What is Commitment?

As coaches, we often speak about, read about, and hopefully show commitment to what we believe in.  But what is it?  I am committed to my family.  I have put much time and spent many dollars on them.  I have hopefully helped them to grow and to be better people.  I will continue to do this every day and I realize that not always will they appreciate what I have done, but I bet they do appreciate it somewhat.  In fact, it is something that I don't think twice about, it just comes naturally.  To give as much as possible and really to expect nothing in return other than a hug or a kiss from any of them is all that I want and need.

So what does it mean as a coach?  We have put numerous hours into our players.  We have spent money on each of them whether it be for shirts, travel suits, traveling or many other things we give our players.  We have tried to develop positive relationships with each players before they get to high school and even when they play.  All I really need for them to show their appreciation is to play and then to play hard representing the community and showing appreciation for all the things they receive.

And yet, we are losing players.  They are deciding to not play the most popular sport in Indiana to "focus on _________" (fill in the blank)  What about focusing on the sport and the coaching staff that has done as much for you as any other coaching staff? (We have great coaching staffs in every sport at our school, this is not in any way me demeaning what those people have done)  We are talking about players giving up for many different reasons sometimes it screams the obvious why they quit.  But sometimes it is quite perplexing because there is no apparent reason for it.  I have always said that I care about our basketball program too much to continue coaching if it is running off players, in large numbers.  I am told that it isn't me or anyone else on the staff, so I can only go with their word.  I am sure that what some of them tell others is different than what they have told me.

At our school, the coaches work together, usually, and would do just about anything for any of our athletes to be able to participate in more than one or two sports.  Yet we have athletes quitting a sport they like/love to focus on one sport.  Why?  For a college scholarship?  At our school, whether you play one sport or multiple sports (small college coaches actually like multiple sport athletes) you will probably end up with the same college opportunity.  Full ride scholarships are rare, period.  The best you can hope for is some money athletically, but many of our students need to show diversity in athletics, participation in other events, and do well academically.

But as a parent, I can understand where complications can ensue.  My kids are into many different things right now and excel at too many.  It sounds ridiculous, but if they continue to excel at many sports (I realize they are young and may actually NOT excel at any sport) there will come a point where due to their desires or out of necessity some coach will be extremely disappointed.  Does that make my hypocritical?  Maybe.  Does it make me realize that sometimes these issues are way more complex than kids doing something to me?  Hopefully.

So what is commitment?  I know what it is for me and I realize that it can be something different for each person.  However, I cannot think of doing anything else but giving everything I have to our basketball program while I am still the head coach.  It is that way because I love basketball, I love our school, and I love our kids.