With High School Football Season about to officially "kick off" I wanted to dedicate this Blog post to Coaches and Teachers across the state who everyday are making a difference in the lives of young people. You are in our hearts and prayers! Thank you!
Below is a letter to a Coach and a Teacher who changed my life.
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Dear Coach Wade:
I just wanted to take some time here and stop for a moment in what is now the middle of my life, and express some very genuine and heartfelt gratitude. And, in all honesty, it is an expression of gratitude, which you have long deserved, and yet never really heard from me. So, please allow me to say "Thank you" for all of the ways you took time out of what was at the time the middle of your own life and invested it in me, at such a critical time, and in such a tremendous way. Most certainly, you were a huge influence in my life, and I truly will never forget you.
What you may not know Coach, was that as a young man growing up without a Father, I in many ways had always felt somewhat lost. Throughout my life I had always looked hard for some man that I could look up to, a man who could show me who it was that I was supposed to be, and who it was I was supposed to become as a man. But, I was again and again, painfully disappointed by those men who were most frequently a part of my life. But then, as I came into High School, there you were, Coach Greg Wade, a man I instantly respected, and a man I hoped that I could trust to show me the way.
I remember how, as a freshman, I would pass by your classroom from time to time when I was on my way to Spanish class (which was next door to your room) and how I used to listen to you as you were teaching your American Government, Economics, or History classes, and think to myself about how I couldn't wait to get into your class as a Junior or a Senior someday… Because, it sounded to me then, as if you taught in a way that I could relate to, and in a way that I would want to learn. I loved to listen to the way you would "cut-up" with your students in class, and give them a hard time between classes in the halls, and then with the Upperclassmen as they gathered in the bleachers outside the stadium locker room before football practice started. I wanted to be one of those guys someday that you thought was a "good player," and one that you would point to, or single out, as an example for the rest of the team.
I'll never forget my Freshman year how when I broke my hand in football practice, early in the season, how you would always see me in the hall and ask me about how the arm was coming, and about when I would be able to play again. And then, my Sophomore year, how after I injured my knee and had to have surgery, how you took the time to work with me individually before and after practice as soon as I was back, to help me get "up to speed" with plays and with technique. You took personal time, and you gave me individual attention. You had no idea how "huge" that was to me, and what level of an impression that made on me, but it was… and in so many more ways than I can even begin to describe. It was as if you were telling me I was somebody, and that you thought I had real potential.
So… "Thank you, Coach Wade, for that, and more, for telling me that I mattered, that I counted, and that I could do a heck of a lot more than I thought I could." You had no idea then, but it was your coaching both on the field and in the classroom, that got me through College and Graduate School / Seminary. And, it is lessons from the practice field, and from game nights, that I still draw upon "When the yardage is long and the clock is short" or "when the other team has the ball and it's 1st & Goal." Oh yeah, and thanks for calling me "Schmutzball" all the time. That, to me, was the best nickname a Defensive Tackle and an Offensive Guard could ever ask for. Thanks especially for grabbing me by the shoulder pads when I threw my helmet down on the field after we lost to Chapman (our rival school) my Senior year, and (ever so gently) reminded me that I was a leader, win or lose, and that how I handled the outcome of the game was going to affect how everybody else on the team handled the outcome of the game. (Your words were actually a bit more colorful, but I got the general idea…)
Most of all, thanks for becoming a teacher and a coach, for being a man of integrity, strength and faith, and for being such a key influence in so many lives. (Oh yeah… and thanks for the "Law of Diminishing Return"/ Oreo Cookies Illustration from your Economics Class. I have used that in every church I have ever served, and with every church and every youth group I have ever worked with!)
Very Sincerely,
Rev. Robert Schmutz
The United Methodist Church at Park City
(Coach Greg Wade was inducted last year into the Kansas FCA Coaches Hall of Fame. He died in 2002, following a difficult and yet truly inspirational battle with Cancer.)
Rob Schmutz, Pastor
The Church at Park City
Zechariah 4:10a
Sent from my iPhone
