My Hockey Coach Daryl Kerr was a person in my life who has inspired me to be a teacher. He was someone who coached with his heart and through the love of the game. Daryl was a coach who was very passionate about the game. Because Daryl had so much knowledge and love for the game, he also took on coaching a boy’s minor hockey league as he wanted to expand his expertise in coaching the game. Coach Daryl always made it clear to us girls that he had a lot of faith in us, and with hard work and determination that we are capable to win every game. He believed that we had the talent to succeed and win everything that year. Well, Daryl was not wrong. In 2014 we went the entire year undefeated and walked away with a gold medal in every tournament.
In between periods where we would all take a knee; Daryl would always ask us “did we do the best we could?” and he told us that our answers should always be no. Why was that? I would think to myself. He explained that there is always room for improvement. Taking that one extra stride when you did not think you had it in you to beat the other girl to the puck, that internal push, is what I think made us so successful that year. We really bonded as a team this year, and all gave it our very best when we were on the ice. This is a statement that really stuck with me because it’s true, there is always room for improvement. Even when I would come off the ice drenched in sweat, I thought that I had played a fantastic game. I would remember what coach Daryl said to me “did I do the best I could?” no. I think this is a very impactful tool (for some) because this helps with laziness and pushes people out of their comfort zones.
I also think that team building, bonding, and developing trusting relationships are very important when it comes to being successful. This is a story that I will share with the class when I am a teacher. I will be sure to capitalize on the fact that without the trust in relationships that we developed and the team-building exercises, we would not have been as successful as we were that year. I will make sure that I do my best to be like Daryl Kerr, and to make sure that trusting relationships form in my classroom so that my class will lift each other up and make sure that they all walk across the finish line as a team.