Pop Warner coach a breath of fresh air to parent
I would like to acknowledge a coach who doesn’t yell or raise his
voice. He practices and upholds a rule of no foul language or trash
talking on or off the field. He talks about playing with honor and
respect for the game, for teammates, and most of all, for oneself.
This coach never blames or belittles his players. This wouldn’t be
anything to write about if I wasn’t talking about football. It seems
that yelling, intimidating and belittling is the norm in football.
I’ve seen coaches ride their players so hard that game officials have
to tell the coach to calm down. It isn’t uncommon to see coaches grab
kids by their facemasks and yell into their faces. This season a mom
from a visiting team even took her son (a starting player) off the
field in the middle of a game because the coach was yelling and
blaming him for his performance on the field.
I’m not talking about high school football; this is the Burbank
Vikings Pop Warner tackle football program. These kids are all 11, 12
or 13. I know this won’t last. If my son continues playing, I’m sure
that he’ll end up on the receiving end of all that yelling, hollering
and intimidation.
I just think that this coach and his staff should be acknowledged
as an example of true leadership.
Did I mention the Vikings finished 7-0 in their conference? Did I
mention they are the Junior II American Conference champions? This
mom and the whole team would like to thank Coach Dan Dias, and
assistants Jim Frankian, Art Holguin and Nacho Brache, for coaching
with respect.
MARCELA BLAKEY
Burbank