Rising Coaches Report - Cal Poly's Mitch Reaves ("Purpose")
Mitch Reaves, Dir. of Basketball Operations - Cal Poly
Purpose
This past summer at our youth camp, one of the kids asked me,
“How come you are a coach?” I can’t remember what
I told him, but it got me thinking “Why do you want to be a
coach.” In other words, what is my purpose for choosing
this profession?
There are many different ways to define purpose; it can be as
simple as obtaining a goal or as broad as learning why something
exists or is done. Purpose can provide meaning; it has the ability
to impact actions. Purpose is your foundation, the reason why
you do things. It motivates, energizes, and fuels the inner you.
It’s the vehicle for which drives you.
I am currently in my third season as the Director of Basketball Operations at Cal Poly under Joe Callero. Previous to being at Cal Poly, I spent one season with Coach Callero at Seattle University. Preceding my stint at Seattle, I was a student-manager at Washington State University under Dick and Tony Bennett. With each of these head coaches my purpose in the program has been different, but what drove me to the profession remains constant: serving others.
Each one of us has a unique purpose on our respective staffs. You may be in charge of travel, scheduling, recruiting, video, camp, etc. But what drives you to be successful in those areas? Is it the external rewards that motivate you to accomplish what you need to do? I remember when I was a student-manager at Washington State my first year, I refused to rebound for a particular player, during practice, simply because I knew the TV cameras wouldn’t film him; I was too worried about getting “face-time” on the local news. This did not truly embrace my purpose.
I have since figured out that my TV exposure doesn’t help the
program in any way. My purpose now is fueled by faith, not just
from a religious standpoint, but by faith in the head coach, staff,
and players. This faith has provided balance and perspective for
each new responsibility that comes my way. In the short-term, this
faith provides purpose in taking away as many non-basketball tasks
as possible from our coaches; allowing them to focus on teaching,
coaching, and improving our basketball team. Instead of looking at
these tasks as “I’m not getting a chance to show I can
be an assistant coach”, I look at each task as an opportunity
to serve my purpose on staff. Thus, allowing me to focus on doing
the job in front of me and not worrying about the one I don’t
yet have.
With short-term goals your purpose can be easily measured because of the length of time in which it takes to gain feedback. Long-term goals, however, can sometimes sway you from staying true to your purpose due to the lack of reward. Here is an analogy that has helped me stay true to my purpose: Long-term goals are similar to putting things on layaway. You pick out what you want, but you don’t have enough money to buy it. Thus, you pay little by little until the FULL price has be paid; then and only then can you take the item home. Let’s take a head coach as an example. It’s not until the payments you make, as a Manager, Video Coordinator, Operations, Player Development, Recruiting Coordinator, etc., add up to the total cost of being a head coach. No one gets a discount on becoming a head coach, they must pay full price to get there.
We all have different goals and aspirations for our careers and lives, but these goals are not going to be realized accidentally, they will come to fruition with time and purpose. You have a purpose. Embrace it, and believe in it.
Thank you to Rising Coaches Elite and College Chalktalk for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts. I look forward to the next post.
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Reaves photo courtesy Cal Poly Athletics
