Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

I don’t remember too many things from my forgettable run in high school sports, but I do remember one thing well.

It was during my senior year with the Shell Lake Lakers when head coach Ky Baumgard pulled me aside after practice. Being one of the guys who only played mop up duty, I was half-hoping I was going to be getting a promotion and half-dreading that he was going to tell me I would be playing even less minutes.

Neither of those things happened, but what coach told me is a lesson that stays with me to this day. He told me that my game nights were the after school practices and it was my job to push the starters as hard as I possibly could to prepare them for the real game nights. He did so in a way that my 17-year old self came out of the speech motivated to come to practice with excitement and motivation. 

I suddenly wasn’t just a bench warmer, I was a crucial part of the team! 

In an era where things like scholarships, highlight plays and state championships seem to be the most important thing in high school sports, it’s crucial to remember that every player on the roster of every team matters. They are all learning a lesson that will follow them in life.

It’s up to the parents and coaches to make sure they are getting the right lessons. 

Another lesson I learned came from my father as he told me never to quit a sport. A lifelong school administrator and coach, he explained that by making a commitment to a team, you owed it to the program to at least finish out the year. If I wanted to quit after the season, that would be OK, but never during the season.

I hope today’s athletes are receiving the same valuable input that I did. No matter what, you should always give it your all, and you should always be there for your team.