Wrestling with Addiction

     “Heroin is back, and it is back with a vengeance”. 

     This is a sad truth that we live with today and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that it is getting any better. Heroin use has doubled in the past 10 years but the saddest part of it all: today’s heroin is killing people at an alarming rate. There are over a quarter million people that die of substance-related deaths each year in this country. This number is devastating. Especially when you consider that each individual leaves a family and a circle of friends with profound wounds that seldom fully repair.

     Addicts are among us everywhere. Some quite obvious, and others are well-hidden, suffering the ugly effects of this disease alone on the bathroom floor, shaking violently, soaked in tears, and overflowing with shame. Addiction is- more often than not- totally misunderstood. In our culture, there is a stigma and judgment cast upon those who struggle with substance abuse. I ask of you, before casting judgment imagine their despair. Imagine what it must feel like to believe there is no option. These people need love, not more fuel poured on the fire. How can we expect people who struggle to step forward and ask for help when they feel misunderstood and shamed? Few things are sadder than encountering a person who knows exactly what he should do, yet cannot muster enough energy to do it. For those who have to watch a loved one go through this, it is one of the saddest things in the world. These are people that we love, after all. They need an environment of support, tolerance, and understanding.

     For those readers who may think that this topic will never touch their life- I ask you to think again. When most of us drink our first beer or puff on our first joint, none of us imagine that we might be taking the first step in a journey that will lead us to a life of pain, despair, shame, and hopelessness. I know for a fact that thought never crossed my mind. And I am pretty damn sure it never crossed my brother’s mind either. Sadly, tomorrow marks one year since my brother lost his battle with addiction. The wounds of losing a loved one never quite seem to heal. The reminders are everywhere. Siblings are your first friends and for 27 years, I knew I could always count on my older brother being in my corner. That was the type of guy he was not only for me, but for everyone he considered a friend or family. That is what I miss about him most. He was one person who was always proud of me. Since his passing, there has not been a day where he wasn't the first thing I thought about in the morning. I miss him like crazy.

     Around the time of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s overdose, I remember reading, “he didn’t die because he was partying or depressed. He died because he was an addict on a day of the week with a ‘Y’ in it”. The author made it seem like death was inevitable. When I read that it angered me. Its as if there is no hope for the addict. But that is not the case. Every addict is a human being, a completely redeemable human being. Not everyone has to suffer the same fate. If you know someone going through these same issues, I am sure most of you are, just imagine the nightmare that they are living through day to day. Be there for them and support them. Not everyone has to suffer the same fate!

Chris Fluck

What I've Been Reading!

BOOKS I'VE BEEN READING

High Performance Sports Conditioning: This book gives a descriptive look into the nine basic sports performance factors: power, strength, speed, agility, coordination, quickness, flexibility, local muscular endurance and cardiovascular capacity. Each chapter is written by a coach who specializes in one of the nine factors. Some of the top coaches in their respective field give their opinion and it offers some good insight into ways to improve the nine factors. It was long, but I force myself to suffer through a few textbooks each year!

The Imaginary Girlfriend: A client of mine lent this to me when she learned that I coach wrestling. It is a memoir written by American novelist John Irving. It was a nice, quick read that offers his love of the sport of wrestling. Growing up undersized, it was tough for him to find a sport that fit his stature. Then he found wrestling. The sport changed his life and to this day, he still recalls some of those lessons and applies them to his current life.

12 Years a Slave: When I purchased this book I did not realize that the author, Solomon Northup, was the man who spent 12 years of his life as a slave. The movie (which I have not seen) is the reason for me purchasing this and for that I am grateful. Compared to other books written in this era on slavery written by a former slave, I have not read anything quite like this!

Mr. Northup was a free man living in America. His talent as a violinist led him on a tour with two men (who he never met before or seen after) performing his talent on the east coast. After one night out, and feeling ill, he went home to bed. He woke up in shackles with no recollection of how he got there and what happened to him the previous night. The remainder of the book covers the 12 years he spent in slavery and his attempts at returning to freedom. Persistence and the compassion of a fellow human ultimately led to his freedom!

