It is not unusual for a person to become a sports coach because their kids play or because they have a passion for a particular code. When Russell McCabe began coaching secondary school football, at Kerikeri High School over 20 years ago, he could tick both those boxes.

Recently, Russell received a New Zealand Secondary Schools Sports Council (NZSSSC) Service to Sport Award for his years of service at secondary school level and because of his involvement at regional and national levels in the code. The award came as a follow-up to a life membership to Northern Football Federation and a Northland Secondary Schools Sports Association Service to Sport Award that Russell received last year.

At the presentation of the NZSSSC award, made by Garry Carnachan, Executive Director, were members of Russell’s first ever Kerikeri High School 1^st X1 Girls team as well as members of his current team. As a tribute to Russell, and because of their pride in him, the ‘old-girls’ presented him with a memento of all their thoughts and opinions of him as a coach.

These reflections showed the extent to which their involvement in sport had been positive as well as how the impact of their involvement had remained important, long after the players had left school.

Some of the comments that the players wrote included:

“Thanks for making fair play a centre of your focus..”

“You instilled confidence in us during teenage years in which confidence is not easy to come by.”

“You fostered a relationship of respect and emphasised values in commitment to the team..”

“(Russ) has provided us with knowledge and skills that we will take with us through our footy careers but through life as well”

“I see more and more how (especially for women) sport has a way of building confidence on the field that later translates into all other parts of life.”

While Russell was honoured to accept the NZSSSC award and in doing so acknowledged the contribution his wife and family had made, it was the players’ memento that caught him by surprise. In all his years of coaching he had never realised the real impact he was having on his players. And it wasn’t until he took time to read what each player had written that he actually understood the level of unintended consequences that had occurred.  What an inspiring reason to ensure that our teenagers have access to quality sporting involvement.