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269 words
It felt very weird, getting the call from my old high school that my coach, their athletic director for over 30 years, decided to retire all of a sudden. It's a shame too, because he was a guiding light for me when I played for him. He was a great mentor, and I feel for those kids that don't have that mentor in their lives all of a sudden.
I didn't even hesitate on agreeing to coach a game for them since it would be my way of paying the school back for everything they did for me, even though I was a bit of a troublemaker for them. After a hard week of practice, we played the school's rival in a must win game in order to make the state playoffs. Before the game, I told them that I was proud of them no matter what the result was, and that I could see some of them going to college and maybe even turning pro.
They would eventually win on a last second field goal, 24 to 21. The crowd was amazing during the entire game; for once, there was not one helicopter parent that night.
After the game, I apologize that I can't stay and coach since I'm just starting my professional career, but I will have no problem writing letters of recommendation for each and every one of those kids, in the hopes that some of them turn their lives around and make something of themselves. Others, I hope decide to continue their path in football as they're very skilled and could be professionals some day.