50 for 50: 2008

YEAR: 2008

AGE: Turned 38 on Nov. 6

LOCATION: SLC, Ramona Avenue

CUBS' RECORD: 97-64

SONGS I LIKED: "Vida La Vida" by Coldplay; "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor; "I Won't Go Home Without You" by Maroon 5; "Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna

MOVIES I SAW: "Kung Fu Panda"; "WALL-E"

TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Eleventh Hour"; "Supernanny"; "Don't Forget the Lyrics"

MUSIC VIDEOS I ENJOYED: "Long Road to Ruin" by Foo Fighters; "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles

VIDEO GAMES I PLAYED: New Super Mario Brothers; Advance Wars: Dual Strike

The first sports team I ever played for was coached by my father. I'm happy and proud to say, the first sports team Michael played for, in 2008, was coached by me.

In the spring of 2008, we signed Michael up for t-ball. This was a basic rec league, with a short season, played indoors at the University of Utah's football facility. We arrived to pick up our uniforms and get more information, and were directed to a spot where the whole team would meet. There was a folder there and uniforms, and, we found out, nobody to coach the team. Someone had to volunteer, and I, the sports journalist who had a great role model dad/coach 30 years earlier, logically raised my hand.

T-ball at this age and league was simple: Ages 4-6, each kid got to bat in an inning and ran one base with each hit, no outs were kept, no scores were kept, and usually, every kid on defense (there were no positions) ran for the ball when it was hit. Coaching wasn't difficult other than encouraging kids to run and throw the ball. But it was fun -- not only coaching my own child, but all the other players as well.

That fall, we signed Michael up for soccer. His rec league had embarked on an advertising blitz and, as a result, fielded 21 teams in U5. An email was sent out to the parents on Michael's team: A coach was needed. I was more hesitant because, unlike baseball, I didn't know the game well and was unsure how to coach it. The league assured me it would help with resources and clinics. I accepted.

The first soccer league was so much fun. Michael played well (being the tallest 4-year-old on the team helped), and we became friends with parents that we are still friends with today. Practices were an hour of running and kicking, and I amended some of the drills to be more appealing to the age group (for example, "Attack the Death Star" and "SpongeBob's Kitchen" as new names for two dribbling and shooting drills). The kids decided on Dragons as a team name, and I bought a UAB Blazers baseball hat to wear during practice and games.

Needless to say, I was having a ball coaching. I eventually started coaching basketball as well and never gave up on soccer. I also started coaching Ben's teams when he was old enough to play.

By my calculations, I coached or assistant coached 48 teams between 2008 and 2020. This comprises 15 baseball teams, 16 soccer teams, 16 basketball teams, and a flag football team the year Michael tried it (and didn't like it). I really believe I was a good coach, too. I'd have my competitive moments, and sometimes I would go over strategy in my mind a little more than I needed to for some of the rec teams, but I never got mad at kids unless they were goofing off. I got kids as much playing time as I could while getting the better players in at the key moments we needed them, and I always found something good to say for every player who tried his best.

Around four or five years ago, I started getting the first inkling that it was going to end. That realization might have been part of a bigger mid-life panic that the boys were more than halfway through their childhoods, but I was sad nonetheless. Coaching their sports has been one of the things I've cherished as a father and, taking a lead from my dad, one of the things I unknowingly was planning on doing before even having kids. But it was destined to end.

Last fall, Ben's last soccer season began. We both knew he wouldn't play rec beyond eighth grade (even though the league offered a high school division), and I was ready to step away. I also helped coach his CYO basketball team, and spring would bring the second half of the soccer season and the end of my coaching career.

Then, the pandemic hit, and the spring season never happened. I wanted to cherish those last eight games -- some of the kids on our team had been playing together for years -- and finish off with one more end-of-season party, but it wasn't meant to be. Twelve years and 48 teams ended with a big cancellation.

I'm sort of at peace about this conclusion -- it will be the first of many over the next few years. And honestly, having my Saturday mornings back this fall has been nice. 

Here's what I'm wondering: After the boys graduate high school and we are empty nesting, would I volunteer to coach a rec team again, not as a parent, but kind of as a hobby? Again, I thought I was good at it -- maybe not from a wins and losses standpoint, but as someone who could help kids enjoy being active, learn teamwork, and feel a sense of accomplishment. I loved that my father coached me for many years, but I'm also thankful for the other coaches who taught me when I was a kid.

I could wait until I'm a grandfather and coach my grandkids' teams if the boys let me. But only if they don't want be the coach themselves -- that's not something I'd ever take away from them as fathers.