Thanks, coach

In the world of sports, the position of coach is an almost holy calling. A coach is a mentor, a leader, a friend and someone responsible for both the success of a group and for the development of each player in their care. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, as far as sports are concerned, a good coach is everything.

But as big-money influence bleeds into the sports industry, the position of coach has risen to rock-star status. In college football – now a billion-dollar industry – the running price for a top-of-the-line coach is well over $10 million a year. And since big-time universities and professional sports organizations treat the position of coach like CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, the pressures of winning often come with heavy prices. 

If coaches don’t win, they are fired – even if it costs an institution millions of dollars. This was the case last November when Texas A&M’s head football coach Jimbo Fisher was paid a whopping $77 million when he was fired before the end of his contract; it was the largest buyout in college football history.

Just two months later, legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick – who is considered to be one of the greatest professional sports coaches of all time with six Super Bowl wins as a head coach of the New England Patriots, and two more as a defensive coordinator for the New York Giants – was let go after serving up the worst season in his career with a 4-13 record in 2023. At the time, Belichick was the highest-paid coach in American sports, bringing in a salary of $25 million per year.

These cases are rare, though. Coaches bringing in millions of dollars a year get a lot of attention and are showered with awards, but in the wide world of sports there are thousands upon thousands of coaches among all levels – from Little League to high school – putting in countless hours, unpaid and unthanked, helping shape young minds and doing it all for the love of the game.

I’m talking about the high school teacher who spends his afternoons coaching junior varsity basketball, driving hours to a game and returning to grade papers later that night. Or the volunteer Little League coach, who is often just a team dad with some extra time and the patience of a saint. Honestly, have you ever tried to organize a practice for ten- to 12-year-olds? When I helped my uncle coach my cousin’s youth baseball team it became one of the most terrifying – but rewarding – summers of my life.

On a local level, the job of coach is still sacred. It’s one of the reasons I love sports so much. Besides being a fun and healthy outlet for children, organized sports can be a space for them to understand how to deal with adversity, learn how to lose and challenge themselves to improve in a safe and gratifying way. The lessons you learn on the Little League field or in the pool or on the basketball court will stay with you for the rest of your life, and you often don’t realize until much later that it was that unpaid coach there guiding you every step of the way.

I still remember my youth basketball coaches at the Eastside Boys & Girls Club in Santa Barbara, Mwei Banks and Benji Robles, who helped me find my love for sports and who are still going on strong teaching the next generation of hoopers. One of my old teammates from those days, Manny Murillo, is now coaching high school girls basketball himself, keeping the tradition of the student becoming the teacher.

These are the coaches that hold a community together. Here in Carpinteria, it’s Jason Himeon and Rosendo Aispuro, the coaches that helped coach the fifth through sixth grade boys basketball All Stars to a recent tournament victory; or Jeff Spach and Brett Labistour, who volunteered their time to lead the “Carp United” 14-and-under girls soccer squad to the AYSO Western States Championships. 

All of these coaches help keep the culture of sports alive, and although they aren’t exactly winning Super Bowls or bringing in billions of dollars, I would argue that they are far more important because they help mold young athletes into good people, often inspiring the next generation of coaches after that. 

Without them, the stars of tomorrow would never flourish. So, thank you to all the overlooked and unacknowledged coaches across the world – a long overdue and well-deserved thank you, coach.