The type of teacher I wish I was

On Thursday I was in the teacher's lounge copying a quiz when I ran across Coach C, our head football coach and 12th grade science teacher.  Earlier in the day I had seen him present the expectations for the I.B. senior science project, a project that entailed going out into the community and testing the quality of Jackson's water.  I wanted to stop and give him props for having put together a well-thought out, engaging assignment.  Coach C said thanks for the kudos and said that he had been doing the project for last four years and has consistently been impressed by the level of work the seniors produce.   The conversation turned to coaching and he asked me how my experience coaching the girl's basketball season was going.

"well,  it's been up and down but I have learned a lot from the experience.  It has a lot of the same challenges of teaching."
"No doubt.  The thing people miss about sports is that it is teaching.  Most of the time, winning, while important, isn't the most important aspect of the job."
"That's real."  One of the biggest things I've noticed especially at the middle school level is how little skill development occurs in JPS."
"That's the difference between coaching and teaching."
"Could you break that down for me?"
"Well, you could have a class of ninth graders who come in, and, as you said, they may have some natural talent, but lack those basic skills, that not only will the team will need to be successful, but they will need to develop if they want to play on the next level."  They need teaching.
"True."
"At the same time, what do the parents and the community want to see?"
"wins."
"That's right.  So you don't get as much time to correct bad habits or develop guys who may lack the natural ability of their peers."  At the end of the day though, you can't sacrifice teaching for coaching.  You short change yourself and your players if you don't give them those long-term skills."