But every one of the thousands of unpaid hours is damn worth it.
“You don’t get the most out of a kid simply because another adult appointed you the title of ‘Coach’.
You purchase the opportunity to get the most out of them by showing them how deeply you care & by putting in the calculated work of earning their trust & building a relationship.”
-Ray Zingler on X
Do you know how expensive it is to earn merely the opportunity to get the most out of a kid?
If time is our most precious asset and time is money, plan on thousands of hours per year.
And again, that is only for a CHANCE to get the most out of them.
If you assume (and many do) that because another adult told you that your title is “coach”, that you will somehow automatically get the most out of them..
You’ll end up like every other coach who is undifferentiated, forgotten, and more times than not actually a detriment to our youth’s development and overall experience.
The ability to positively impact the trajectory and quality of a human life comes with a tremendous cost.
It’s a cost that nobody wants to talk about because many, again, falsely believe simply “showing up” is enough. This is precisely why most coaches never make a real difference.
The amount of self-awareness, time, patience, maturity, and understanding it takes to impact one kid is monumental.
Want to impact 12 kids? 12x that time.
100?
You get it.
It’s an around the clock, full time job of mostly unpaid hours that are required to be worked on Thanksgiving and Christmas, too.
Real impact doesn’t care about convenience or holidays, yet many coaches can’t even be self-aware enough to be empathetic during the 2 hours a week they see a kid at practice. Yet they’ll tell you that “making an impact” is their biggest motivator, lol.
I joke with people all the time, I may only work at my gym on the floor a few hours a day in my current role in my company, but rest assured, it’s morning, noon, and night (sometimes into the wee hours of it), 365 days a week that I make myself available to be a difference maker.
You’re struggling with a slump? Let’s meet for lunch.
You’re sad your girlfriend broke up with you? Let’s talk it out.
You’re at a party, uncomfortable and don’t want to be there and it’s 2am? I’ll be there in 15 minutes.
You might say, “You don’t have to do all that!”
If I am who I say I am, I am damn sure do.
