1. It’s meaningful and weird (in the best way)
Coaching is full of real-deal life lessons – how to stick with something hard, how to use your voice, how to be a good teammate – and it’s delightfully weird. I find myself splitting into groups by your favorite animal, making up chants mid-run, using pipe cleaners as lap counters, and role-playing things like:
“You’re stuck on a homework problem and want to give up.”
“You want to invite someone to play, but you’re feeling shy.”
“You’ve missed ten free throws in a row… what now?”
Oh, and once in a while someone will ask if worms have butts. (Jury’s still out.)

2. I get to rock what I’ve got and so do the 3rd-5th graders.
Twice a week, I get to enjoy a space that’s alllll about being yourself and building confidence to try hard things. I’ve chalked goofy messages (and amazing knock-knock jokes), made up ridiculous skits, perfected my “windmill” high five, and led affirmations with zero shame and maximum joy. I channel my inner ten-year-old and don’t have to be perfect; I just get to be me. And when kids see that, it gives them permission to do the same.

3. The curriculum and values are everything.
Empathy. Inclusion. Forward is a pace. Coaching is where I get to live out what matters most to me, and it’s all baked into the program. The curriculum is research-based, age-appropriate, and full of fun, meaningful ideas I don’t have to invent. Training and materials are all provided; my co-coaches and I just bring our best selves. The lessons stick because they’re paired with movement, play, and connection, and watching it click for these fierce and hilarious young people is a gift.

4. The ripple effect is real.
The Community Impact Project is one of my favorite parts. Each season, every team dreams up a way to give back (a bake sale for a local pet shelter, collecting food for the food shelf, raising recycling awareness, and YES once we made friendship bracelets for firefighters) and then makes it happen. These girls know they aren’t just future leaders; they’re leading today, right now, present-tense.

5. It fills me up.
Coaching is one of the most rewarding ways I spend my time. It grounds me, connects me, and brings out the kind of adult I want to be. I get to show up with joy and listen with intention. I get to notice and celebrate these goofs and what's important to them. Twice a week, I leave practice with a full heart, a renewed hope for humanity, and sometimes a pocket full of lap counters, dandelions, and/or friendship bracelets.

If you or anyone else in your life has been looking for a way to get involved in building the world all kids deserve, this just might be it. Consider joining me this fall? www.gotrmn.org/coach