Yesterday, a couple of 8th grade students who played football for me this past fall were in the gym talking prior to PE class. I could see them eyeing me and discussing something as I walked by. They stopped me and asked,
“Coach Floyd, are you getting shorter?”
I answered, “No, I am the same height that I have been since my freshman year in high school… why?”
They said “Well, you just seemed a lot bigger at the beginning of the year during football”
My reply was “Maybe you guys have just grown this year”
A couple of things that are going on here…
The students HAVE grown this (and every) year… in many ways… physically, mentally, and emotionally. I am sure that at the beginning of the year that I was, and did seem bigger in relation to their size.
The second, more important thing to keep in mind is that as a teacher and a coach, you… we… are larger than life figures to these young men and women that we teach and coach. This perceived “giant” stature is not limited to middle school students and athletes…. it happens at all levels… from Pop Warner to the NFL.
To this day I remember how ecstatic I was when Roy Stillwagon, my football coach at Ervin Jr. High, told me “good job” after running a drill.
Bart Starr of the Packers said of his coach Vince Lombardi, “this short, squat man filled every room he entered”
Being a teacher and a coach is an awesome career… with awesome responsibility.
Related Posts:
You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!
Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com
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