I suspect that those of us who participated in high school sports have memories of that experience as vivid as if it happened yesterday.

Quick. Describe that winning goal. Quick. Recall the game you lost at the buzzer. Quick. Name the high school coach who had the biggest impact on your life.

I have a hunch that if you were involved in high school athletics, you would be quick to recall your most memorable victory, toughest defeat and that coach who most profoundly influenced you.

As fortune would have it, some of us with those memories now find ourselves in the high school coaching ranks. We cannot underestimate the potential impression we might leave on a young athlete.

Teaching the X’s and O’s is the easy part of coaching. Teaching the integrity of sportsmanship, winning honorably and learning from losing are the more challenging and important parts.

What imprint upon a high school athlete do we leave when our perceived criticism of the athlete overshadows our encouragement? What message are we sending a high school athlete by incessantly finding fault with a referee’s calls rather than steadily exhorting the athlete to keep playing with class in spite of the call or the alleged “cheap shot”?

Those we coach register our every move, both great and small. They watch how we react to the good play and the bad.

What are our standards of conduct? Does Coach abide by those standards? If we demand effort, does Coach demand the same level of effort of himself? Is it about “me” or is it about the team? If Coach says, “Learn from your mistakes,” does Coach learn from his? Heck, players notice that Coach wears white socks on both practice and game days. If Coach says, “Don’t use profanity,” Coach had better not use profanity.

My high school football coach was larger than life to me. Goodness, it was just yesterday my football team lost the game by a touchdown to the league champion.

Coach spoke to us in the locker room after the game. I could about recite most every word of his praise for our effort. He challenged us to learn more from that loss than from any of our victories. He demanded that we hold our heads high. Was it yesterday? Well, not exactly. It was more than 3- years ago. But it sure seems like yesterday. Coach taught me life lessons — the lessons I humbly aspire to impart to those who know me as “Coach.”

— Charley Rosenberry is the Vashon High School boys lacrosse club coach.