Why Not, Coach?

By Gregory Ryan

My playing experiences in team sports (Football, Baseball, and Basketball.) From a young age to high school.
How the basic fundamentals of executing your plays the way they are designed to, can make the difference of winning or losing a game. Knowing how to correctly tackle, block, catch a ball or defend a receiver from catching a ball or to not commit fouls and penalties by concentrating. How a coach can have a deep bench and a winning team by having all his players play. The coach and all of his players agree and know what is expected of each of them. This makes playing the sport, and heck of a lotta fun like it should be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9798350928877

Book preview

CHAPTER 1 High School History

As I sat in my gently worn brown leather recliner in the corner of my living room, an interview with former basketball coach legend John Wooden played on my recorder. I quickly adjusted the volume and listened attentively. He related a memorable experience as a high school basketball coach in Indiana. A certain player whom Wooden felt didn’t have it in him to earn adequate playing time convinced the coach to let him play against a competitive team equipped with star players. As a result, the boy became just that—a star player. The coach apologized for not giving all of his players ample opportunities to reveal their potential—a problem a lot of coaches still struggle with today.

Looking back on your highly successful coaching career, what would you have done differently if given the chance?

I felt bad for players who were not as athletically inclined as some of the others and, as a result, didn’t get much playing time. Despite this fact, they were grateful to be on the team and help their teammates get ready for games during practice.

This was a good relationship Coach Wooden had with all of his players. Each individual player had a very good understanding of his role on the team because the coach worked with them individually besides as a team.

What Coach Wooden said was surprisingly similar to what one of my own high school football coaches once said to me about being a big help to the team.

Growing up between the ages of six and sixteen lends itself to experiences both good and bad. For me, these were my years as a good athlete playing baseball, basketball, and football concurrently—for which I was rewarded accordingly. I played competitive sports on organized town and school teams. Football was the sport I enjoyed the most. However, in my sophomore year—following a successful freshman year playing in Catholic high school, with the opportunity to practice with the varsity during the summer—football lost its luster. I transferred to public high school to eliminate an unnecessary commute and was deeply hurt by the fact that I didn’t receive any playing time.

My football coach at the Catholic high school had been planning to bring me up to the varsity as a sophomore. He tried talking me into staying at his school, telling me that he thought I was making a mistake by transferring.

You might get lost in a public school, he warned me. "It’s much bigger than this school. You don’t know any of the students or faculty