Pedley's Ponderings

My coaching portfolio grew this fall with addition of flag football. This wasn’t exactly by choice, but my stint on the sidelines has been an interesting one nonetheless.

I coached my son’s T-ball team here in Hartley for the past two summers. While it’s hard to measure progress of 5- and 6-year-olds, they seemed functional with a baseball, bat and glove by the end of the season. We coaches sometimes felt like we were herding rabid cats, and the young sluggers certainly kept us on our toes – never cast your gaze astray when kindergartners are playing “catch.”

With my glove back on the shelf, attention shifted to the fall. We had signed Oliver up for flag football in 2022 and planned on doing the same this September. Like last year, I was looking forward to watching from the sidelines with other parents. My talents on the football field were fleeting in my youth and figured coaching was best left to someone more qualified than I.

Hopes of kicking back took a backseat after the first practice. Oliver’s team only had one coach compared to two apiece on the other teams, and my conscience couldn’t let him get thrown to the wolves by himself. I offered to help out and promptly got us some whistles for practice No. 2 – this team was rowdy.

Unbeknownst to me, it was I who would get thrown to the wolves that day. Our head coach, Phil Storm, had a family emergency that needed his immediate attention, leaving yours truly in charge. Not only was I clueless about what I was doing, I didn’t know we didn’t even have practice that day – we had a game.

Beleaguered, I forged ahead with the help of my wife. The product we put out on the field that day didn’t much resemble a football team, but rather a pack of wild dogs scrambling from sideline to sideline. Save for one mercy touchdown at the end of the game, I think we ran backwards more times than forwards.

“We have a lot of work to do,” one player solemnly remarked in the post-game huddle. Wide-eyed, I agreed.

Thankfully, that first-week monstrosity quickly faded into the rearview mirror. Phil’s Bills are 1-2 and last Thursday nearly pulled an upset on the team that walloped them in Week 1. They’ve objectively come a long way and I get a kick out of seeing them score a touchdown.

Getting our team of seven to listen has been the biggest hurdle. Once they settle down and decide to play, though, they are rather competent and competitive – we’ve even tried to mix in a few pass plays over the past week. Results have been mixed, and I think we’ll be a ground-and-pound sort of squad for the final two games. Never go away from your bread and butter if it works.

I’m not sure Phil’s Bills are ready for the Super Bowl, but I’m confident in saying they’re good enough for the gridiron at Neebel Park. Coaching flag football has been equal parts fun, comical, frustrating and rewarding. I’m not sure I’ll coach next season, but I’m glad I was able to this year.

Nick Pedley is the news editor and ad manager of The Hartley Sentinel-The Everly/Royal News.