Napier Courier

Coaching wizards whose magic rubs off on tiddlers

This week is a bit of a shout-out to the unsung heroes of little kids’ sport

- Megan Banks

Coaching other kids, as well as your own, takes the patience of a saint, and few of us are up to the task.

Acouple of months ago I wrote about starting Saturday morning sport withmyelde­st son, and I pondered the thought, wouldwe actually finish his first season after a bit of a rough start to kindy Rippa a couple of years ago?

Well break out the Lindauer, I amso happy to announce thatwe managedto see out the season. We didn’t have to leave halfway through due toMacnot liking his rips being pulled off, and I could not be happier.

Andso Iwanted to use this chat thisweek as a bit of a shout-out to the unsung heroes of kids’ sport, and that is the volunteer coaches. Wehad a great team of Logan and

Michaelawh­onot onlymanage­d a team of 10 brilliantl­y, their work also included coaching theirown son. You’ll remember frommy time as coach Banksy of Mac’s basketball team, that I vowedand declared never to do that again.

Coaching other kids, as well as your own, takes the patience of a saint, and few of us are up to the task. But Logan— andhats off to him— managed the whole thing so brilliantl­y that Iwas standing on the sideline taking parenting notes.

Aside from a little blip halfway through the season during a team line-up photo whereMacha­d to stand next to a girl (I keep telling Macthat girls rule, but he’s a little late to that party lol), coach Logan becamea bit of a cult hero in the 6th-grade Taradale Triceratop­s’ eyes. Hemadethem do a lot of running, whichMaclo­ves, he called a spade a spade, he encouraged everyone and called them outwhenthe­y diddumb stuff (which they frequently did). In fact, hewasso good, he almost mademewant to dona pair of sprigged boots.

So to all of the amazing coaches out there, whoeachwee­ksend out notificati­ons, bring the sports equipment, washthe uniforms, sort the players of the day, manage sideline parents, motivate their tribes, ref the games as well as coach, take time off work to get to games on time (Iwas all for Friday-afternoon games, but that was hard for a lot of people to get to), you are awesome. Youare the real players of the day. So enjoy your chocolate bar and your summerseas­on off, and please don’t sit on the bench next year, our future Brad Webbers and Krysten Cottrells need you.

 ?? Photo / Warren Buckland ?? The Hits DJs Megan Banks and Adam Green at the NZME radio studio in Napier.
Photo / Warren Buckland The Hits DJs Megan Banks and Adam Green at the NZME radio studio in Napier.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from New Zealand