coach

For months, current and former high school coaches have been asked to respond to my simple question:

“What’s the best lesson a player taught you?”

It’s so hard to come up with an answer that many can’t do it immediately. They’re forced to think, which means the question is very good.

Stories are always written about lessons learned by students in the classroom and on the field, but what do coaches, most of them teachers, learn from their students?

Here are some answers.

Weeks before he died last March, Venice football coach Angelo Gasca told me the story of a player who wanted to quit and what he learned. That player later became one of his assistant coaches.

“I’m not accepting your resignation today,” Gasca told him. “You need to go home and think about it.”

Venice coach Angelo Gasca showing off the City Division I title trophy in 2021.

(Cliff Kensinger)

“He said he went home and thought about it and stayed on the team and was our starting center. He taught me the best thing we can teach is come to school and you never know what connections you’ll make at the school you grew up at. He taught me there’s more to coaching than winning games and scoring touchdowns. In our lives as teachers and coaches, we do learn from players. When we stop learning from our players, it’s time to stop coaching.”

Former Edison football coach Dave White remembers suspending his team’s best player before a trip to Hawaii for a team rule violation. He had to stay home even though his parents had paid money for the trip.

Dave White speaks to a crowd, including the football team, during the official naming of the Belcher White Strength Training Facility at Edison High School in 2022.

(Scott Smeltzer / Los Angeles Times)

“He taught me that I made the right decision and it was best for the team and in the long run best for him,” White said. “I was proud how he handled things. There are consequences for bad decisions. I really enjoyed and respected him more after that.”

Granada Hills girls volleyball coach Tom Harp said he had a player with a disability. She lost sight in an eye during an accident.

“She taught me how to overcome a difficult situation with a positive attitude,” he said. “She was a shining example of how to overcome adversity. It showed me my little problems aren’t as bad as they seem if she can overcome that.”

Lorenzo Hernandez, the football coach and athletic director at Whittier and former head football coach at Garfield, said a comment from a player made him realize to change tactics.

Former Garfield coach Lorenzo Hernandez runs onto the field with his players and assistant coaches.

(Hernandez family)

“You grow up in a certain era and have to adapt,” he said. “These kids want to enjoy themselves. They taught me to keep it as fun as possible. We worked on discipline. A kid said, ‘That’s great coach, but I don’t think we’re having fun.’ It made me take a step back. We have to understand it’s a different era of athletes and they require different ways to handle things. That’s helped me build better relationships. I’ll meet you halfway.”

Former Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett said he learned to talk to students about their personal lives to understand why they are behaving in certain ways. He discovered one of his players had nowhere to wash his clothes.

Longtime Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett talks to De’Anthony Thomas, one of his best former players, in 2011.

(Robert S. Helfman)

“Some don’t have a stable household,” he said. “You don’t learn that until you talk to them. I knew he was intelligent and studious but until I found out his hygiene wasn’t good, I realized the environment he was up against. It wasn’t until he shared with me what he was going through I offered assistance to wash his clothes.

“He didn’t need tough love. He needed kid gloves. Every day I try to find at least one child I didn’t know and have a personal conversation, ‘What middle school he went to, where does he live, are his studies OK.’ I try to learn the child before I learn the body. Adults never talk to kids. We just assume a kid is a certain way until you have a conversation and know their background and what they are going through.”

Former Hart baseball coach Jim Ozella, retired and watching his grandson play sports, told the story of his former player, Jack Ralston, reaching the major leagues this year taught him about perseverance.

“Everyone wants instant gratification,” Ozella said. “Here’s a kid who didn’t make the major leagues until he was 29. For us, he was an outstanding pitcher. We made it to the CIF final. Then he walked into UCLA, didn’t pitch as a freshman or sophomore, pitched a little as junior, then boom as a senior. He got drafted. His lesson has been off the charts for me.

Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow with Hart coach Jim Ozella, who coached him in high school.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

“You can’t expect results immediately. You’re talented, put in all the work and effort. In this case, it didn’t work. He kept plugging along. His lesson is everyone is different. His was keep plugging away and it will happen. I called him after he gave up a home run. He said, ‘Today I woke up and it’s a new day.’ What a role model. Don’t expect everything overnight. It takes time. Be patient.”

Then Ozella quoted a famous line, “The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.”

Hall of Fame football coach Paul Knox had a situation early in his coaching days at Dorsey dealing with two brothers and figuring out what you’re supposed to do when they’re different.

“They were very close in age,” he said. “I learned by trying to coach them you can’t coach everyone the same. Whatever I tried, one was very coachable and his younger brother all the things I tried never worked with him. We went back and forth.

Dorsey coach Paul Knox celebrates a miracle win in the 2001 City championship game at the Coliseum.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I found out I had to find a whole other way to reach him. I learned you can say how you treat everyone the same, but you approach some kids differently. You never really know precisely who’s listening to you and sometimes the satisfaction of being a teacher or mentor is delayed and you don’t know until years later.”

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi told to be patient after playing back up to Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson in Sri Lanka series.

India coach ‌Gautam Gambhir said Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will have to ⁠wait for his ⁠chance to break into the side after he left the 15-year-old prodigy on the sidelines of ⁠their three-match Twenty20 series sweep against Afghanistan.

Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson opened for India in the series, with ⁠Abhishek scoring the third-fastest century in T20 internationals in Thursday’s 127-run victory in New Delhi.

