As many of you who follow 2-4-1 know, a couple months ago I shared this story about my daughter Michaela, now living and teaching in Austin, Texas. In that post, I told of a text exchange where she surprised me by announcing she had just been named one of the middle school boys’ tackle football coaches.
None of my kids ever played organized tackle or even flag football. But they all grew up around sports, learning to love the games themselves and to respect what sport teaches about leadership and resilience. The idea of my daughter, a strong and confident woman, coaching a boys’ football team struck me as something worth celebrating.
Last night, I got to see it first hand. Monday Night Football in the land of Friday Night Lights. Kerry and I watched Michaela on the sidelines, steady and commanding, guiding her team. Earlier in the day, we visited Kealing Middle School where she teaches, and saw her run back-to-back pep rallies for 2,400 students since the school is too big to fit in one gym at once. This morning, before the sun was up, Kerry and I walked across town to the YMCA where another of our daughters, Siobhan, was coaching her new cross-country team. Nearly 14 percent of her school’s students are showing up at 6:30 a.m. to run.
I suppose this could come across as a parent brag, but that is not how I see it. It is a reminder of the ripple effect. Kerry and I were both deeply influenced by teacher-coaches when we were young. We did not even meet until our twenties, yet those early role models shaped the work we do today. Now our daughters are carrying that forward, and the young people they coach will one day influence others.
Think about it. The boys on Michaela’s football team, or the kids on Siobhan’s cross-country team, are learning from them right now. Some of those kids will go on to coach younger athletes, who will in turn coach others, and so on. That is how sport quietly but powerfully changes the world, generation after generation, one team at a time.
Coaching is an awesome responsibility. When it is done right, it does not just teach skills. It plants seeds of leadership, confidence, and character that keep growing long after the whistle blows. That is why I believe so strongly that investing in coaches and programs that use the power of sport for good may be one of the most important things we can do for our kids and for our future.
About Steve Boyle
Steve Boyle is a connector, collaborator, and tireless advocate for making youth sports more playful, inclusive, and developmentally sound. As Executive Director of 2-4-1 CARE, Inc. and Co-Founder of 2-4-1 Sports, Steve has helped lead a growing movement to reshape the youth sports experience—one that puts the joy of play and the whole child at the center. Grounded in his background as a school counselor and coach, Steve co-created the award-winning TOP Self™ platform, which uses sport as a vehicle for social-emotional learning. Under his collaborative leadership, 2-4-1 has grown from a single program in West Hartford, Connecticut to a global nonprofit impacting communities across North America and Africa. Steve’s influence extends beyond his own organization. He served as Advisory Board Chair for the National Association of Physical Literacy and as Global Lead for Athletics and Physical Literacy at Whittle School & Studios, shaping programming in Washington, D.C. and Shenzhen. Whether working with local partners or global networks, Steve brings humility, heart, and a belief in the power of teamwork to everything he does.