To celebrate father’s day I thought I would bring up one of my dad’s all-star moments:
My senior year of college the Albertson College lacrosse team lost our coach. According to PNCLL rules, we needed to have a non-player coach present at all games. During practices my buddy Cody Hart and I would coach offense and defense respectively, but we could not be the official coaches in the eyes of the league. As the season approached we were having no luck finding a coach. A few promising ventures fell through and the first game was only a few weeks away. I spoke to my dad about our dilemma and he decided he wanted to help. So, even though he had no experience with the X’s and O’s of the game, my dad signed on as the head coach of the College of Idaho lacrosse team.
The 2006 Yotes - Head Coach: Dewain Gaudet
Three times a week he would drive out to Cadlwell for practice, fighting terrible rush hour traffic and giving up three and half hours of his day. When he got there, he would simply ask us what he could do to help. Sometimes he would run ground ball drills, and other times he would spend an hour backing up shots while the team played six on six. In essence, he did anything he could do to make sure our team was functioning as normally as possible.
During games he got the best seat in the house, right in the coach’s box. Technically, he will go down as the first head coach at the College of Idaho to pick up a win, as we secured our season’s only two victories in the first two games of the season. It was fun to have him as a part of the team, and he earned the support of all of my teammates, who would refer to him as “Coach Gus.” He even traveled with us on away trips to the Seattle area, Missoula, and a grueling loop around the entire State of Oregon.
Thanks Dad!
