Yes, for the high school season I have transitioned into proud parent instead of coach. 

No one believes that it I can sit in that chair.  My wife thinks we may have wasted the money.  Brad and Carrie find it funny that I might sit calmly, they don’t believe it’s possible.  To be fair, it has been a long time since I “calmly” sat next to other parents as I struggled to understand this new to me sport.  I may not know how to sit anymore. For the record, I sat half the game.  I paced for the other half.  There was a lot of up/down for me.    

My mind is always working.  Sometimes I have to work out my thoughts during a lacrosse game with motion, as I zip from one side of our bench to another.  But in this game I had two things to think about.  First, I got to watch my player.  And it does give me joy to watch her play the game she picked and loves.  Second, the game featured five Yeti including some players I had only seen at tryouts. 

Here are a few things that I learned from these five high schoolers.

Yeti Work Hard:  On both sides I could see the effort.  That included both the joy in performing and the frustration in failure.  But all five Yeti I saw were fully present in their game and putting in the work to be better.  For Yeti who have played with us before their past effort was confirmed and those I do not fully know impressed me.  I filled with pride as I thought, these young ladies are Yeti!    

Yeti Are Family: At the end of the game, some of the winning Yeti went straight to a losing one.  What I witnessed was excitement in seeing a fellow Yeti.  The opposition of the last hour was over.  The struggle was temporary.  One side lost, one side won…but they were on a journey together as a family.  No coach or parent told these kids to connect, they did it on their own because Yeti.  They did not see opposing uniforms but teammates who share a passion. 

Yeti are Excited:   As one Yeti walked away from the field she yelled out to me she cannot wait for our Yeti season to begin!  I loved it.  Because I cannot wait for this summer either, I guess then my struggle for my new chair with my son will end.  At the end of the day this is what I can promise parents and players.  Lacrosse will be taught and played.  And we will have fun!  And I cannot wait for our first practice.  Because Yeti players and coaches do not seen practice as a chore, but as a time to come together.

I do like my chair.  It’s blue.  It reminds me that the Yeti are coming.  But the sooner I put it away the better!