In correspondence with family and friends, I often sign my name below “One Love” as a little shout out to keep things fresh. No one questioned my meaning until my former high school English teacher asked what I meant. (Note to self: always know the purpose of your words, especially when writing to an English teacher.) I offered a simple response: “One Love can mean a lot of things, but for me it basically comes from the heart and is my expression of sending out one love to all, as well as my recognition and acknowledgment that there is one true love to be both given and received, by all.”
Love percolates through infinite channels. In the medium of sport, coaching is one such channel rooted in love. I am grateful to my former coaches and to my coaching mentors for gifting their love through the teaching of sport and life. I am blessed to have received love as an athlete and to then have opportunities to pay that love forward through the unfolding gift of coaching.
This call to love – and call to coaching – isn’t always easy. I know some days aren’t all sunshine and rainbows, especially when, as a coach, you are called to lead by example in difficult teachable moments. Life can be messy, but it’s in how you process those moments from a foundation of love that sets the precedent for the rest of that practice, for the rest of the season, for the future of your program, and for the future of the lives you are assisting to mold – no pressure.
In believing each athlete has a purpose and role on the team, so too do coaches, and it’s not just to get those athletes to accept their roles to achieve a winning record and be the champion of all, although that is still a significant goal. A coach’s love may shine through in uniquely different ways, but it comes from a source of desire and self-sacrifice to (ethically) do whatever it takes to assist their athletes in reaching their potential as a whole – in mind, body and spirit – both inside and outside of the arena. If you want to see passion at work, look to a coach at work. Their work starts long before their practice slot, and continues long after the lights are out. Their work is deeper than the (un)necessary paperwork, emails and logistical planning. Their work is the work of love. They work because they love the game, they love the competition, they love the challenges, but most importantly, they love their team and relationships with their players. And then there are those beautiful moments when a coach’s love is visible in his/her team – how they treat opponents, officials, one another.
Love in sport is as tangible as a touch and as poignant as a glance that says it all – you’ve got it, we’re going to get through this together, let’s go. Love is waiting to touch your heart to move you into action in ways that only you as a unique individual can offer to the world. Love hangs in the high five and loads up the back pat as a teammate walks down the bench after fouling out, as a batter returns to the dugout after 3 swings and misses, and after missing the big shot or the big block. Love spring loads the chest bump on a home run, a game winning basket, a momentum changing spike, a sweet-nasty penalty kick, and a perfectly placed top shelf goal.
That one true love you have received and have within you is meant to be shared through your passions. So, live it up with “a love full of action” (Venerable Cornelia Connelly), and allow that love to continue its percolation.
In keeping with the theme,
One Love,
C