Just like with Mother’s Day, I have seen tons of posts about people’s dads. Let me take a moment to tell you about how great my dad is.
My dad is the best coach I have had. From the time I was old enough to dribble a soccer ball he coached my team. He taught me the basic fundamentals of the sport at a very young age and help shape me into the player that I became. He taught me how the rules, how to dribble, how to pass, how to shoot, and how to move without the ball. The rest was just natural talent on my part (kidding). He is also the reason that I fell in love with the sport. I loved having my dad coach me all throughout youth league. One year for Christmas I got a small soccer goal. We would go out into the backyard, passing and shooting the ball. One of the most important lessons I learned from his is “low and to a corner” in reference to a penalty kick. This proved a valuable lesson during my freshman year sectional game. We went into a sudden death shoot out. When my turn for a penalty kick came, I walked the incredibly long walk from midfield to the box. I remember repeating over and over in my head “low and to a corner”. The whistle blew signaling I could shoot. Low and to a corner and right into the back of the net! Thanks to that great piece of advice I received when I was probably 6 years old, I helped my team win the first round of sectionals for the first time in my school’s history of girls’ soccer. He not only coached my soccer teams for years, he also coached my softball teams. He would spend hours in the backyard with me catching while I was learning how to pitch for my fastpitch team, giving pointers and encouragement the whole time.
My dad is not only the best coach, but the greatest supporter. When he wasn’t coaching, he would drive me to all my practices and was always at every game or match. For a couple years in jr. high and high school I played travel soccer for other cities. He would drive me to all the practices and watch the whole thing. Afterwards, in the car on the way home, he would give me advice or tell me how well I did. He would also drive hours to take me to different tournaments. I played all over the state and also in other states. It didn’t matter how far away, it was no question that he would be there. This was also true of gymanstics. He was always at my practices. My dad is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. He has driven to Dallas from out town in Indiana several times just to go to games. He has taken my mom and my little brother. I told him the next time he goes it’s my turn to go with him. The very next week he texted me and said that he had just bought us tickets for the last game of the season. We drove 15 hours to Texas to watch the game and once we got there he bought me the jersey I had been wanting. It was the best road trip ever. I had so much fun spending those few days with him. For this Race, he is helping me fundraise. For those who don’t know, he is going to be completing the RAIN Ride. This is the Ride Across INdiana bike ride that takes place on July 12. It is 163 miles in one day from Terre Haute to Richmond. he is taking pledges per mile in order to help me raise money. So don’t be shy about getting in contact with me about how to pledge! By pledging, you would be helping me reach my goal and also helping him reach is goal of completing this ride. I am so blessed to have a dad that is so involved in all the things that I did and all the things that I still do.
My dad is a comedian. Or at least he likes to think he is… (kidding again!) He is always making jokes. Sometimes lame jokes (not kidding that time)… but always a joke somehow. Everyone knows him in the community. He went back to school to get his teaching degree awhile back. When I was in jr. high, he was a substitute teacher. My friends always used to tell me how much they liked when he subbed and how funny he was. He chose the right career because he is very smart. He is one of the smartest people that I know. He is brilliant at math (good thing, since he’s a high school math teacher). Whenever I needed help in high school, all I had to do was tell him the equation and he could tell me how to get the correct answer.
My dad is a great dog trainer. He has trained all of the great danes that we have had, and we have had a lot. They are the most well trained dogs I have ever seen. Thanks to him, I have been able to train my dog (not as well, but it’s a start). I would call him several times a day with different questions. What do I do for this? What is the best way to train him how to do that? How did you do this? and on and on and on. Even now after a year of having a dog, I still call him with different questions that I have. He’s probably the only person that I would trust to watch my dog for an extended period of time. And that’s exactly what is going to happen when I am on this Race!
My dad is very protective. When I told him that I wanted to do the World Race, the first thing he said was, “How safe is it?” He is always looking into where I want to go and how safe it would be for me to travel there. Whenever I leave to drive somewhere, he always tells me to be careful and tells me about the driving conditions and how to drive in them. “It’s raining so be careful about the leaves on the road when you get to a stop sign.” “It’s icy out so give yourself plenty of distance behind each vehicle and brake way before you need to.” “Always be thinking about where you could go if you need to get out of the way for some reason.” This last one is scary. When I was about to get my driver’s license, he made me go through what he called “Daddy Drivers Ed”. We went out into the country and I had to drive off to the side of the road where the right two tires were off the road. He taught me how to get the car under control and steer back onto the road without over-correcting. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared during that drivers ed lesson.
Thank you for all you have done for me, and all that you still do for me to this day. I don’t know where I would be without you. Thanks for the random phone calls throughout the week. They always make my days better!
Love you Daddy.