You Herd Me!: Over the past 5 or 6 years, I have spent many hours listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio. He is the sports talk radio guy who doesn't always discuss sports. He is a bit of a contrarian by nature and for that I like hearing his opinion (even though I do not always agree with it). He discusses everything from Tiger Woods "sex addiction" (and how it only became an issue because his wife found out), to how LeBron gets dogged for leaving the Cavaliers but Jordan left his entire sport to play baseball and he doesn't get slammed for it, to growing up in isolation and his opinion on NCAA basketball and the rule on one and doners (he is not a big fan of the rule). Every chapter is its own individual chapter with no real connection or flow from chapter to chapter, either way, decent read. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't a fan of The Herd!


A few years ago I came across the website scribd.com. At the time, it was free and had tons of great information on the site. The site has over 300,000 books on the site, different manuals, and some things I loved: copies of college football playbooks and different strength and conditioning programs. After a few years of not using I deciding to check it out recently. Turns out, it is now a paid member site (it is a little over $40 for the year) and has even more files loaded to the site. So basically, you spend $40 for access to thousands of books and files. To top it off, you can also save the files to your computer for future reference. It has been a great resource for me and highly recommend it to anyone who gets excited about reading!

Have a great weekend!
Chris Fluck

Becoming an Effective Coach

     In a few short months the summer will be here and that means the start of a new football season. I am going into my seventh year coaching the sport and every year a new challenge or issue arises (especially when you coach the quarterback position) This year we will be anointing a new starting quarterback. Our two-year starter at the position graduated , as well as one of our backups, which leaves us with one returning quarterback. Some years we have 4-5 kids returning to play quarterback, other years 2-3, this year we only have 1 coming back. So is life when you coach at a small high school. This means some kids will be playing the position for the first time in their lives and their success is dependent on one thing: the coach (me).

     A coach is someone who facilitates and supports learning a task, skill, or concept by means of effective instruction. They are responsible for others obtaining goals and getting to places that they’ve never been on their own. You can be the smartest coach in the world but if you can’t get your players or clients to understand and execute those great ideas, then those ideas aren’t worth s***. If you want to see how effective a coach may be, all you need to do is look at the improvement, learning and success of their players or clients. If learning and improvement is not going on, then there is a disconnect somewhere in the chain between player and coach. I recently came across the "five minds" that every coach should have when coaching. The player trusts their coach and everything they are taught. With that being said, it should be every coaches goal to excel in their field. Understanding the "five minds" will get you there!


The Five Minds of Coaching

1. The disciplined mind refers to being a master of one’s discipline and portraying it to the student. Learning is classified into two categories. Acquisition is from teacher to student and participation occurs through active engagement. The successful coach needs to use a mixed approach when teaching their discipline.
2. The synthesizing mind is blending all the information learned to create their own methods and practices. The information is acquired over the years talking to others in the field, attending clinics/conferences, finding a mentor, and through experience. If you learn 1-2 things each season that will help you improve your trade, you will be in good shape moving forward!
3. The creative mind builds off of the disciplined and synthesizing mind. The goal of the creative mind is to ruffle a few feathers, challenge the contours of the profession and build your own set of guidelines and practices. The creative mind lies at the heart of coaching. As Bill Belichick said, “You’ve got to keep doing what you’re doing, but you’ve got to find ways of doing it and finding ways of making it fun”. This prevents any type of staleness and will keep the athlete engaged. At some point in the season every coach gets a feeling that their kids may not be totally engaged in what you are doing. When this occurs it is usually too late. Mix in new ideas, games, or challenges along the way to keep the kids engaged.
4. The respectful mind is your ability to understand and work with others. In my opinion, this is the most overlooked of the five. With experience, you learn how to deal with players on an individual level. In order to do that, you need to communicate with the kids and learn a little bit about each one. I am no psychologist but learning how some kids are "wired" will help give you a better understanding on how they respond to things. One of my big pet peeves is when a coach doesn’t even take the time to learn a kids name. How do you expect a kid to have respect for you if you don’t take the time, or care enough, to learn and address him by name. 
5. Lastly, it is the ethical mind. This is associated with making decisions that are in the best interest of society as a whole rather than your self-interest. Listening to Colin Cowherd’s radio show this week, a good example of the ethical mind came up. Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker received two concussions within a four week span. He passed the concussion protocol which allowed him to return to play, but when does the time come that the coach or organization sits that player down? This is the ethical mind at heart.

In the world of coaching, new challenges will always present itself. I will have my work cut out for me in terms of getting a new starter ready, finding a backup from one of the other positions, and getting one of our freshmen quarterbacks up to speed so they'll be able to handle a junior varsity schedule. This is going to be a fun summer!

Chris Fluck