Through These Doors
Forty years ago, I said goodbye to the first coach who took a real sincere interest in me and my training.
Looking back over the years, it wasn’t really “goodbye”, we are still in contact with each other.
What kind of coach and person was he that generated so much respect from me that decades later I would still call him to talk periodically?
He was (and still is) the kind of coach that creates an atmosphere of excellence, and expects you to thrive in it. One way he did that was by living it himself. He exemplified what he taught, and he did it well.
I was blessed to see my old friend a couple of years ago, when I was in New England for a family visit. He still looks the part at 70 years old: trim, fit, and well-muscled.
I am thankful this man, Van Canna, was a big part of my life as a teenager. He knew how to push people hard, to draw the best out of them. This was so necessary as I was growing up.
He also knew how to “let go” of his people when he knew they had to move on. He gave his very best to all of us when we trained with him.
When it came to leave back then, Van encouraged us to seek out the best instructors we could find wherever we would live next. He said to train with the toughest competitors we could find to hone our skills, and to not with people we knew we could beat.
Now as some of my best athletes are heading off to college, the military, or are moving because of work, I remember how Van treated us at that point of our lives.
I know that “through these doors” have passed some fine athletes and quality human beings who I will long remember. They will surely continue to excel as life goes on for each of them.
They would do well to take the advice of my old friend and to seek out the very best instructors they can wherever they are headed next, and to train with the toughest and best they can find.
One day they may be coaching others who sometime in the future they can look back and think, as I do now, “through these doors” have passed some of the best.
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