Thank You Dad


My Dad, My Coach and Inspiration

I know it looks like I copied Gary because now I have a Father’s Day post up yet it really shows how similar we think. Neither of us talked about it and we have three new posts ready to go on top of it.

My post is similar yet very different than Gary’s. I thank God for my dad. Most of who I am is because of him. My family is a family of four boys. My mom did her best trying to keep us in line but my dad was the enforcer. When we got wild he took control of the situation. He would put us back in line.

At the same time he really fostered our athletic skills. Unlike Gary’s dad, I don’t remember him ever working out yet he coached all our sports team when we were growing up. I played every sport: Baseball, football, basketball, swimming, track and he had me on a bike as soon as I was ready. I still remember the training wheels. Then he would fix our bikes and show us how to do it ourselves. My brothers and I rode everyday.

I remember when I was in seventh grade, he bought me a ten-speed bike. It was Dutch made and really special. The other kids had heavy Schwinnn Varsity’s. My bike was a lite, racing bike. We lived on a hill so my mom was scared of me riding to school; flying downhill on busy streets. She was probably right because I had some close calls with cars but I was developing my bike handling skills at an early age. I also had a dirt bike and we rode on the trails in the hills. We would ride over the Santa Monica Mountains towards the beach on single speed bikes. We looked for jumps and would fly downhill. This was long before shocks were put on bikes. I had so much fun riding.

I owe my athletic mindset and skills to my dad. As a coach, he pushed me to be the best and always had faith in me when the game was on the line. He told me to look forward to those moments and would put me at bat or give me the ball in those moments. I usually did well. I learned so much.

Now that I think about it, I have really followed in my father’s footsteps. He was a coach and now I am a coach. He worked hard developing skills in all the kids on his teams and cared deeply about their welfare. I hope I show that same care.

I owe a lot to him. So, even though it is couple of days late, “Thank you dad, I love you. I feel very fortunate for all the experiences you allowed me. Let’s see if I can do the same great job you did.”

Train Focused, Steve Mackel – Head Coach Beach Runners

June 19, 2007 | Filed Under Steve's Posts 

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