In the Coach’s Corner

14 | THE HUMAN CONNECTION How the impact of students’ leaders on the field can impact their careers IN THE COACH’S CORNER DESIGN BY EVAN SHIBEL

By Evan Shibel Asst. Editor-in-Chief & Sports Editor

(Above) In the heat of the game, Coach Mark Western watches the girls play against Olathe Northwest. (Below) Head coach Brett McFall gives encouraging speech during a timeout. (Bottom right) After the first dual, head coach Derek Bayless addresses his team. Photos by Landrea Van Mol and Jack Wagner

Coaches are easily able to make the single greatest impact on an athlete with their inspiring words, motivating speeches and training schemes. One of the most important things to many high school athletes when making the transition from high school athletics to college athletics is the relationship with the coach. Coaching relationships are a key aspect in an athlete’s career and can determine their future in their respective sport.

Jacob Wheat, a former cross country and track athlete at Shawnee Mission South, now runs distance for Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado, one of the top Division II distance programs in the country.

“It’s important to have a good relationship with your coach. Regardless of what sport or what level you are at in your sport,” Wheat said. “As athletes, we are the products of the coaches. It is the athlete’s job to represent the coach in a positive way in competition.

Here at South, head basketball coach Brett McFall agrees. “Relationships are very important, whether in the classroom or on the court,” McFall said. “You spend so much time together as a team, you become a family. These relationships you build every day are relationships that can last a lifetime... Some of my favorite memories are when older players come back and we talk about everything just like we hadn’t skipped a beat.”

As athletes look towards the next level of competition after high school, McFall believes there is a distinct type of coach athletes should look for.

“If my players decide to try and play at the next level I look for a coach that is transformational, not transactional. Transformational coaches build character and change lives, while transactional coaches only care what the kid can do for them. I am a transformational coach and when suggesting a kid for college, I am looking for the same thing,” McFall said.

As many former athletes and current coaches can show how important the relationship between the two is, coaches can have impacts on athletes that can last a lifetime and change careers. These coaches can be seen from two sides – one being as people who give us jobs to do and the other as people that inspire us and encourage us everyday to do what we love. If this is found in a coach that an athlete has, that is the right athlete-tocoach relationship for them.