John Curley


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KIRO's John Curley argues making memories is more important than winning in youth football (AP image)

John Curley: Memories mean more than wins

BY Josh Kerns  on September 4, 2012 @ 7:12 am (Updated: 11:16 am - 10/3/12 )

When it comes to kids sports, it seems many coaches go for the wins over the experience. But even if the kids on John Curley's Eastlake black rookie football team never win a game, the coach and KIRO co-host insists what matters most are the memories.

Curley has assigned all the 8 to 10-year-old players to watch the iconic football movie "Rudy". In it, an undersized player fights for years to finally get in for one play on the Notre Dame football team.

"I want them to know you get one chance and I'm going to give them that one chance," he says.

For Curley, that means the score doesn't matter. It's a sharp contrast to many youth coaches and parents who put winning above all else.

"I want these kids, when they look back 30, 40 years, they remember that they had one play," he says.

Curley recently revisited a Pennsylvania field where he caught his only touchdown pass as a 12-year-old. The memory of his father proudly cheering him on has lasted his lifetime. He says he wants the same for his players.

"They might not remember anything else, nothing else other than the fact they had the opportunity to do something great," he says.

Even if it means sacrificing wins to get it.

"You get into 14, 15 (years old) it's not about the romance, it's not about the memories, it's about the wins and losses."

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
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Comments (3)


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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Memories
    September 4, 2012 10:24 am
    are much sweeter when you win. The bigger the win, the better the memory!
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  • Bucket Dad wrote...
    The modern mantra redux
    September 4, 2012 11:07 am
    It's not whether you win or lose, it's whether you had fun or not. True, but you have a heck of a lot more fun when you win.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Oly80 wrote...
    i kinda agree with the first two posters...
    September 4, 2012 1:43 pm
    but, i say that not having played pop warner. (they didn't have that where i grew up)

    i didn't start playing until high school and it was all about winning. we won until my senior year and our coach got the notion that his basketball players who also played football were the best players to ever grace a field. they weren't and we won TWO games.

    however, the last game where we came back to ruin a homecoming (always awesome) was sweet as i was out on the field for that last play.

    that's where i see Curley's point. the memories do last. why not get the little tykes equal chance to play football hero? winning/losing importance can come when they start hitting puberty. that's when the real lessons begin anyway.

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