Sooryavanshi, who was the highest scorer in this year’s Indian Premier League, made his international debut against ‌England in July, but the top-order batter failed to make an impact as the hosts dominated India in the T20 series.

He scored two fifties against Zimbabwe in Harare later that month but has not played for India since.

“Whether you’re a 15-year-old or a 30-year-old, when ⁠you have to wait for your ⁠opportunity, you have to wait for your opportunity,” Gambhir told reporters after the match.

“We know the kind of talent he has and what he ⁠can do, but someone who has been performing for the last two to three ⁠years will always be ahead of ⁠someone who has just entered the team.”

Sooryavanshi will travel to Nagoya for India’s Asian Games campaign, with a one-off T20 against hosts Japan set ‌for Tuesday before the Asiad quarterfinal on September 28.

“Whenever he gets his run, he will get a longer run ‌as ‌well … We want competition and talent in the dressing room,” Gambhir added.

Fenerbahce president refuses Ismail Kartal’s resignation after fans threw bottles at coach in Roma Champions League tie.

Fenerbahce coach Ismail Kartal quit his role with the Turkish club after he was targeted by a bottle thrown from the crowd during hit side’s 1-1 Champions League draw with Roma on Thursday, only for his president to reject the resignation minutes later.

The 65-year-old Kartal told a press conference he was leaving “never to ⁠return”, adding that he had taken the decision “to clear the way for the club”.

Immediately after the press conference, Fenerbahce president Aziz Yildirim told reporters that Kartal “continues in his role”.

“Some fans threw ‌a bottle at the coach’s head this evening during the game. He is upset about it,” Yildirim said.

“I just spoke to Ismail Kartal. He mentioned the bottle incident and he also complained about being under pressure.”

Asked if Kartal had told him that he would stay, Yildirim ⁠said: “There’s no need for him to ⁠say (openly) that he’d continue. I am his senior, I told him to continue and that’s it. We are a family.”

Kartal, who spent a decade at ⁠Fenerbahce as a player, coached the club in 2014-15, then on an interim basis ⁠in 2021-22 before returning for a ⁠full campaign in 2023-24. He was assistant manager at Fenerbahce the last two times the club won the Super Lig and returned for a ‌fourth managerial spell in June.

Fenerbahce have finished second in the Turkish top flight in the last five seasons and reached ‌the ‌league phase of the Champions League this season for the first time in 18 years.

GENEVA: A road accident involving a tourist coach in eastern Switzerland has left several people dead and others injured, police said on Thursday.

The accident happened between the communes of Susch and Zernez in the far-eastern canton of Graubunden.

“Several people died in the coach crash in Susch. Several others were also injured,” the cantonal police said on X, without giving details on the circumstances of the accident or the victims’ identities.

Footage broadcast by Swiss media showed many rescue workers rushing about around the coach, which has overturned onto its side below the road, and helicopters stationed nearby.

According to the Swiss press, the bus belonged to the Dutch Oad tour operator, which offers trips across Europe.

Zernez is the entry point for visitors to the Swiss national park, a vast Alpine reserve stretching more than 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) across the mountainous Engadine valley.

RIYADH: After more than 20 years in the legal and investment sectors, Khadija Grabinski transitioned into executive coaching, where she helps leaders navigate change through meaningful conversations.

Having lived in Saudi Arabia for the past year, she also shares her experience of the Kingdom on social media, offering an authentic perspective on its culture, people, and transformation.

Grabinski and her husband moved to the Kingdom from the US and she felt this new period of her life was an opportunity to make some changes.

 The daily routine she and her husband experienced during their time in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic inspired them to explore opportunities and make changes.

 “I spent 20 years in my field (as a litigator), so I guess it was enough … it was the right moment for me to change and to be more connected to people. This is why I chose to transition,” she said.

 Grabinski added that her new work life allows her to have meaningful conversations with people, providing them the space to talk about how they want to grow in professionally.

“I mean, for me, meaningful conversation gives more clarity. You think better. I mean, when you talk to people, even friends, and when you are in the deep conversation, it becomes like something more clear. You know where you are going. So this is why.”

 When Saudi Arabia launched Vision 2030 in 2016, much of the world’s attention focused on its bold plans for economic diversification and landmark development projects.

 Yet, nearly a decade later, the social transformation unfolding across Saudi Arabia has proven every bit as significant. Anchored in Vision 2030’s vibrant society pillar, this transformation is reshaping daily life in the Kingdom.

“As a coach, what I see is the other side of the transformation. It’s like people are excited for the future, but at the same time, they feel the pressure. So, they are wondering if their job will be the same in five or 10 years.”

 Grabinski added that leaders in today’s environment leaders have to acquire more skills, reinvent themselves, or simply adapt because there is both excitement and uncertainty.

 “For a country that grew that fast, which is totally normal to be honest, there is what I call growing pains. You know, like (when a) teenager (grows) too fast, it’s the same for a company. For people and for countries. So, there were some growing pains,” she said.

She added that today’s successful leaders need to possess interpersonal communication skills, which machines and artificial intelligence cannot easily replicate.

 “Leaders will need to communicate better. Listen more. And help their teams to navigate uncertainty and lead by example. Always and where do you see emotional intelligence being basically a huge factor of that, like, how is that going to turn into a valuable skill set for a leader?

 “I mean, by learning, the need to learn, it’s like a muscle, leadership,” she said.

 Grabinski shares her experiences and opinions about living in Saudi Arabia through her accounts titled Simone Executive Coach|Common Ground on TikTok and Instagram.