A letter from Coach Smith

I'm fortunate enough to get included in group communications from the Linfield coaching staff to its players and there are times when you read something that is so impactful that I feel compelled to share it those that read this blog and follow Linfield Football.   

Earlier today, Linfield Head Coach Joseph Smith sent out the letter below address to his players and coaches about the mass shooting that occurred in Las Vegas.  These shootings are a nightmare that this country can't escape from and Coach Smith's thoughts and words are something to hold onto and can provide light during these dark times.  It's a letter that I hope these players will one day look back on as they are raising children, in our flawed but wonderful and proud nation, and remember the most important job you can ever have is that of raising a child and releasing them into this world to make a positive and uplifting impact on their future communities and lives of their fellow citizens.

-11

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Gentlemen,

I write this to you, with a deeply saddened and heavy heart. The event in Las Vegas, which deliberately caused such death and injury, is hard to look at.  It strikes so close to home for me, as I am a strong fan of country music, and my family could have easily been at that concert.

The people that were shot down without mercy were just like you and me. They were our fellow Americans.  

I would ask each of you to take a few minutes this afternoon and quietly keep all those that were affected in your thoughts and prayers. This was a tragedy on a large scale, and the pain and suffering that has been inflicted will continue for years and years to come.   Lives were ended, and lives were ruined.   Lives were forever altered negatively in a way that people did not deserve or earn. These were our friends and neighbors running in terror for their lives.   While there were many acts of bravery and self-sacrifice amidst this event that will come to light, one cannot get past the heinousness of such a crime.  For this was no foreign terrorist.  This was homegrown, home raised, product of our culture.

I believe people are endowed with an amazing ability to adapt and overcome.  History has shown us many examples of an individual overcoming great obstacles and rate limiters.  I do not believe we are a completely powerless victim of our surroundings and upbringing. 

However.  I also believe strongly that we are greatly influenced by our environment.  Yes, genetic predisposition plays a great role in our development, but the power of the environment one is raised in, should not be underestimated.

We are all responsible for our own actions and the consequences of our decisions and behavior.  But I also believe we are responsible for the influence we have upon others in our lives.  Especially the role you have as a parent.  I hope that all of you will be able to experience being a father.  However, it is not a temporary experience.  It is a job you will have until life separately you permanently from those in your charge.    

You will always be the parent. 

As a parent, you will have played a part in every success and failure they experience.   

I believe this continues for their entire life. The foundation you lay initially, as well as the continual attention you give toward their development, will greatly influence how they function many years after they leave the home.  

I believe the single greatest problem in our society today, is the lack of parenting that is being given toward America’s youth. At no time in our history, has parenting been as absent, and unfocused as it is today.

We are turning out too many youths into this world, ill-equipped for its demands.

Today, 58 people are dead, and over 500 are physically wounded.  Hundreds more will carry that terror with them the rest of their lives.  This is avoidable and should not have happened.  It happened because one man decided not to carry his share of the load.   He was not around.  He had no hand at all, in raising the child he brought into this world.  He allowed chance and circumstance to raise his son, and infuse its value system and thought patterns into that boy.  That boy grew up…and became a mass murderer.

In this program, you are a Man of Action.  You DO the HEAVY Lifting.    That means you do the heavy parenting.  You do the grunt work.  It is not exciting.  It is not popular.  But it is necessary.    You show up.  You show up every day.

Coach Smith