Vigilante
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True story:
My son was in middle school, when I decided to coach his football team.
At that age, they actually had a coaches draft to start the season. Everything was stacked against us as the new kids, and the good ol' boys actually were laughing at the end of the draft because we ended up with the majority of the misfits, the underdogs, and the little kids along with the first time players.
Enter practice.
The first thing I did was cut snack time. It was football, not cub scouts.
We also agreed as a team that we would not accept a trophy at the end of the season unless we won the championship.
A flurry of hate email and contacting the league office ensued.
Then, I had a practice where I taught the kids to stay low while seeing what they hit. How? I brought in an axe handle and a chainsaw and held it at chest height over their heads. If they were to fire out too high, or keep their heads up, they would have run right into the chainsaw or axe handle depending on which station they were at.
And... another round of hate email and contacting the league office ensued.
But you know that's not the end of the story.
The team went on to be the first undefeated team in the history of the school. We took a group of ragamuffins, and made them undefeated champions. It was a dream season that the kids will never forget. We beat all of the coaches that laughed at our team of misfits in the draft, as well as all of the powerhouse neighborhood school programs.
I am still in touch with many of the kids through the years.
Epilogue : We were asked not to come back the following year, due to the volume of parent complaints, and the fact that we didn't follow the system. Story of my life, and I was totally OK with it.
My son was in middle school, when I decided to coach his football team.
At that age, they actually had a coaches draft to start the season. Everything was stacked against us as the new kids, and the good ol' boys actually were laughing at the end of the draft because we ended up with the majority of the misfits, the underdogs, and the little kids along with the first time players.
Enter practice.
The first thing I did was cut snack time. It was football, not cub scouts.
We also agreed as a team that we would not accept a trophy at the end of the season unless we won the championship.
A flurry of hate email and contacting the league office ensued.
Then, I had a practice where I taught the kids to stay low while seeing what they hit. How? I brought in an axe handle and a chainsaw and held it at chest height over their heads. If they were to fire out too high, or keep their heads up, they would have run right into the chainsaw or axe handle depending on which station they were at.
And... another round of hate email and contacting the league office ensued.
But you know that's not the end of the story.
The team went on to be the first undefeated team in the history of the school. We took a group of ragamuffins, and made them undefeated champions. It was a dream season that the kids will never forget. We beat all of the coaches that laughed at our team of misfits in the draft, as well as all of the powerhouse neighborhood school programs.
I am still in touch with many of the kids through the years.
Epilogue : We were asked not to come back the following year, due to the volume of parent complaints, and the fact that we didn't follow the system. Story of my life, and I was totally OK with it.