Caring About v. Caring FOR

About an hour north of where I live is a city called Stockton. If you aren't familiar with Stockton pause and do a quick Google search.

It's safe to say that your search has led you to believe Stockton has its challenges.

But tucked away in this city are two beacons of hope. University of the Pacific (where I went to law school) and Delta College. Where we see challenges they see opportunity. I know from experience both of these wonderful colleges are tackling community challenges on a daily basis.

This blog post is about one coach at Delta College who is doing more than most. She is the epitome of the "care for" model of coaching versus the "care about" model.

I believe that most coaches care about their players. We all want everyone on our team to succeed on and off the field. But what Delta women's soccer coach Adrienne Sorenson is doing puts most of us to shame because she cares FOR her players.

Caring FOR means being invested in your players beyond what they do for you on the field. It means even if they couldn't play another minute of your sport your relationship would not just exist it would thrive. It means you plan on being their coach not just for the next four years but the next 40 years.

Most of the women on Adrienne's team do not have easy lives. They have all faced struggles. The things we take for granted aren't always reality in a place like Stockton. Each year she cares for these women. She helps them persevere and overcome struggle. In fact, they don't just overcome they THRIVE!

While Adrienne has transformed the women's soccer program at Delta she has had a far greater impact transforming lives.

Last year I attended a Delta playoff game which was held on a dingy soccer field off campus at 7 pm on a Friday night. As a walked up what I saw was incredible. There had to be at least 500 people stacked 10 deep in lawn chairs trying to catch a glimpse of a community college team.

Delta lost the match but won everything else about that night. That many people don't show up to a community college soccer game on a Friday night because they care about soccer.

They show up because they care FOR the women on that team. That culture starts with the leader. At Delta it starts with Adrienne.

(Full disclosure Adrienne played for me and was my assistant coach for one year at Stanislaus State)