I’ve been coaching golf and football at Cathedral High School for nine years. As a coach I always wonder what kind of impact I will have on a child’s life.

Saturday night at the Krewe of Phoenix Call Out ball, I witnessed one of the most profound and moving examples of just that! Around 35 former Colonel’s Ladies, ranging in age from 35-60, paid tribute to my mom, Suzi Russ. They were there to honor my brother, Chandler Russ, King Rex XXXV. These ladies came from all over, as well as local. They gave up their weekends for months and time away from their families to honor the memory of their old coach. They sweated, pulled muscles and cried, to make sure they got it just the way mom taught them. I found out they were doing this about a month before it happened, so I was prepared, I thought, emotionally to handle it. I was wrong. I cried like a blubbering fool! What a fantastic and awesome job they did! My mom would have been so proud of them!

If you coach young people for a living you have a chance to shape their lives for the better! She taught them to be the best they could be through hard work and strict discipline and they loved her for it. Those traits are missing in a lot of kids today because we are scared to hurt their feelings. From the time I was a young kid, until I left for college, I was around the Colonel’s Ladies and I heard my mom screaming “ATTENTION” and “TAP TAP TAP!” Those girls would jump and run to get to where they were supposed to be. If they didn’t follow her rules they didn’t dance! They loved her dearly in spite of that. She also would have died for them.

I learned most of my coaching skills through my mom. I am strict and expect my guys to follow my rules. I also would die for them! Hard work and discipline can turn an average team into a championship team. I love to win, but my main goal is to shape young men and women to be excellent members of society by sharing the ups and downs of my life experiences. I learned this from her and her girls. At the end of my coaching career, I hope the kids that I have coached think of me the same way her former Colonel’s Ladies and Lady Blues think of her. What a great tribute! Well done ladies! Well done!

Kurt Russ

Cathedral golf coach and assistant football coach