COACHING CHARACTER IT STARTS WITH ADULTS BY MARK A. TORRES ATHLETIC COORDINATOR/HEAD FOOTBALL COACH - BUDA HAYS HS In today’s world of prep athletics, we have to be cognizant of the fact that every eye and ear is on everything we do and say. With that in mind, we feel that in our program we have to begin each season with a clear vision of our purpose as coaches and relay that information to all of our athletes and parents.
What is our “WHY”? In having the privilege of starting the now established Pebble Hills High School in El Paso and the Socorro ISD back in 2015, utilizing the Character Matters program, created by its owner Wade Salem, was a priority for us. We were opening up a new school that was branching off from an existing 9th grade academy from one of the high schools in the area and felt the need to set the tone in a different way. Rather than taking a “winning at all costs” approach where the focus is on results, we chose to establish the kind of integrity and culture that can withstand time, should we ever decide to retire, or in this case, move on to another program as we have in coming to Buda Hays High School. We want to establish the kind of culture that results in creating winners; and when your people are winners, the results follow. We believe that beginning with our staff when it comes to developing good character, that we have a better chance at reaching our athletes when the time comes for us to introduce the curriculum.
One of his sayings is, “Your character is better kept than recovered”. That has always stuck with me because it is directly in line with the way we approach the game of football. You never take plays off, or at least we do our best to preach that as coaches. You leave no stone unturned in preparation, or at least we do our best not to. Most importantly, when we work with our athletes, we stress that you never get this opportunity back and each day is a gift.
Wade visits our program multiple times a year to help train our coaches, inspire our athletes, and help us hit the reset button as the school year moves on. 66
JANUARY 2025