A Deep Reaction

Last Wednesday an A.F.L coach was sacked. It is not unusual. They say with coaches there are two categories which are: current coaches and coaches sacked.

I don’t even barrack for his team. However, I have appreciated the way he has gone about things. He took a club with a history of heavy drinking and partying, and sought to develop their character. He took them to Africia to get them out of their comfort zone. To develop them as people beyond footballers. He has taken them on other overseas experiences for the same reason. He was crticised for this in the first instance, but now many other clubs have followed suit.

He decided to change the captain every year because he believed they all had something to contribute to leadership. He wanted to see his younger players develop in their leadership skills. He always encouraged his players to develop skills beyond being a professional footballer.

His ideas were criticised strongly. In a football sense he took the club from the bottom to the top end of the ladder. Unfortunately, they didn’t win a Grand Final.

I think I really appreciated where he was coming from. He was trying to see the players develop as footballers and people. He relied on character development more than just stirring up emotion.

Seeing as my team is in a rebuilding stage (which means they’re near the bottom), then I was hoping his team did well. They got knocked out in the first week of the finals with many of their key players getting injured.

On Monday afternoon it was announced he was to be replaced. Later in that afternoon I felt a knot in my stomach. At first I was trying to remember why (given a lot of things transpire at work in an afternoon), and then I remembered it was about the St Kilda coach. I have continued to feel a sense of loss. I am surprised by the depth of my reaction.