Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat

This week the news of my transition into the high school coaching world became official.  I'll be the head wrestling coach at River Falls High School, my alma mater, for the 2013-14 season.  This is a role that I've been interested in since I was in middle school and God's perfect timing has created a unique opportunity that will allow me to dive into this adventure while maintaining my identity and standards as a husband, father and coach.

I've spent the last 8 months discussing how I can best be involved with the future of this program with the administration.  We've been putting together necessary pieces of the puzzle in order to take important steps in a new direction that will enable River Falls Wrestling to become a prominent program once again.  As this time had been approaching, I was eager to engage in the many challenges ahead.  I've also been intrigued by the opportunities to learn and grow.  Learning on the job didn't take long. 

If I stacked up my accomplishments in the sport of wrestling, assuming the role of head coach for a disjointed and flailing high school program wouldn't climb very high up the list.  However, I've been flooded with congratulatory messages, words of encouragement and good fortune and support from many important and prominent figures in my life as well as a variety of random individuals, some who I've never met.  It's been quite the humbling experience.  It plainly shows me that people still care about this program and that high school athletics are extremely important.  They're important to athletes, parents, coaches, administrators and the entire community.  Often times, the discourse is drowned by a culture that supports a non-competive, participatory mindset, but deep down, the competitive nature of high school sports is still very important to people no matter how much it's down played.  People want to be a part of something successful and high school athletics often defines much of a community's identity.  It's extremely evident that this community is hungry for a successful wrestling program.

Within the past three weeks, I've been nationally recognized for achieving my gold level certification as a part of the National Coaches Education Program and had my third child, however, I've received much more praise for taking the reigns of the River Falls wrestling program.  High school coaches are important to a community because they directly affect the lives of many individuals and they're tangible; they're real.  The allure of national or international success can't be shared as easily in the check-out line at the grocery store.  An addition to my family doesn't have nearly the impact in our community as the addition of quality coach.  Humility sinks in when you realize the world doesn't revolve around you and no one person is bigger than a community who believes in a program.   

Athletic programs in high schools are great complimentary activities to a quality education and they benefit the entire community, not just a coach or a student involved.  They're more than fun or wins and loses.  They're tools to help students learn about life.  They develop a competitive spirit in student-athletes, an attitude that helps them in a modern competitive job market.  It's also difficult to find something that has the potential to humble an individual the way high school athletics can since they're about contributing to something greater than one self.

So, here we go.  We're on our way.  Everything has come full circle...once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.