The Kauffman Award

The Kauffman Award goes out to our most vocal leader. I've developed a belief over the past several years that every team needs two different types of leaders. They need one leader who takes charge by example. They push hard in all the drills, do what the coach asks, and they inspire others to be like them.

And then every team needs a prophet.

What I mean by that is that they need someone who speaks. Someone who speaks to the team on behalf of the coach. They shout at players who aren't dedicated enough, text people to get their butts to open courts, encourage newcomers that they are getting better. And then on the other end, they speak to the coach on behalf of the team. When practice is going too long, when the drill doesn't seem to have a point, when the team is just dead-dog tired. They speak.

We had a leader like this. It was Kyle Miller. Now, because he spoke up, I'm sure he said his share of stupid things. But he said a lot of leader-like honest things as well. Probably the best example of this was at a Saturday practice in early August, when Seth was leaving early. In the early part of the season, there were some of us on the team questioning Seth's dedication. But Kyle spoke that, loud and clear. Sprinting across the courts he caught up to Seth and let him know that we needed him to be more dedicated.

But there are softer examples of this leadership too. Kyle tried to gently encourage the younger members of the varsity when they struggled. It was Kyle who thought up jokes to tell Nate when Nate would get down on himself. It was Kyle who lead the boisterous conversations on the bus on the way back from matches. It was Kyle who made sure that every body knew when they were supposed to bring the food to the matches. In all of these things, Kyle spoke to the team.

And he spoke to me too. Several times I got late phone calls or texts from Kyle, wondering what we were going to do about people's attitudes at practice, or about our lineup, etc. Kyle cared about the team, and that's why he spoke.

Thanks, Kyle.