Bob WeaverBob Weaver

Inspirations

As a youth, watching televised sports and participating in youth sports, e.g. Little League and Babe Ruth baseball, planted and nourished the seed of competition. Organized sports provided an acceptable way to vent competitive urges and test myself.

Lessons Learned

• The primary objective of competitive sports is to win.
• Respect one’s coaches.
• Pay attention and apply as instructed. Do my best. If missing the mark, take corrective action. I may not be the best, but I must always give it my all.
• If on a team, always do what is best for the team. Set an example of hard work, positive attitude, encourage teammates, comply with instructions as to techniques and execution. Practice, practice, practice.
• Be a good sport: Gracious, both to teammates and opponents, in winning and in losing.

Highlights

• Three coaches: Bob Douglas (Bobby D) football; Bob Shewbert wrestling; and Frank Buckiewicz, football. All three challenged me to be better, both on and off the field/mat.
• Selected to 1961 Shrine Football Game.
• Two-time runner-up in City Wrestling Tournament; 3rd place finisher in State Wrestling Tournament.
• PIL and State honors for football,
• It was all so much fun!

Lasting Impressions

The understanding I gained, which deepened over the years, of the impact coaches can have on young minds. That understanding held me in good stead while I coached youth football for 7 seasons. For two seasons I vetted men who applied to be coaches on any one of the several youth teams. I would tell them, and parents, that for two hours a day for 5-6 days a week, coaches likely had more time with those boys than their parents did on those days. Our job as coaches was to support parents to help boys develop into young men; football just happened to be the vehicle we used to foster that.