When their playing careers are over, and your youth football players look back on their experience 10, 20 maybe 50 years from now, how are they going to remember you?

I started playing football as an 8-year-old back in 1968. I can still remember my coach’s name - Ron Schmidt. Ron was in his 20s, a fireman and had short, frizzy hair. He always had a smile on his face and an encouraging word. He was competitive, his practices were well organized, his teams were always good and he was a very good coach.

While I was especially proud of that first little 8-inch trophy each of us got for winning our first championship, what I remember most about Coach Ron was he cared. He knew every player’s name on the first day, no matter if you were a star or a benchwarmer. He put as much of himself into coaching the star player as he did the scrub. He was consistent. He made every practice. He was a leader. He never badmouthed the referees, our opponents or anyone for that matter.

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He didn’t have to cajole, bribe or threaten kids to come to practice. We all couldn’t wait to be there. His practices were hard, but they were fast-paced and fun. Everything was a competition. My friend Danny and I would walk about 1½ miles to practice together in full pads, carrying our cleats over our shoulders so they wouldn’t wear down. On the way home, we climbed the fence to the cemetery to stay away from a pack of barking dogs that always seemed to be prowling around the park after practice.  It never crossed our minds to not attend. We loved going to practice.

On game days, Coach Ron would come around the warmup line and slap hands with every player individually, always with that big smile on his face, then tell us what a great game he knew we would play. As a player, I couldn’t wait for Coach Ron to get finished with the other players so it would be my turn to get his undivided attention. If I made a great play, he was the first to congratulate me. When I made the inevitable mistake, he always had an arm to put around me and tell me it was going to be OK, to just keep playing hard.

So, how will you be remembered?

Michigan State University did a study on youth athletics that showed that more than 70 percent of young athletes won’t continue with sports into high school. The No. 1 reason for children dropping out is poor coaching. I played for Coach Ron for two years, and we never lost a single player.

Most of us coach because we want to pass on something we got out of the game to our own kids or those in the community. Many coaches remember the lessons they learned about selflessness, teamwork, commitment, perseverance and hard work. Others recall the fun or friendships they built, or how a coach inspired and motivated them. Do we really want anyone to miss out on that just because they aren’t a great player?

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Think about how you'll be remembered by your players. Will there be good memories for them or not? Then think about how you're going to remember it decades from now. Many youth football coaches don't initially think of the championships they won. They think of the kids on the fringe who quit playing and missed out on a great learning experience, perhaps because they didn’t put in the extra effort to ensure the player had a positive experience.

Think about the long term, what really matters when you sit down and map out your goals for the upcoming season. For me, the goals are always the same: Retain every player, help develop a love of the game in every kid and play to full potential.

Dave Cisar has coached youth football for more than 20 years. He founded and ran two large youth football organizations in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. He has been named a Nike Coach of the Year five times and has spoken at more than 200 coaching clinics worldwide. Dave helps youth coaches and teams with his book and instructional videos offered at winningyouthfootball.com. 

This is an updated version of a blog that originally published Feb. 19, 2016.