Coaching McMonk's team is proving more of a challenge than I originally thought it was going to be. The challenge isn't getting the girls to do the drills - it's keeping my cool.

I am working hard to learn the girls names in practice. We've had only three practices due to crappy weather, so I haven't had as much time as I'd like to learn who's who. In our first game on Thursday, I ended up shouting at one of my players to come off for a line change. Only problem was that I was calling one player (who I thought was not hearing me), raising my voice louder and louder, while the whole time I was using the name of a player I had just sent on. To avoid having too many players on the field, Maggie, the person who's name I'd been using, came off the field and quickly burst into tears as soon as she was on the sidelines.

I felt terrible about it and quickly apologized, then got back to watching the game (I'm supposed to be coaching, after all). My intensity and eagerness to do a good job are getting ahead of my sensitivity to do a good job as a coach.

Next practice, I'll need to spend some extra time with Maggie.