Old Ball Coach Influences Hockey Team

Until such time as he might read this post, Frank Orlando ("Coach O") will have no idea that his spirit breathes in the character of our hockey team.

I was fortunate to play varsity baseball for Coach O at my alma mater Detroit Country Day School.

In the Michigan High School ranks Coach O is legendary. As an inductee to both the Michigan Baseball and Michigan Girls Basketball Coaching Hall of Fames, he's won state championships in both sports, and his girls basketball team (once again favored to win the state championship this season) is amongst the greatest dynasties in the history of michigan high school athletics.

But above all the wins and championships, Coach O set the example and preached the type of virtues that influenced all who ever played for him in a positive manner.

Coach O's message, his creed if you will, is team "UNITY". The belief that no individual player is more important than the team, that an entire team needs to be unified to reach its potential, and everybody on the team plays an important role in the team's success.

This message of UNITY is proudly emblazen upon our team's dryland t-shirts and personified in our team's concept of "20 players all pulling on the same rope, all pulling in the same direction."

Coach O's other powerful message that influences our team culture is the message of young athletes as gentlemen and all those associated with a team handling themself with dignity and class.

Granted our players are no choir boys. Hockey is a gladitorial sport and the nature of the competitive spirit for those who excel in it dictates that certain events often transpire during the course of games that are emotionally charged. Even the calmest of souls gets roused to act out of character in the most heated of moments.

However, to the extent that our coaches, players, and parents handle themself on and off the ice, win or lose, in good times or bad, with dignity and class was the example set by Orlando which exemplifies the culture of our team.

What I was most proud of about our team's remarkable Silver Stick showing in Whitby was not that we made it within an eyelash (a dime) from winning the Championship, but rather the notable feedback we received from so many scouts in attendance, tournament organizers, hotel staff, parents on other team's, etc, etc, about the quality of character of the people associated with our team.

Players who believe they are good and believe they will win without acting arrogant, level-headed coaches who set an example for great sportsmanship, and parents who handle themselves with the type of class and perspective that puts our team in a positive light to all those who watch us play.

When Coach Jabar and I founded the Wizards Hockey Club in 2002, I made it a mission of mine to plant the seeds of Coach O's virtues into our program and have watched them grow steadily into the team we have today.

In this my fifth and final season, I'm confident that our team is the kind that would make Coach O proud, and I'm hopeful that our players may one day carry on these same virtues to all the teams they have the opportunity to influence in the future.