Your Son Doesn't Have a Career.....He's 12!

As General Manager of the Lone Star Soccer Club, Tony Capasso had grown accustomed to working in a high pressure environment. He was used to dealing with prepubescent phenoms and their omnipresent handlers. One day though he became particularly agitated when a certain father continued to pressure him to put his son on a higher team. "This is critically important to my son's career!" he insisted. Tony lost his customary cool with a response that unveiled his true feelings about the situation: "Your son does not have a career........he's 12!!!"

I have thought about Tony's comment often while coaching the 5th and 6th grade AA Boys basketball team at Trinity this season. Recently, the team had what I considered to be one of its best practices of the year. The boys had maintained a high level of focus and attention to detail for the entire 1 hour and 20 minutes! As we huddled at the end of practice, I was pumped........and they were too! As we brought our fists together I looked at them intently and asked, "OK, what's it going to be?" Of course I was anticipating that they would want to end this particularly inspiring practice session with a cheer of "team!" or "defense!" or "hard work!" Instead they looked up almost in unison and said, "Coach, can we say happy birthday Isaac?" I was momentarily stunned then broke into a smile and said, "Absolutely!"

I'm not sure that I would have reacted that way at the beginning of the season. It's been a long time since I last coached this age. As a coach it is crucial for me to understand how 11 and 12 year olds think. Deep down what they play for is a love of the game..........then it's on to the birthday party!