As we approach the first game of the season, aka the second best day of the year, we must remember the most important part of the football atmosphere, the fans. Games wouldn’t be the same without them. They make up the best part of the games but they can also change the mood of the stands in just a few short minutes.
There are real people sitting in those stands. There are moms and dads, grandmas and grandmas, coach’s wives, students, and coach’s kids. Is the negative comment you are going to yell really worth the hurt that you can cause others? Does it make you feel better when you see a little one walking down the stairs with tears in their eyes because you were yelling at their dad?
Please understand how much coaching families value the support fans give to their team. We all want to win. If you think for a second that there is a coach out on that field that doesn’t want to win, then you are wrong. Every coach and player on the team pour their heart and soul out each and every week. They are all working towards the same goal. Just because a coach yelled at a player doesn’t mean that he hates them. He wants them to do what they were taught, because it puts the team in the best position to win.
Losing is hard. Everything is more difficult when the team isn’t winning. Coaches, fans, and players are uptight and emotions are running high. On the flip side of that, winning cures everything. Players are amazing, coaches are geniuses, and everyone walks around with a smile on their face after a win. Each season is different. Sometimes it can take a team time to come together before they start to play up to their potential. For example, at our previous school, we started the year 1-4 and everyone freaked out. Parents blamed coaches, people in town began to turn away from the program, but the TEAM stayed together. They were able to block out all of the negativity that was surrounding them and they went on a six game winning streak.
I get that seasons can be frustrating and I am not saying that everything will always be sunshine and rainbows. What I am saying is, those coaches and players do everything in their power to win. Think about the coach’s wife that is already a nervous wreck because how games go determine how her household gets to feel. Think about the little girl or little boy that love their daddy so much and look up to him in all that he does. Young children do not understand that your words aren’t meant to be personal. All they hear is someone yelling at their daddy. As adults we understand that fans are passionate. That passion can turn into frustration when things are not going well. Having to explain that to a young child is something that I am not looking forward to at all. Thank God KB is still too young to understand.
Believe me when I say, as a coach’s wife, we want this win more than you do. Fridays are a great day for game days, but it also means that a wife and her children are at the end of a long week. Oftentimes, they haven’t seen their dad for more than a couple hours all week. Our husbands love their jobs and do not ever complain about the time away because, to them, coaching is not what they do, it is who they are.
