We’ve now come to a touchy subject. Do football coaches earn too much? Hmmm… The fact is coaches who work with children earn far too little. I’ll try to express my opinion by sharing a story. When you’ve heard it, you’ll understand my take on whether coaches earn too much.

One day, a rich merchant decided to commission an interesting painting from a painter. This specific painting was supposed to represent a rooster in the most perfect way possible. A few years went by since his order, with no sight nor word of the painter. As his anxiety and uncertainty grew, he went to discover what exactly had happened to the painter. He eventually found the painter, but there was no painting. The painter invited the merchant to sit down and started to work on his request. In 15 minutes the painting of the rooster was complete. It was beautiful. A real masterpiece. The merchant was sincerely struck by its beauty. When it was time to pay for the painting, the merchant was stunned at the huge sum the artist dared to ask for a job completed in such a short time. He was so angry, he refused to pay. The painter then took the merchant to his room and showed him a pile of paper the height of a man. On each piece of paper was a painting of a rooster. “I’ve been painting these for three years to practice. Thanks to this, I’ve gained the skills to paint this divine, perfect painting in such a short time. And so I have to get paid for my work during the long preparation time,” explained the painter. The merchant was convinced the painter was right and paid him for the painting.

It’s the same thing in your coaching career. It takes years and years of training and perseverance in order to eventually gain a well-deserved reward, which means charging for your long-term hard work.