At North, several teachers give away their personal time to coach sports. These teachers give their time away for months at a time to help students love their sport and achieve their full potential.

“It is a big sacrifice, with coaching and teaching, you have to sacrifice part of your personal life,“ said Larry Green who teaches computer science and business classes but also coaches boys’ basketball; he has been coaching basketball since 2004. 

Daniel Lamb teaches social studies and psychology, and has coached at FHN for at least 12 years, this including coaching high school boys’ and girls’ soccer, basketball and track. 

“My teaching sometimes takes away from my coaching, and my coaching sometimes takes away from my lesson planning,” Lamb said.

Even though coaching can take several hours away from their lives, 

“I think that teaching is actually a good job to have with coaching, if i had any other job i don’t think i could do it,” Lamb said.

“In order to be a great coach you have to be a great teacher,” Green said. “Teaching really helps me understand how to lesson plan, how to break things down, and I can use that strategy in my coaching.”

Lamb and Green both believe that though it takes up several hours from their lives, it is one of the most rewarding feelings, knowing they made a difference. 

“In coaching you see almost immediate success, you see the hard work in practice pay off, and there’s something about watching people succeed that you get joy from that,” Lamb said. 

Green has been playing basketball since he was 7 years old, and has been surrounded by the sport for many years including all of high school and college. 

“I always wanted to be around the game, it’s one of those things where basketball kind of  changed my life and shaped who I am, I had some really great coaches,” Green said.

With the influence of great coaches, Green is inspired to be the same for his players on the court. 

“I like being able to motivate kids to be their best, and actually building relationships with them, it’s all a good feeling,” Green said.