Be who you needed back in the day
“You always hear the quote ‘be the coach you needed back in the day.’
If you were blessed to have ‘that coach’ you should strive every day to emulate what that coach did for you.
Many kids in today’s world NEED that coach.
Go be him.
You change the world by changing a world.”
-Ray Zingler on X
One of the most heart wrenching videos I have ever seen on the internet was a clip from one the 90’s shows – The Jenny Jones Show.
It was a segment where parents brought misbehaving kids on the show to have them “scared straight” by a military Drill Sergeant.
The DI came hot onto the scene (think Jerry Springer set) and stared harping on a young boy not 11 years old.
He asked the little boy, “you love her, right” pointing at his mother in an adjacent chair, and the boy says, “yes”.
The DI follows with, “Now.. you’re not an adult until you’re 18, do you want me to be your daddy for the next 8 years, son?”
The boy, stumbling and mumbling for words eventually eeks out, “yes sir”.
The DI, caught off guard, replies “Huh, you do!?”
The boy nods his head.
The DI backs up, gets out of character and smiles richly at the boy (this is where my eyes start welling up) and asks, “Why do you want me to be your daddy?”
The DI leans down and the boy replies, “because… because I have no daddy.”
Compassionate and completely out of character now, the DI leans down and replies, “you have no daddy? Well let me tell you something, come in here and give me a hug.”
The boy then proceeds to melt in his arms and the DI walks him off the set.
If you’ve not seen the clip, just search “Saddest Boy Ever – Jenny Jones Show” on YouTube.
This clip from a corny 90’s tv show is powerful beyond measure.
The sad reality is that there are sad kids everywhere who may not “have it as good as you or I have it.”
And they are deeply longing for that one person to come into their life and make not a difference, but all the difference in the world.
Coaching is not only a rewarding profession, but a critical responsibility that comes with life altering implications for athlete and coach.
You want to “change the world?”
You do so by changing a world.
Go be who you needed back in the day.
If you had that person, honor him or her by giving the gifts they gave you back to others.
