Great Memories
I wrote earlier that you had to "remember to good and forget the bad", so here are a few things I remember about various teams.
Great Memory 1
I was coaching a Mite team one year, and we were in the championship game of a tournament on the road. The game ended up tied, and we had to go into overtime. During the overtime action, one of the Mites waiting for his shift had a very distressed look on his face. Naturally I assumed the pressure of this critical game was getting to him. So I asked him what was the matter, and could I help. The seven year old looked at me and asked, "Does this overtime mean we can't swim at the hotel pool before we go home?"
Great Memory 2
I always try to prepare the kids on my team for the future. One of my little speeches refers to the fact that, sooner or later, they will probably end up with a coach they don't like, someone who tries to take the fun out of the game. I tell the kids if they ever end up in this situation, they can't let the coach drive them out of hockey. I tell them that when the coach is screaming at them, just look him in the eye and agree with everything he says, with "yes sir, no sir". But let every single word go in the left ear and out the right. Then go enjoy the game and your teammates. Don't let him get to you, ever.
So a Squirt I used to coach moved out of town to another program, and had the misfortune to end up on a team with a coach who screamed and yelled all the time. I didn't see the player for a couple of years, and then at some tournament someplace this kid is playing on another team, and he came up to me before a game and said, "Hi coach Barry, I just wanted to say, thanks, it really works". I looked at the kid and had no idea what he was talking about, so I said, "what works". My ex-player and still friend responded something like, "you know, that thing about 'in the left ear, out the right' it works - my coach is a jerk, but I'm having a great time".
Great Memories 3
A squirt team I coached had a party at the end of the season. We were at a facility with a gymnasium and pool, and we had arranged to spend the night in sleeping bags on the floor. The party started about 7:00 pm, and many parents and siblings were there for pizza, games, etc. About 11:00pm the party broke up, and just the players and I were left. But we were all having a good time, so we played a little more floor hockey, took another swim, had a late snack, reminisced about games, etc. The entire team was still talking in their sleeping bags in a big circle about 1:00 am, and one of the kids looked right at me and said, "gee, isn't it great not to have any adults around".
I'm not quite sure how to take that, but it sure made me laugh.