I LOVE COACHING (Dave Hawley)

 

My blog tonight is once again from the pen of Dave Hawley, my brother and the all-time winningest US high school tennis coach! Pray for me in Vietnam as I seek to do the Lord's will.

I have been making promises for years to write a book that few will read and might have no interest. But my feet have been put to the fire and so, without further ado, here is the first chapter.

I never once intended to be a coach. When I was a child, I LIVED for sports, the kinds I could play and the kinds I could watch. The whole sports thing for me was odd in many ways. I had parents who had no real interest and probably no real ability, even though there was no real way to tell. But even though I have forgotten 98% of everything of my life experiences, I remember with crystal clarity falling in love with basketball when I was probably eight and Dad took me to a game with York College, probably so he could better relate to the students who attended the church where ministered. But I was HOOKED! Lacking a ball of my own, I balled up socks to provide myself something to shoot. A life of sports was born with an explosion!!!

But coaching? No way. I had mixed experiences with my own coaches, not any of which inspired me to try the profession. I need to add here that I had coaches when I was young, probably not the best time to believe in their impact on my life going forward, AND I was not the most coachable kid. But not once do I remember saying” THAT’S what I want to do with my life.”

But life has a funny way of changing your direction. When I graduated from  Harding University in 1975, with a degree in Education and a desire to teach American History, I found an ugly truth… history teachers were a dime a dozen, and the only way I could get a job WAS to become a coach as well…. In this case varsity basketball, varsity girls track and assistant football coach (I had barely run track and NEVER played football! 😂). I stayed in Campbell, Nebraska for two years and made an important discovery … while I had not planned to coach, I LOVED IT!

God has plans for us all that we can’t possibly know, and if we are open to HIS will, the most amazing things can happen in our lives that might be a mixture of happiness, joy or even pain…. But most incredibly life altering. This is the story of a life journey unintended but God blessed along the way!
Dave

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1