Better Late…

by Ryan Krzykowski

Here’s one that’s kind of fun.  Four years ago I helped coach an 8th grade football team that went on an unlikely run to a city championship.  The big prize for a middle school title around here is the t-shirt with every player’s name on it that the school orders for all the kids.  Everything was great with that, except that due to some roster-related clerical error, one of the player’s name was left off the back of the shirt.  I remember the look on the kid’s face when we told him about the mistake, and how sorry we were that his name wasn’t on there.  I suppose it shouldn’t have taken four years for me to figure this out, but a month or so ago it occurred to me that we could probably do something about the oversight. One conversation with a co-worker who has a friend in the t-shirt business later, we were able to connect on a reprint of the original that added the previously missing name to the design.  When school days resume after Presidents Day I’ll be able to give our guy a version of the shirt with his name on it.  Maybe that will mean a whole lot to him, maybe it won’t register too much at all.  But this felt like the right thing to do.

Get those nominations in for the 2026 Sharon Thompson Metro KC Coach of the Year (nominations close on 2/25) and

Let’s Coach with Purpose…