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As we prepare to send our seniors off into the real world, it seems like a good time to ask this question: What are we sending them out with?
I had the good fortune to be able to have lunch with my high school coaches last week and, to my dismay, figured out that it had been 44 years since graduation. That is when I had left the nest that they had created for me.
What I learned at lunch was what I intuitively knew back then, and confirmed this many years later: Mike Larson and Fred Schanberger sent me out into the real world armed with the knowledge that I was capable of much more than I thought, that hard work certainly pays off and is a reward unto itself.
Mostly, they sent us all out with the knowledge that someone important to us really did care about us. They cared about all of us on the team for more than the skills we had developed, or the team we had created, or the awards we had won.
Yes, in spending time with these coaches last week, I learned the depth of their concern for us. I learned that we all went out into the real world as decent, respectable, hardworking young men that would be successful in whatever we chose to do. The gymnastics we learned was really nothing more than a vehicle for them to teach us how to succeed in anything we chose, as long as we loved what we did, worked hard at what we chose to do and made sure that we had fun along the way.
By spending time with my old coaches, the discussion centered on people whose names I had not heard for years. What was amazing was that both of these men continued to follow guys on my team that I had not. It seems they knew about most of their old gymnasts, what they were doing and how they were doing.
These two coaches really cared about all of us old “dirt bags,” as they used to call us. I know that all of us on those teams knew they cared, I just don’t think we had any idea how much. I do know the knowledge of their care and concern is what made each one of us try to “live up” to the high standards and expectations they had of us.
So back to my original question: What are you sending your seniors out into the world with? I can only hope it’s the same things that my high school coaches sent me out with so many years ago.
Paul Angelico is the commissioner of CHSAA.