As Jenn and I traveled to watch two local high school meets this weekend, I forget how fun it was to coach at that level. Kids were very excited and fired up to meet Jenn, which is really awesome. But I forget how fun jumping at the high school level was. Kids are very resilient from losses and always improve quickly at that age. They have a certain level of excitement and anticipation to learn. I still enjoyed coaching at that level more than any level even though I have not done it since 2006.
It's a great world at the high school level, almost always improving, no promoters, no media, no Internet bashing, no fighting over money, and most of all, hardly any airplanes. The pro level is a different world, everybody wants something, everybody owes somebody something, and if that isn't enough...then the Internet and national media will provide you all the criticism you will need.
I still feel high school sports is one of the biggest determining factors in shaping a young athlete's personality and character. Some day I will return to this level of coaching because of it's excitement and freshness. As Jenn signed autographs of some 200 kids, so many of them said, "I want to be just like you". But as I watched a young high school vaulter jump a p.r. of 11' I said to myself, "I want to be as happy as that kid" as he ran around the pad celebrating.
Rick Suhr
Having you and Jenn in attendance makes it all the more exciting for the athletes and their coaches!
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