Now in all actuallity, I can't say that he's my friend. Well in a sense he is, but to think of him like that just doesn't really fit. But regardless of that, I still thought that he deserved to be on this list of people. This man has coached me from grade 9 to my senior year of highschool. While I was in 9th grade and playing for him, I really didn't talk to him much. I just pretty much sat back and did whatever because at the time I really didn't feel comfortable just talking to him. While I observed a lot of the upperclassmen joking around with him and talking to him, I never really experienced that from a coach before. In the past I just went to practices, listened to the coach and so on and so forth. So I didn't see a reason to change. As the times and years wore on though, I realized how much more I could get out of this by talking to him and seeing him more than just a coach. Because in the end he wasn't just my coach, he had become a close acquaitance of mine. I remember all the good times at practice during the last years on the team. All the times we just messed around and joked with him. One of the times that I know every single person will remember that was on the team then was the night coach came to the back of the bus. We were having a free for all wrestling match in the back of the bus just for fun because we always seemed to do that for some reason. This time though coach became irritated with it and he came back and sat with us to make sure we wouldn't keep doing it after he told us to stop. So eventually we started to talk to him about women and were prying advice from him, when someone asked what the perfect size of a breast was. I'm not exactly sure who said it, but eventually everyone was asking him the question. His answer was this, "Anything more than a handfull or a mouthfull is a waste." That quote will never die and I believe that a lot of the players then will never forget that. I believe that that just goes to show you the close bond that he had with all of us. You don't see grown ups telling this to younger kids all the time. And this close bond with him, I really believe made us a better team. He brought us all together. And I believe that that is one of the hardest things to do with a team. Coach has been one the most influencial people in my life, and even though I've never told him this, I believe he knows that I feel this way. Or maybe he doesn't, but he really is a great guy. In my first college class, writing 2, we had to write a paper on someone that we admire. Of course, he was the first peson that came to my mind. That was the only paper that I got back that I got an A on. I believe I did well on it because what I wrote was exactly what I thought and I wanted it to be just right because he deserves that honor. I just realized I never said his real name. His name is Greg, but to me, he will always be known as coach. No matter what. If I leave and come back her 20 years later, I won't walk up to him and say hey Greg. I'll call him coach. The only name that I've ever called him. And to you coach, I'd like to thank you for everything you've done for me in the years that you've known me. Whether or not you realize it or not, you're an amazing person who I'm so glad to have had the pleasure of getting to know, of being coached by, of anything that has ever gone on between us. You've taught me things about soccer of course. You've taught me about respect. The time when the team wore Clarion colors to school when we were playing against them and you made us appologize, I learned respect. You've taught me patience. You've taught me how to succeed. You've taught me so many things and I don't know if you even realize that. But I just really do want to thank you for everything. I know that you probably will never read this, but I believe it's alright. You've been more to me than you'll ever know, even if you would read this. Thank you so much.