A Decade of Coaching

I started coaching at this pool 10 years ago as a Delta Skimmer. I was a 19 year old that didn't know what I was doing. I relied on the head coach to tell me how and what to teach. He had a family crisis in the middle of the season and I was left to figure things out, which I did and realized that it was a pretty great summer job before heading off to BYU. The following two summers I stayed at BYU to take classes and enjoy school without much swimming and headed off for my mission. I came home from my mission in April and coached for Valley Vista which were fun times. It was a good way to get back into normal life and was the beginning of dating Danny which still makes me smile.

Tangent...we were so young, naive and just soo in love....like when you missed the person after an hour and couldn't wait for them to get home. Don't worry, I still have that same anticipation of Danny getting home (but now its so I can get some help with the kids and have an adult to hang out with). Haha...but in all reality I do love, appreciate and need Danny more now than ever. How grateful I am for him.

So back to coaching. I finished up school and swimming for BYU and came back to a sales job in San Francisco so I could earn some money for our literally growing family. I coached on the side for Aquabears. I was able to coach under an amazing head coach as an assistant to the Senior Group. I actually learned how to coach. I learned how to fix strokes, what to look for and how to inspire kids. Great experience. At the same time I took on the Purple Group which were our 10-13 year olds more or less. Great group. Loved working with kids. Most importantly loved striving to become a better coach and more importantly person as I was doing it.

You learn a lot about yourself as a coach.

I hope that all my kids knew that I cared about them. That I wanted what was best for them. Most of the time I think I did an alright job. I look back on some situations and would have done differently. But that is what life is all about right. If I was the same person and coach when I started as when I ended it would have all been for naught.

I learned that perhaps the greatest thing I can do is be the best example I can be to these kids. Kids go through a lot these days. Way more than when we were kids and sometimes they just need somewhere to tell them they can do or they will make it through. I hope I left a positive example.

I learned to work with parents and perhaps most importantly learned what kind of parent I wanted to become. There were so many parents who were great examples to me. Parents who supported their kids and understand the real objective behind a sport. There were others who wanted the best for their kids just lost sight of what that really is. How easy that is to do. I hope I can take all that wisdom and experience with me as a parent.

I learned to balance family life and work. You get to a point that you can get really busy, really fast doing lessons. It is great money and I LOVE to see kids improve from lessons, but it can come at the expense of having a full time job. One summer I was at the pool and away from my kids too much so I learned to say no. I learned to set boundaries and realize that not only is it ok to say no, but it is a good thing. My family and I come first.

I learned what it is like to work at something and become good at it. I started out as a swimmer who was taught how to coach, to a coach who was mentored by other coaches to a coach who could try new things, invent new ways of saying something or teaching a concept that might just help a kid and see if they worked. It is really cool to do that and see kids get it and improve. I really enjoyed doing lessons the past couple of summers because that is where I could help someone really focus on what they needed to do to improve.

I ended coaching coaching for two teams. I went back to Valley Vista as a rec coach and LOVED it! It gave me some of the excitement and energy that I had lost over the past year for whatever reason. The coaches were all there because they loved the kids and loved doing what they were doing. The parents and board were so grateful. You just want to do better when you feel this positive energy behind you and people cheering you on. It was the perfect place to end my coaching for a season. Somehow I came full circle. Starting and ending with rec and remembering the spirit of swimming that is so fun. Sometimes it is just good to change things up and I am so grateful I did.

So I put my stop watch in my drawer and look at it when I open the drawer and remember the lessons and memories I had over the past ten years. I realize how grateful I am for the opportunity and experience to have such an amazing part-time job. I now enter a different stage of life as a truly full-time stay at home mom. I am grateful I am able to stay home with my three little kiddos. It is time. I wouldn't change that for the world and am so grateful to my husband for getting an education and working hard to support our little family. I also recognize that we are very fortunate to have work. I recognize that there are so many out there that would do anything for work and part of me feels bad for even writing that I am able to stay home. But for the time 100% of my focus can be on them and that just feels right and I feel so blessed.

Here I am at the beginning of my coaching with Scott on my lap and ending of coaching with Scott on the blocks...