THE MEANING OF "COACH"

There is no one that has taught me more about the game of basketball than my junior high school coach Allen Osborne. It started with me playing for him and later coaching for him. He had such a direct impact in my life that when I got married at the age of 31, he was one of my groomsmen. To this day we often talk about matters involving our teams throughout the year. He has been a big part of my success personally as well as a major component to our success of our teams. We also give each other the gift of books. A week ago I got my latest gift from Allen, "The Winners Manual" by Jim Tressel, the head football coach at Ohio State. It was an outstanding book -- so much that I read it completely though in one night -- I couldn't put it down!

And while I will share more of this great read later, I was fascinated to read the orientation of the word "coach."

"My job as a coach is to do more than just teach the Xs and Os of the gridiron. I recently heard someone explain how the word coach game to be applied to an athletic context. The etymology of the word, at least in part, comes from the old stagecoaches that were used to transport mail, valuables, and people before the advent of motorized transportation. Whether a coach was drawn by a horse or a steam locomotive, it carried or conveyed something or someone from one place to another. If you put yourself into a coach, you you would end up at your desired destination. In the same way, athletic coaches carry players or teams from one point in their development to the place they want to be."

-Jim Tressel-