Volunteers...

They are not famous. Unless you know them, you’ve probably never heard of them. But if you have school-aged children playing sports you’ll know a score of people just like them. And you’ll be just as indebted to the ones you know as my family is.

They’re volunteer coaches, managers, and treasurers of our children’s sports and school teams, volunteer instructors at sport camps, and the executives of sports clubs and leagues. They put in hundreds and hundreds of hours – unpaid – every year recruiting, organizing, adjudicating and patiently dealing with parental complaints and endless “helpful” suggestions.

They sooth wounds and massage egos. They teach, train, mentor, and motivate.

And all for the love of the game and satisfaction of helping young people grow as players and individuals.

They show up before everyone else, stay until the last equipment bag is packed, until the last player has left the dressing room. They devise the drills for practices and plays for the games, make sure the balls (or pucks) are ready, fill water bottles, collect the player cards, fill out the game sheets and ensure every player and all the parents know when and where the next event is.

Then they answer phone calls and e-mails all week from those of us who have forgotten.

And when they’re not doing that, they’re attending classes and clinics to improve or raise their certification levels.

If they’re team or league executives there are all those meetings, too.

Who manages team funds and registers for tournaments? Organizes road trips? Year-end parties?

The bulk of the work, the stresses and the mundane chores that make any team hum fall on those who volunteer for the official positions.

Imagine that, giving up half a weekend day every week for nearly three months just to teach fundamentals to other people’s kids. Imagine what that says about your commitment to kids and to your sport.

Most coaches have their own kids in sports, usually on the team they coach. But they often have other kids involved, too, in different sports or at other age levels. So the time they spend with our kids is far from the time they devote to children’s activities.

Imagine having to do all you do for your own kids’ activities and coach a team on top of that.

Talk about dedication.

These volunteers build character, develop skills, try to win as often as possible and yet somehow still manage to keep things fun and interesting.

Our kids are not only better athletes for the time and energy they give, but better people too.