Coaches, players and parents, I can't believe I missed the party yesterday. I had to take Jilly and her sister Maddie to Albany Airport yesterday for a 5:00 flight. We saw Mary Leech boarding her flight on time, but Jilly and Maddie's flight was delayed until 7:45. Alas, I spent the night in Albany, and my daughters arrived in Florida at 12:30AM.
In any case, I just wanted to thank all of you for a fantastic season. The end of the season was bittersweet. While I am glad to see our 5 month adventure together end, I am also a little melancholy that my 5 year coaching adventure with the players will end. Between coaching soccer for 3 years, traveling with the hockey team for 4 years, and coaching the hockey team for 1 year, I have made a very good friend in Bob Thompson, good friends with other coaches like Jay and David Chandler, good friends with many of you parents, and a very unique relationship with many of the players I have coached over the past 5 years. There are a few that have been there from the start: Erin, Melanie, Cara, Calle, Meg, Amelia and Katherine, Jessica, and of course Jillian. I have nothing but affection for each and everyone of them. And some players I coached for the first time this year in Olivia, Mary, Clara, Kelsey and Emalie. And lucky Anna who had to endure me for one year only of soccer and one of hockey. I will truly cherish so many memories of Fall days and cold rinks, Coach Dude and goals we scored against ourselves, pizza's that took 2 hours to deliver and always being late to carpool. I stubbornly believed from the start that I could turn these girls from giggling, just want to have fun, paying more attention to boys practicing on the field next us kind of girls, into focused, disciplined athletes. I did not give up on that until the Rutland tournament this year. After the second period of a close game while they were resurfacing the ice, we were in the locker room and I had just given my absolutely finest pep talk to the players. It was definitely the best locker room speech I had ever given. Jessica raises her hand to say something, and since she was a captain I figured she would add something inspirational, and she asks if anybody else had chewed gum with their mouthpiece in, and the gum gets stuck all over it? Somethings will never change, and the lesson I learned from the players is that having fun should not ever change. It was a LOT of fun for me.
To Bob, we'll have to periodically take 2 hours drives together once a month or so.
To the parents, thank you very much for trusting me with your very special children. It has been an absolute pleasure.
To the players, I already look forward to seeing you march into the gym at BBA on the first day of school next August.
All the best,
Coach Dude
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Dan Flanagan
Coordinator, ACCESS Program
Burr and Burton Academy
Seminary Avenue
Manchester, Vermont 05254
802-549-8115
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