Coachspeak: John Carroll girls soccer's Gary Lynch
Gary Lynch sells insurance as a partner at John Lynch Agency in Bel Air and has also piled up 213 wins in his 15 years coaching the girls soccer team at John Carroll -- leading the No. 3 Patriots to a 5-1-1 mark this season.
But a question he's gotten used to fielding is why he's grown the the thick, grey ponytail that has taken on a life of its own in the past four years. When his adult daughter, Kristina, married with three children, was diagnosed with Melanoma four years ago (she is now cancer free), Lynch decided to grow his hair to support Locks of Love.
These days, Kristina is running marathons and triathlons to raise money for cancer and her father's hair is now 9 1/2 inches long. When it reaches 10 inches, it will be cut off and sold, with the profits going to the charity. (Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children who suffer from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. To learn more about Locks of Love, visit locksoflove.org.)
As the most recent Coachspeak guest, Lynch answered five questions about his hair and his life in coaching.
What is the most interesting reaction you've received about your ponytail?
When I was in line at the grocery store, the woman behind me was older and she was rolling her eyes and probably thinking I was a hippie. And as I was bagging, she started talking to the cashier, and the cashier was a young girl, and she said 'Oh that's Gary Lynch, the coach at John Carroll." And she told her I was growing my hair for Locks of Love and gave a CliffsNotes version of my daughter's story. The woman said she would give me $1,000 right now for my hair. I guess she wanted to have a wig made out of it.
How did you get started in coaching?
Many years ago, when my son played, there was a little kid that was on his team that never got into any games. I happened to ask some other parents, and they said he was just a training player, he's not a game player. This was recreation. And when I went home I thought, "I'm going to coach soccer so all these kids can play." So I started out in recreation and then I moved to travel to club to high school to college and then back to high school. I wanted to make sure that I was qualified to coach, so I took every course I could find.
What is the biggest reward you get from coaching?
Seeing the kids be successful in life. It's one thing to learn to play as hard as you can, but it's more important to live as hard as you can. It's kind of neat when they come back later in life and tell me what they're doing. The years you coach them, they probably have a voodoo doll for you. But then they come back and tell you that you had an impact of them being successful -- that's special.
How do you prepare your girls to go up against the top caliber players like McDonogh's Ashley Spivey and Mercy's Alexis Prior-Brown and the strong teams they play for?
It's a matter of them understanding that in everything they do -- whether it's in the classroom or when they get a job -- that there's only one best, but that doesn't mean you can't compete with that best and understand that the best doesn't always win. A lot of it has to do with desire, heart, toughness and stuff like that when competing against that best, for whatever it's for. If they believe it, then they can do it. If they walk in conceding to the best, then most times they can't compete against it.
What has been your best moment in coaching?
I think the most excited the kids have ever been was achieving the undefeated season [21-0 in 2004] and finishing No. 1 in the country, back with Jamie Zimmerman and Ashley Myers. That was the goal that the girls set -- despite trying to tell them not to set it. It was very difficult at times to get them to focus at the immediate task at hand, but it drove them to the highest level that anybody could play in a Maryland high school arena. When I saw them achieve that, not necessarily the achievement but the relief they had, it was great to see. People still talk about it today. I think that year all the stars were aligned just right.
Comments
thank you much nice posted...
Posted by: sohbet | October 8, 2011 11:01 AM
Gary I decided to look at the JC website today and the most wonderful thing happened. When I typed it in John Caroll Bel Air Md and it opened it had many things you could opend and there was the blog about you. I was so happy. Hope things are going well. Glad your daughter is doing well. I have been reading about your teams in the Sun paper. Glad Gina was able to play. The first article I read seemed like this would not happen. Have a good day. Dee
Posted by: Dee Mountain | October 13, 2011 10:46 AM