The echo of Echo

Echo the team I coach at iO had their last show tonight. They are the first team I was appointed to coach by iO and we've been together since they graduated classes around this time last year. Almost a year exactly, not a bad shelf life for a harold team.

They taught me a lot and I hope I taught them as much. It's been a fulfilling, at times pleasantly frustrating, experience. As a coach you walk a fine line between friend, peer, and authority figure. There were times when I knew what I wanted to communicate but couldn't articulate my point, times where I knew what I wanted them to do but couldn't elicit it. I learned how to coach a team and they learned how to be coached. We had some interesting times not least of which was a steady change in roster.

Looking back, I break down the evolution of the team in three acts. Act One: a beginning. Getting to know each other, getting to know the harold, feeling things out, and dealing with one of the original members who was relatively unstable who was subsequently removed. Act Two: a transition period. We got Trevor, Ariel went on a boat, Blair quit the team, and Allison joined it. Act Three: progress. The last six months of the team we really gelled and put up some great shows and consistently had great rehearsals.

I'm so grateful to have been Echo's coach. To have been witness to and partial catalyst of their creative growth as a team and as individuals. Allison, Ariel, Blair, Chris, Chris, Claire, Dave, Mike, Molly, Paul, and Trevor will always have a special place in my heart, they gave me an experience I'll never forget.

This is good luck but not goodbye.