My love of sports is pretty well documented at this point, but a fact that I do not readily share is that I was never much of an athlete myself. There are probably athletic genes somewhere in my body as my parents were gifted athletes. Me, not so much: basically I am short, slow, and really lack the ability to trash-talk. Not the makings of a great athlete. It's okay though, I have enjoyed being an avid spectator. Although I had always hoped perhaps I could do more in the world of sports. To that end, I will put a positive spin on a terrible expression - those who can't do coach, or in my case write.
I had a couple disastrous experiences with coaching in college, and so that is probably not the path for me. My junior year at IU, I was the co-head coach of a co-ed 3rd grade basketball team for the local parks and rec department. It was a non-competitive league that was designed to teach kids the fundamentals of basketball. Apparently someone forgot to explain this concept to a number of the parents. Oh my - the pressure many of them were putting on their children was pretty horrible to watch. Then when we didn't win (which was most of the time), parents and even grandparents would come up to the other coach and me to tell us how we could have done things differently. I was very saddened by the apparent disregard for the fact that the kids were trying really hard; but like me, most of them were not born athletes.
While that experience was less than enjoyable, it was not even the worst thing I ever heard in my short-lived "coaching" career. Oh no - that honor goes to the woman who called me a b*tch from the stands as I was pitching for the youth KICKBALL league. It was summer following the basketball team debacle, and I was a part-time camp counselor for the same parks and rec department. One of the roles of the part-timers was to lead the kickball league. Our job was to "coach" the teams, which really just meant trying to be sure everyone was having fun, had the chance to play, and we took turns pitching. Well apparently that woman was a hard-core kickball enthusiast (who knew those existed); who took issue with how I was throwing the ball. That pretty much ended any aspirations I had of coaching, especially kickball!
Perhaps I will have better luck with writing since about a month ago, I got a [volunteer] gig! I am one of three contributors for the Chicago Bears on the all-female football site, Her Game Life.
Her Game Life began as trash talking text messages between native New Yorkers, Nikki Sickles and Shamika Lee. Despite growing up in the Big Apple, both ladies are avid fans of other teams in the NFC East (it’s complicated
). At least twice a year, Nikki (a Dallas Cowboys fan) and Shamika (a Philadelphia Eagles fan) would put aside their friendship and represent their teams. At the end of the 2011 season, Nikki and Shamika found themselves with plenty of time on their hands as their teams went home early. They started Her Game Life to answer the question “Are there other female NFL fans in America?” In response to that question, Nikki and Shamika received applications for contributors from women from all walks of life. Our writers include the daughter of an NFL coach, college students, former Division I athletes, Green Bay Packer shareholders, actresses, stand-up comedians, finance and marketing professionals, lawyers, and freelance writers from across the country. The answer was clear. Nikki and Shamika forged ahead to create the most complete website for female NFL fans.
I had a couple disastrous experiences with coaching in college, and so that is probably not the path for me. My junior year at IU, I was the co-head coach of a co-ed 3rd grade basketball team for the local parks and rec department. It was a non-competitive league that was designed to teach kids the fundamentals of basketball. Apparently someone forgot to explain this concept to a number of the parents. Oh my - the pressure many of them were putting on their children was pretty horrible to watch. Then when we didn't win (which was most of the time), parents and even grandparents would come up to the other coach and me to tell us how we could have done things differently. I was very saddened by the apparent disregard for the fact that the kids were trying really hard; but like me, most of them were not born athletes.
While that experience was less than enjoyable, it was not even the worst thing I ever heard in my short-lived "coaching" career. Oh no - that honor goes to the woman who called me a b*tch from the stands as I was pitching for the youth KICKBALL league. It was summer following the basketball team debacle, and I was a part-time camp counselor for the same parks and rec department. One of the roles of the part-timers was to lead the kickball league. Our job was to "coach" the teams, which really just meant trying to be sure everyone was having fun, had the chance to play, and we took turns pitching. Well apparently that woman was a hard-core kickball enthusiast (who knew those existed); who took issue with how I was throwing the ball. That pretty much ended any aspirations I had of coaching, especially kickball!
Perhaps I will have better luck with writing since about a month ago, I got a [volunteer] gig! I am one of three contributors for the Chicago Bears on the all-female football site, Her Game Life.
Her Game Life began as trash talking text messages between native New Yorkers, Nikki Sickles and Shamika Lee. Despite growing up in the Big Apple, both ladies are avid fans of other teams in the NFC East (it’s complicated
). At least twice a year, Nikki (a Dallas Cowboys fan) and Shamika (a Philadelphia Eagles fan) would put aside their friendship and represent their teams. At the end of the 2011 season, Nikki and Shamika found themselves with plenty of time on their hands as their teams went home early. They started Her Game Life to answer the question “Are there other female NFL fans in America?” In response to that question, Nikki and Shamika received applications for contributors from women from all walks of life. Our writers include the daughter of an NFL coach, college students, former Division I athletes, Green Bay Packer shareholders, actresses, stand-up comedians, finance and marketing professionals, lawyers, and freelance writers from across the country. The answer was clear. Nikki and Shamika forged ahead to create the most complete website for female NFL fans.
I found the site completely by accident through a friend who has another friend that was already contributing to the site. Without too much thought (otherwise, I probably would have thought my way out of it), I submitted a writing sample; was then asked for more information, including answers to specific questions, and a couple days later I was accepted! So far I have posted three articles for my Bears, all of which can be seen by clicking here.
Today I received a notice that we now have an official NFC North Division editor to support the blogging teams as a means of working toward the goal of making the site more of a professional news organization. Still, what may be the most exciting part of this whole experience was what arrived over the weekend (a media pass)!
I have no idea what I will use it for, but I am going to try to figure it out! If nothing else, a life-long dream of doing more than just yell at the TV during various sporting events has come true. I hope you will consider following my coverage of the Bears through what looks to be a very promising season!
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