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“One night, my 3-year-old asked me if she could sleep in my bed. I told her no. She said, “That’s not fair! Why does Daddy get to sleep in your bed?” READ MORE
Editor's Note
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Parent-coach When the seasons never end It is astonishing to hear Dan Anderson talk about work. Those who know him, know him as a 24/7 youth coach. They see him on the field, and they see him there constantly. For most of us who choose to coach our young children, time races by. Dan is a working professional who compartmentalizes his life down to the last minute because his boy comes first. "Everybody at work knows I have a certain amount of years when my kid will want me around to coach him. High school kids, they don't want you around." In Anderson's case, the year just passed became especially challenging when the North Tustin resident managed a Little League team of 11-year-old all-stars to the state championship game. Without a day's rest, he moved into his volunteer job as offensive coordinator for a local Pop Warner team that went to the national championship in Orlando, Fla. His seasons, which started shortly after New Year's Day 2006, wrapped up in early December. "I keep telling myself, 'They're just kids,'" says Anderson, 42, resting under a tree during a recent Little League tryout day, of which he was a volunteer. "If it becomes a job for them, they won't like it." Dan and Annette have a son, Austin, 12, who has grown up on sporting fields. He's a standout baseball player and lineman on the football team, which, by the way, has gone back to nationals twice in the past three years. The pressure isn't so much in playing to win, but playing to the exclusion of so much. Family summer vacations: out. Days at the beach during the season when the sun may wear on you. Out. Sleepovers at friends' houses, where the fun saps you of a good night's sleep. Out. Anderson gets questions from friends about why he lets his son skateboard. Isn't that a season-ending injury just waiting to happen? "If you don't let them do what they want to do outside of sports," he says, "they're going to end up hating it." There are restrictions, and then, there are exceptions. "It's a fine line in telling them what they can or can't do." Winning puts a premium on the delicate balance between putting everything else on the shelf and going nonstop for months at a time. The all-star season, for example, was nearly as long in terms of games played as a regular season. And the football playoff season stretched the year another five or six weeks. "Just because he's big and strong," Anderson reminds himself, "he's still a kid." (As the parents wear out, do, also, the players?) As if on cue, a 10-year-old boy comes by and shakes Anderson's hand. The preteen is ready to go. "That kind of thing," says the coach, "is the most gratifying thing for me." This past holiday, Anderson got a few moments to collapse on the couch. A weekend or two with no commitments. But on this day, rather than take down the Christmas lights, he was back on the field. Like a lot of coaches who believe in this kind of life, he's already at home. - Craig Reem, Executive Editor |
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