The Coaches

In practice, we yell at them to do better.

We make them run for their mistakes,

even though we see

the sweat pouring off their faces like a flooding river,

and their faces turning redder and redder.

We make them condition,

even though we see the passion in their eyes,

the fatigue in their bodies,

and the desire to be the best in their hearts.

They don’t understand why we “punish” them

if we see how hard they are trying.

What they will see later,

when they look back on the season,

is that we push them for those reasons.

When we see them exhausted,

yet the fire in their eyes still rages on,

we know how badly they want to win.

When their bodies are aching for rest,

yet the still fight to keep going,

that is when we are proudest.

That is when all we want is

to make them the champions.

But we can't compete for them,

and we can’t tell the judges how much

they deserve to win

and expect them to give the trophy to them.

Pushing them past their limits

is all we can do as coaches.

All we can do to assure the win

is make them work as hard as they can,

making them the best they possibly can be.

All we can do is work them so hard

that they become so strong,

that competing a grueling routine is easy.

If we let them rest,

if we let them stop,

or let them give up,

then we would not be doing our job.

We would be letting them down;

letting them lose.

They are worth more than that.

So, when the sweat starts dripping,

and the faces redden,

we look into their passionate, determined eyes

and we push them harder until they are strong,

and their movements are swift and perfect.