Outside of our fathers, they are most often the men who have had the most influence on us. We want to hear from you about the coaches who influenced you—for good and bad—when you were growing up.
In March, Mike Rice, the men’s basketball coach at Rutgers University, was fired after a leaked video showed him physically and verbally abusing his players.
As troubling as Coach Rice’s behavior was, we also know that it isn’t isolated. As long as there have been competitive athletics, there have been coaches and, as long as there have been coaches, there have been coaches who believe that screaming and physical intimidation are effective motivational tools.
But for every kid they have succeeded in motivating, how many have they succeeded in driving away from their sport?
As so many of us are or have been influenced by a coach at some point in our lives, we want to hear from you. And we want both the good and the bad.
We want to hear your stories about the coaches who motivated you, who made you a better athlete and a better person, who were men you looked up to and helped you figure out what it means to be a man.
We also want to hear your stories about the coaches who may have traumatized you, driven you away from a sport you loved, made you question the very idea of being a man because if a man is supposed to behave that way then you wanted no part of it.
If you are a coach, we’d love to hear your story too. What is it about coaching that motivates you? And what do you believe is the right way to motivate your players?
Send your submissions to Liam Day at liam.day@goodmenproject.com by Saturday, May 25 for consideration. Submissions can be as short as 500 words, or as long as 2,000. If you want to go longer than that, we’ll read it. Please either put your submission in the body of an email or attach it as a Word or text document. New contributors should also include a brief bio.
Photo: Associated Press
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