Most parents spend very little time with their children. When you think about the actual hours you get with your children, it pales in comparison to the time they spend with other adults that are not related to them by blood. On a good day, I get from 4pm – 8pm with my kids. Their teachers see them for about 8 hours every day. For those of you who are counting that’s double! If you are the parent of an athlete, the amount of time you spend with them may be even less.

An overlooked adult in your child’s life can sometimes be their coach. Coaches, depending on the school, see your children throughout the day, and then have them for another 3 hours after school. Then coaches get them on weekends too. Sometimes they take long trips with your children for multiple days at a time. So, if you have a great kid, it ain’t ALL about YOUR parenting skills. There’s a lot of other people mixed in there.

Coaches reach your kids on a completely different level. If your child is involved in athletics, it usually means they are passionate about it. A coach is the main person most involved with helping your child develop their passions. That’s a REALLY big deal! So when I saw this photo happening, I immediately pictured my daughters, and I pray that their coach did/will do my daughter the same way. The hug that happened here was out of an accomplishment that they both had obviously been prepping for. This hug is more than a victory. This hug is more than the PR that she just set. It’s instilling confidence in this child that “You can do it!”

Make sure you thank your child’s coach.

-Rok