There is so much we can learn from the late, legendary UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden.     As a teacher, coach, and parent, I try to apply Coach Wooden’s life lessons every day.    I liked the 7 Point Creed so much I had it printed on my competitive swimmer’s t-shirts some years ago.   Since his passing, I have pulled it out of the closet and I have been wearing it frequently.

I loved his books, especially “They Call Me Coach” and “Wooden,” A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court.   I would like to share with you an excerpt of that that book on Parenting and Coaching:

Wooden writes:  “I think parenting and coaching are the same thing.  And they are the two most important professions in the world.

Parents are coaches, the first coaches a child has.  Too many parents expect the coaches and teachers at school to do what they are not doing at home.  The parents must set the foundation early.  It is often too late by the time a child goes to school.

MY FAVORITE FOUR-LETTER WORDS:  “KIDS” AND “LOVE”

The greatest word in the whole dictionary is love. Love your children.  Listen to them.  Remember that love is the most powerful medicine in the world.

Do not force them or drive them too hard.   Set the example of what you want them to be.  Try always to be a good model.

Children are impatient.  They want to do right, but they maybe don’t know how.  Maybe you haven’t taught them how.   Being a good example is a powerful teaching device.  This verse is accurate:”

No written word

Nor spoken plea

Can teach our youth

what they should be

Nor all the books

on all the shelves

It’s what the teachers

are themselves.

- Unknown

Coach Wooden comments:  “I think that’s it.  Those teachers are the mothers and fathers, and their most powerful tool is love.”