Everyday Hero

Each of us has someone in our lives that have provided that little push in the right direction.  These little pushes don’t always jump out at us at the time, sometimes it takes looking back to see them.

Last weekend I watched as John Wingfield made his way around a pool deck. John was stopping to talk to everyone, offering advice and giving corrections. He carried himself with confidence but not arrogance and engaged everyone with a smile and a handshake as he asked how they were doing. John is also an official coach of record for Hamilton Southeastern High School.

Just 5 months earlier John was named as the Head Coach to the USA Olympic Diving Team.  A week after he was announced as the USA Olympic Coach he was attending a birthday party of a friend of mine. My friend coaches diving at Hamilton South Eastern High School, and was introducing John to some friends and turned to John and said “John, tell them who you are.”

“I am Jim’s assistant coach at HSE” was his reply. Of course with this response, my friend had to set the record straight and tell everyone who he thought John really was, the USA Olympic Coach and Co-head coach of the National Training Center.

John spent the majority of the day last Saturday watching high school divers compete and offered them direction and advice. He wasn’t paid to be there and asked for nothing in return. Following the meet, he put on his Olympic Opening Ceremony outfit and presented “The Olympic Experience” slide show to the athletes in attendance at the meet.

Following the presentation, John continued to talk to the athletes about their careers. He talked to them about what their future can hold as long as they never take their eye off their goals. He made himself available after the event to answer specific questions from any of the athletes, parents, and coaches who may wish to talk to him.

At a time when so many people seem to be all about themselves, it is uplifting to know there are people like John Wingfield out there doing what they do every day to help our youth reach their potential. I want to say thank you to John Wingfield for going out of his way to enrich the lives of the youth.

John has many fancy titles; Head Coach 2008 Olympics, Co-head Coach National Training Center are two of them. I know the most important labels he is given are Father, Husband, Mentor, and Friend. I am proud to be able to call him my friend.