A Coach's Words
Quote appearing on print:
"There are many different types of lines in sports: court
lines, field lines, headlines, red and blue lines, box score lines,
and finish lines. There are lines that people feed you, sometimes
encouraging, sometimes degrading. Then there is the line that
I implore them to “get on,” and there is never a question
of what line I mean. For the athlete, there is something universal,
scary, invigorating, and nostalgic about getting on the line,
because though the line invites pain, from it, everything is possible.
I tell them the line is the beginning of a journey — to
potential greatness. I understand the athletes’ hunger,
and my duty is to feed them. I refuse to press start on my stopwatch
until all feet are on the line, and as one, they eventually learn
how to embrace it. They will reach every line in pain, faces taut,
thighs burning, emotions giving way to fatigue, then hardening
into will; inevitable contempt transformed into drive channeled
into a goal. And though they feel the anxious stomach pains every
time they ponder the physical anguish associated with the line,
I know that someday they will recognize the fine line between
fear and commitment. They will come together in emotion associated
with a common struggle for excellence that they wish would come
easily but that I know does not. They will endure now in athletics
and succeed later in the game of life because they willingly challenged
themselves each time they stepped up to the line. Today, my players
run because I tell them to, but tomorrow they will understand
it was all for them, and will never forget A Coach’s
Words: “Get on the line”!"
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