#1 Coach Nicole.
I met Nicole at work, but I didn’t find out until after months of begging and pleading for her to go out with me that she had a secret life as a gymnastics coach. I remember the first time I went to the gym to meet her after coaching. I was fascinated with the skills the kids were doing, I was amazed at how she handled the complex tasks of directing the kids, correcting mistakes, assigning work and staying engaged with her athletes. Her style was different from the other coaches and I knew that I wanted to be involved. Her influence on me as a coach has been undeniable. She was the one who taught me the basic principles of being a good coach. Never sit down. Never lose your cool. Plan ahead. Be early for class. Most importantly though, be a coach first and a friend second.
Nicole was my guide, my lead coach when I got qualified and became her CIT. She helped me to develop my coaching style and as I gained in skill and confidence we became a great team coaching some amazing kids to incredible heights.
With the arrival of our daughter Nicole had to step away from coaching and although she had been in gymnastics for 16 years as an athlete and a coach I could tell she missed it. I missed coaching with her and so when she came back to the sport last year I was thrilled. To this day I still watch her coach and I am amazed at her ability to entertain and educate the children. For me, there is no other coach like her, she is an awesome role model for anyone who wants to be a great coach. She taught me everything I needed to know just by being an awesome leader and I will be forever grateful to her. I am so fortunate to have been able to share the 3 most incredible things in my life with her. In fact I can’t think of how my life could have been any better, being married to Nicole, having a beautiful daughter together and being able to share my journey as a gymnastics coach with her.
I’m the luckiest guy alive.
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