BY SARAH NIGBOR Gratitude to our coaches

As I read and edit Reagan’s sports stories each week, I’m always struck by how fortunate our area kids are to have the coaches they do, who are dedicated, passionate and invested in the students and sports they coach. It takes a special person to be a coach. One with infinite patience. One who can inspire kids to dig deep, even when things aren’t going their way. One who can walk the fine line between encouragement and discipline. One who sees the value and talent in kids, even when they’re not on a team with a winning record.

I get a first-hand look at what goes into coaching as the wife of a high school football defensive coordinator. I know how reward- ing my husband finds coaching, otherwise he wouldn’t keep doing it after 10-plus years.

But I also see how demanding it is and how much of a sacrifice not only he makes, but we as a family make. It’s a grind.

I would never ask him to stop coaching football, because I know how much he loves it. But it is draining on our family life. From Aug. 1 until whenever the season ends, usually around this time of year, we don’t see him.

He’s a high school teacher, so he leaves early in the morning, usually before dawn, to get our boys and himself to school. After school is football practice of course, followed by hours of tagging and analyzing film, writing plays, and planning practices. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come out to the living room in the middle of the night to find my husband with his hands poised on the computer keyboard, sound asleep.

Not only does he have to keep up with his football duties, but he has to plan lessons for his classes, grade projects and papers, keep up with parent communication, attend stau meetings, etc. He definitely doesn't coach for the extra money, because when all is said and done, he gets paid cents per hour.

Weekends don’t provide much of a break either. After the Big Game on Friday nights, he usually gets home sometime between

midnight and 1 a.m., only to be glued to the computer to break down the game, tag plays, ouer advice, take notes and commis – erate about the next Big Game. Saturdays there's more film work and planning for the next week, followed by coaches meetings on Sundays. From August until November, we cannot plan anything that includes him taking part, whether that be a weekend away, a family visit to a relative, a fall outing, or even a movie. Because when he’s not doing football work or school work, he needs to sleep (understandably) because he's burning the candle at both ends.

There’s not a whole lot I can do to help him except try to hold things down on the home front. I try my best to keep up with things, but I work more than full-time myself and it’s a lot to handle. I tackle the laundry, the housework, what yard work I can, hauling the kids to things (he does a lot of that too), helping the kids with projects, taking care of a menagerie of pets, scheduling appointments, paying the bills, helping my mother with things around her house, etc. It’s wonderful and crazy and worth it, but it's exhausting. I go to every event by myself. I’ve even had people ask me if my husband does indeed exist because they never see us together. I’ll admit, that one stings a bit.

My point is, coaches (and by extension, their families) give up a lot to make sure kids have a rewarding, memorable experience in school sports. It’s not just about winning. It’s about helping them grow into productive, caring, hardworking adults who are ready to contribute to society, who know how to work as part of a team. Coaches aren’t just engaged under the Friday night lights or on the sidelines in the gym; they’re committed to those kids day and night for months at a crack.

Let’s make sure to thank our coaches and tell them how much their hard work means to our kids – and us.