Pyramid Of Success In John Wooden's They Call Me Coach

In the book, "They Call Me Coach" by John Wooden, he talks about the importance of a teacher and coach as a role model for kids. He talks about his successes he had in coaching, the lessons he has learned, and the ones he has taught. In the book, you will get to walk through his life from when he was a little kid and first fell in love with basketball to when he retired from active coaching at UCLA in 1975. He also talks about his "Pyramid of Success" and the traits that every player should have.
John Wooden was from a small town called Hall, Indiana. He was born on October 14, 1910. A few years later, they moved to Monrovia, Indiana. His dad then took a job as a rural mail carrier. They still had a farm where he worked as well. When John was about to start second grade, his mom got a sixty-acre farm from her father. They lived on

this farm with no electricity, no inside plumbing, and they had a hand pump to get water. His dad made the kids work on the farm but he made sure they had some fun mixed in. He made them a basket out of an old tomato basket. He knocked out the bottom and nailed it up on the wall at the end of their hayloft. They played with a basketball made out of old rags stuffed inside a pair of their mother's black cotton hose. This is where his love for basketball came from. He began playing basketball for Purdue and then years later ended up coaching at UCLA for twenty-seven years. He became a very famous coach, teacher, speaker, and writer.
Some of the main points he talks about in his book is his coaching moments and his life lessons, the importance of his religion, and the traits for success. He talks a lot about his different coaching moments from different schools as well as his moments when he was playing. He talks about his life lessons he learned and the ones he taught. He talks about his religion in Chapter 13 and how much he relates it to his work and life. He talks about each trait on his pyramid and the reasoning behind why he picked them. Him explaining those helps you realize why they are there and make you understand it better.
John Wooden's application to the coaching profession is a big deal because he came up with the Pyramid of Success.

In this day and time as well as years before, this pyramid has helped many coaches through the years and I am sure through the years to come. His definition of success is "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming” (pg 85). Every coach questions what their definition of success is and his pyramid helps people with their answer.
When reading this book, a new coach can take away many pointers from Coach Wooden. They can learn the importance of being a coach and learn how to be successful as well as many other things. It also makes you think about the reason you wanted to be a coach and the people that influenced you the most. He talks about the value of honesty, patience, faithfulness, and having work ethic. Those are just some things that we may overlook as a coach. Also in telling his life stories and stories from coaching, it shows you some of the things you will be dealing with in the coaching

profession.
I personally loved this book because it talked about how he started out having nothing but then working hard for what he got. I liked how he talked about what worked for him as a coach and what didn't work. I liked how he talks about his religion and how it relates to his work life as well as his personal life. I like that he talks about seeking success and ties it in with the Bible. He said he wouldn't preach it to his players if he wasn't practicing it himself. This book was a very well rounded book that I think every person that wants to be a coach should read and especially the basketball coaches.