FAHA: Coach in need of moral support

[Bharat Nain]

Being a mentor on a team is hard enough. Being the sole mentor is even harder while tackling many situations. What advice can you offer to this mentor?
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I am a fourth year coach and boy has it been a tough six-weeks. While so many things seem to have gone right many others seem to have gone wrong at the last moment (i.e. just when you think everything is working you blow 2 jags and 1 victor because things weren't double checked). We had a chance to have everything working last week and things just kind of slid apart at the end (i.e. careless mistakes).

I am the sole coach of our 30 member team. There are no other adults excepting our engineering mentor who is able to be here about 1 1/2 hours right after school per day. This means that all the late nights and 6 day weeks (as well as being mom, cheerleader, psychologist, guide, mentor, referee, and general abuse taker) I am on my own. This year to add to everything my mother-in-law (who lives next door and for whom we are mainly responsible as opposed to brother and sisters-in-law that live out of town) was diagnosed with stage III cancer during week 3 of build season I have husband, step-son, and son at home and they have no clue how to deal with this.

It is all so overwhelming sometimes and today I just need to know that there is someone else who understands how much all the FIRST coaches and mentors put into their teams. What we give up and what we gain because there is a lot of both. I wouldn't change anything I do for my team (well maybe a few things... ) but there are only so many hours in a day and sometimes something just has to give.

Thanks for letting me vent and patiently reading. If you are a student, hug your mentors and coaches today, even the grumpy ones...you have no idea what they may be going through between their personal lives and your team...

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FIRST-a-holics Anonymous mailbox is a place to share your concerns about your FIRST experience anonymously. It is the perfect place if you just want someone to listen, or ask for advice when you don’t know what to do. Submit your letters today at the FIRST-a-holics Anonymous mailbox forum. If you wish to respond to this thread anonymously, please PM Bharat or Beth with your response and thread title.