Three blows of a whistle, the end of practice. That is what everyone waited to hear. The constant rolling around and slamming of your partner was all in a day’s work. It’s really brutal sprinting around in a circle for 15 minutes without a break but it was all for us. There is nobody that I can thank more than my wrestling coach, Darren Kelly. For all the times he got into my face and pushed me to do my best, I learned that if you want something, you are the only person stopping yourself from reaching it.

One of the best ways to coach is to see yourself in the athlete’s position. Coach Darren runs with us at practice and drills much of the time right along with us too. When we are down a man at practice, he is the first to step in and wrestle with us, knowing that he is really going to have to work. Coach is in your corner; you can always hear him yelling moves over all the people in the gym. When you look up, he is always stomping his feet and trying to show you what to do from the corner of the mat.

Losing is the worst part of any sport, but in the sport of wrestling the athletes take it harder than in other sports; it’s just you and your competitor out there in front of a whole gymnasium full of people watching. It’s a real down moment knowing that you just lost in front of a crowd. Coach will always pull you aside and explain to you what you did wrong and how you can do better next time, then he’ll pat you on the back as you walk off the mat.

Coach Darren didn't only push us to win and be successful, but he was successful himself, placing second in the 1994 Delaware State Wrestling Championships and going back to win it in his senior year at 152 pounds.

I have played sports since I could walk and talk, and I wrestled two years prior to wrestling this season, but in the many years I have played sports, I have never seen anyone so committed to a team. No matter the situation Coach Darren was always looking out for his “family”, also known as the Delaware Military Academy wrestling team.

I’ve learned so much from Coach Darren: determination, time management and how to learn from a loss. These are all major ideals, not only for wrestling but for life itself.

I am nominating coach Darren Kelley because he has the heart, the experience, and the drive to teach and coach. That is what it truly takes to be the Educator of the Year.