Dale Brown: Coaches must teach far more than sports

They came in every variety.

Some swaggered to hide their fears. Some had self-doubt written in their every gesture. Some were loud, and their speech said the world was their turf. Some you could barely hear. Some wore the newest fashions; some had holes in their shoes. Some were White, and some were Black. Some were short, and some were tall.

They all had one thing in common, they could play basketball. We went and got them. We cajoled and promised. We painted bright dreams. We sat in their homes and the gyms for hours.

We talked and talked, wrote letter after letter, and called them on the telephone time and time again. Getting them — that is what recruiting was all about.

Suddenly, like Captain Marvel after a “shazam!,” there they were in our midst, and they were ours. We tried to improve and perfect their skills. We tried to make them faster, more accurate, more attuned to every aspect of the game we coached.

We succeeded with some and failed with some. Some went on to the good life, and some fell by life’s wayside and became old men with busted dreams.

So, is that it? Is that our obligation to them? Is that what this calling of coaching is all about? I think not.

I believe that those parents who sent us their most precious possessions, their hopes for the future, their tomorrows, and the kids themselves are due a lot more from those of us who dedicate ourselves to the coaching profession.

We owe them a vision of life that goes beyond the basketball court. We owe them a sense of right and wrong and knowledge that the wrong path has consequences.

We must teach them that the end does not always justify the means. More wrong has been committed against humanity with that flawed philosophy than perhaps any other.

We must show them the dignity within themselves and, equally important, to respect the dignity of others. We must teach them that their word is sacred, that what they say must be true otherwise they are only shells of men. We must teach them that the education they receive in the classroom is invaluable and a far better accomplishment than playing basketball. We must broaden their vision of the world so that their lives are not just focused on basketball.

When we say goodbye to these young men entrusted in our care, we must ask ourselves: “What have we done for them?” “Are they better or worse?” “Are they more than when we got them or less?”

They are living records of our own failures and successes. Coaching should be about these young men’s lives and steering their lives in the right direction. The legendary coach John Wooden said, “No written word, no spoken plea, no books can teach our youth what they should be. It is what the teachers are themselves.”

The word coach was used long before we had sports. A coach was a horse-drawn carriage used to transport a person of importance from where he or she is to where he or she wants to be, could be, needs to be, or ought to be going.

That is exactly what a real coach should be doing. It isn’t who you coach or where you coach but why you coach.