Direct, devoted, motivational. An educator is someone who has impacted your life, even if you don’t realize they are. An educator is not just a person seen in the classroom. A man dressed in sweats with a hat thrown over his bald head was an educator on the soccer fields.
     Before I had Rob Lestina as a coach, I had had the same a coach for seven years. So I thought the transition to a new coach would be far from easy. But as he introduced himself to our team, I could tell his structure and knowledge would fit perfectly into the puzzle of our season.
     He is a man who is invested in what he does. You can tell he loves every second of his job. From never missing a practice to traveling around the country in temperatures below zero, rain, or shine, he shows his devotion.
     He puts an emphasis on unity. He makes us eat meals together while we travel and he makes us put down our buzzing electronics. The bonding our team accomplishes because of him, helps us create chemistry on and off the field.
     Rob is not a person to take it easy on you. “Come on, Vento! Better pass!” he will say when I screw up. He is direct and he holds people accountable for their mistakes. His criticism make us better immediately. He will sit us down at Monday’s practice and gives us an honest wrap-up of our performances from the past weekend of games.
     “Fitness testing anyone?” He continually gives tests to keep us in shape. He pushes us through running cone tests once a month. Of course I didn’t love this at the time, but I can see now how the hard work has paid off. He really knows how to push people to their limits. He motivates people like that song you listen to before every game.
     Rob is always interested in what we’re up to in our free time. He never fails to ask me about my basketball games or my next scouting report. He understands my life outside of soccer and sincerely cares about me. When I was deciding a college to play soccer for, I would call him up and he’d give me advice and insight.                   I feel as though I can talk to him as friend, rather than an adult. And although he can be serious at times, he spends the right amount sliding in his sarcastic humor, which lightens the mood at practices.
     There’s not a day that I dread going to a practice or a game. But having someone there for every step of the journey helps to persevere through challenging obstacles on the way. Rob is the constant reminder that hard work pays off and I am fortunate enough to have him as a coach. It doesn’t matter about the attire or the subject, an educator can be found anywhere.  That is why I am nominating my coach, Rob Lestina, for this award because he truly deserves it for being there for not just an individual, but our whole team.