{My Coaching Essentials}

As a high school kid, even bigger than my dream to teach was my dream to coach cheerleading, my beloved sport. It is the most dangerous sport in the world but also the most rewarding to me, as I have the honor of watching athletes tackle their fears and reach their dreams. I was so lucky to have been given the opportunity to begin my coaching career right out of college five years ago. I graduated in May and had a teaching position and a coaching position by June, which was more than I ever could have asked for as a 22-year-old recent graduate. I fell in love right away. I coached freshmen for two years, then moved up to varsity. My job as a head coach isn't easy. It is endless hours of preparations, planning, financial calculations, and hard decisions. It is making tough calls, having sensitive conversations, and trusting your gut to do what it right and what is best for the team, even when others question your every move. It is crying sad tears when your seniors walk onto the court for their last game and happy tears when a flier hits a tricky stunt for the first time.

The pay out, of course, is watching your athletes grow into fine young people, seeing them succeed in life, and knowing that they will leave the program better than when they came in. Even though the love of my athletes and the pride in their achievements serve as driving forces, a coach needs a few other essentials to get through the long year. In cheer, we do not have an off season. We hold tryouts in the spring, practice all spring and summer, cheer for football (home and away) in the fall, then cheer basketball (girls and boys, home and away) all winter. Then it is tryouts again and the cycle continues. I like to focus my time and energy on the important things like planning out our stunts and cheers, so throughout my five years as a coach I found a few items that make life easier. Outside of the definitely necessary PhD in counseling and a sense of humor, there are some more tangible things that help me out. To get through the late nights, long bus rides, cold days on the track, and hours on the court, here my favorite essentials to get me through it all:

1. Lasting lipstick: I don't always have time for looking anything near my best, but I try to keep myself looking presentable as often as I can. When you are sweating on a football field during a hot August night, or when you have a three hour bus ride to your destination, you cannot mess around with anything less than the longest lasting and most comfortable lipstick. If I only have time for one item, it would be this as it ties my spirited look together even when I feel like a worn-down lump. My absolute favorite is Stila Stay All Day liquid lipstick. My go-to color is Beso, as our school colors are red and black. Beso is a true red and it looks fantastic on any skin tone. I can trust this lipstick to stay in place on game day; through rain, snow, and dinner on the go. The following pictures were taken at the end of a long Friday, lasting through dinner with the team and a great game against a longtime rivalry.

2. Perfect Planner: This isn't the first time I have advertised these amazing planners, but mine is such a momentous part of my life that I need to share it again. Plum Paper Designs planners from Etsy are great because you can customize them. I use the teacher edition, as it contains a special layout for lesson plans, course by course. I love it because I have more than enough room to write out stunt ideas, time out plans, and game day schedules to keep me organized each week. It works for both work and play. Keeping lists of parent info for my teams is a breeze and it helps tremendously to open up my planner at practice and feel on top of my planning game. Plus, you can customize the cute cover options with your name or monogram. I recommend it to anyone, coach or not, who needs a way to keep a busy life on track.

The result of an excellent planner? Happy and relaxed coaches.

3. Comfortable shoes: There are nights when we are on our feet all night and non-supportive flats will not always cut it. We invested in new black Nikes for the entire varsity team (and us) this year and it was one of the best decisions we have ever made. Not only does our squad stand out, but these Nikes have great cushion-y cozy support. The memory foam really does make me feel able to stand all day and all night when I go straight from teaching to coaching. It gives varsity an innovative and uniform look and gives us coaches the comfort and confidence to keep going.

We may have tried on our new #pinktober uniforms for, you know, quality control. Seen here with our comfy black Nikes.

4. Keep Collective bracelet: Because cute school pride never goes out of style. I love my Keep Collective bracelet because I was able to customize it to get exactly what I wanted. On the website, you can actually see what your bracelet will look like as you pick and choose your charms and bracelets. It builds your piece of jewelry as you choose the charms you like. The megaphone charm and red leather band are adorable and this is such an easy way to show my LJHS spirit on my wrist at camp over the summer and at any football or basketball game.

I wore my Broncho cheer Keep Collective as we coached in Purdue University's Ross Ade stadium. Can you spot it on my wrist?

3. Contigo tumblers: I do not have the luxury of holding a cup of coffee or a water cup when I am trying to pack up for an away game or get everything out onto our track so I rely heavily on these amazing Contigo cups. They lock, so I can throw them in my coach backpack and feel confident that they won't spill. This is a lifesaver when my hands are full of flags, poms, warm ups, and notebooks. They keep coffee hot and water cold throughout the evening. My grandma bought me two a few years back and my life has been changed ever since. I recommend for any coach who wants to stay hydrated and doesn't want to worry about spilling or leaking tumblers.

Locking lid, lasting heat

4. Custom buttons: While I have an embarrassing amount of Broncho shirts, when you are coaching a minimum of ten football games and 40-45 basketball games a year, you end up re-wearing the same red black and white garb several times over. I decided this year I wanted some custom buttons to A. celebrate our seniors on senior night and B. have a fun accessory to jazz up some pieces of clothing that aren't Broncho. You can order custom buttons in bulk or you can make your own. Dani and I sported "We Heart our Seniors" buttons just last week on football senior night, plus a cute LJ.

Dani's adorable cardigan is Varsity and my vest is brought to you by Old Navy circa 2009.

5. The 3 D's: The last essentials? Dedication, determination, and drive. Without these, no amount of hot coffee or rocking lipstick can help. You have to laugh when things go wrong, be okay with sitting in the rain, know that tough days lead to making you stronger, and invest in your athletes. I am thankful every single day for the coaches I work with (spot some of them in the pictures below) and how much they love this sport and our athletes. In addition, I am endlessly thankful for the parents who help by cooking great team dinners, making bows, and just being fans.
They say that if you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life. Now we all know that a coach's pay isn't exactly enough to live off of and there are far more obstacles overcome and hours spent than most people realize. But, in the end, coaches please just know that you are making a difference. You are changing young people's lives. You are teaching life lessons like respect and responsibility. Bravo coaches, and keep doing what you do!