Last night I attended the “Keep Them Loving the Game” event at The Diesel Sport Complex, and I brought my 15-year-old son with me.

The event reinforced something I believe strongly in as both a coach and a parent:

We have a responsibility to develop the player, but we have an even greater responsibility to grow the person.

As coaches, it is easy to get caught up in skills, systems, winning, rankings, playing time, and the next game.

As parents, it is easy to focus on goals, performance, stats, and what our kids need to do to get to the next level.

Those things have their place.

But our responsibility goes beyond the scoreboard.

We are helping shape young people.

We should be teaching them how to handle adversity, deal with stress and anxiety, communicate, accept coaching, be accountable, work through failure, respect others, and carry themselves the right way.

We should be helping them become confident enough to speak to adults, shake someone's hand, make eye contact, introduce themselves, and step outside their comfort zone.

And most importantly, we need to model those things ourselves.

That was one of the reasons I brought my son last night. I wanted him to hear these conversations, but I also wanted him to see me participate in them.

Afterward, I asked him what he thought.

His first response was, “Boring.” 😂

He's 15 and was the only kid there surrounded by adults talking, so I expected that.

But he also admitted there was value in what was discussed.

That's a win.

Our kids may not remember every practice, every game, or every lesson we teach them.

But hopefully they remember the way we made them feel, the standards we held them to, and the example we set.

As coaches and parents, we have an incredible opportunity and responsibility.

Develop the player.

Grow the person.

Because eventually the games will end. The person we helped them become is what remains.