

My fondest memory of high school sports came last Thursday night. I wish that I could recall a crowning moment in my prep playing or coaching career, when team, and goals came together in one shining moment. I can barely recall my brief attempt at coaching, and my hope is that none of my former players will write a rebuttal to this article. In my busy world of school administration, my fondest memory of high school sports is my latest.

Thursday night I was working late in my office, trying to get caught up on some paperwork, when the phone rang. It was a mom of a varsity football player, who wanted a message delivered to her son who was still out practicing. I jotted down her message, decided that paperwork could wait, and slipped out to the football field. I hadn't been out to practice since the beginning of the season, and I knew the team was preparing for a big game. Our team needed a win Friday to stay alive in the playoff hunt.

When I got out the field I saw a group of guys having fun playing football. It was almost surreal, the team was working very casually on plays that I knew they would run the next night. I had expected that the team would be in a fevered pitch, working on the emotion needed to win a big game. Instead, I saw our coach casually talking to his team, in the same way a chemistry teacher might demonstrate a detailed experiment. No hype, no grand promises, no rah, rah about if you work hard good things will happen.

Instead, the team was working on their plays, they were talking to each other, calmly preparing for the game. I knew that I had stumbled onto a teachable moment – the coach with his team working on the little details that you never see under the bright lights of a Friday night game.

There was emotion to the practice routine, but the emotion was a coach teaching his players the little things about football that make playing on a team special.

What I didn't see was a coach yelling at his players. What I didn't see was a coach belittling his players, shaming them into doing better. What I saw was a coach actively preparing his athletes in such a way that you could tell the team was having fun being together. The team had taken the cue from the coach, and were treating each other like the coach was treating them. They were quietly, calmly, and very purposely preparing for the game. What I saw was the real reason schools sponsor teams, so students can learn about how to treat people well in emotional and stressful situations. The coach and his assistants were treating our players with decency and respect, and our students mirrored their example.
Our team went on to win the game Friday night, in a tense, emotional, and hard hitting game.

Our players were openly emotional and played to their potential. After the game, surrounded by parents and adoring fans in the end zone, our coach addressed the team. He addressed the team with the tone you expect from a coach. He shouted out admiration and adoration for his players for listening to the coaches, and playing hard the entire game. Each word of praise brought shouts from the team, and cheers from the parents, everyone in the team huddle was wearing a smile. As I left the field, under the stadium lights I realized that our coach had won this game Thursday night. Thursday night a coach showed me that respectfully and calmly you can teach students how to prepare for the challenges they may face in their journey through life. Fondly, I look back on last Thursday night and know this is why we have high school sports.

— Steven M Beyer
Steven M Beyer is Associate Principal at Sterling Heights Stevenson High School
where Rick Bye is the varsity football coach