Selected Poems from Coach Donskov

For everybody in strength and conditioning or hockey, it's a big part of our lives. But, it's not our whole life. As Justin Roethlingshoefer touched on in a recent podcast, we need to be in control of our careers, instead of our careers controlling us. 

As Coach Anthony Donskov beautifully responded on Twitter, "All coaches need a passion away from the demands of professional life....mine is poetry."

Here are four poems from Coach Donskov. His poetry is as thoughtful as his prose. His style is rhythmic, elegant, and full of imagery.

While it's important we have an identity away from coaching and hockey, I believe it's important to work on skills that--on the outside--seem divergent from our careers, but in reality, only increase our skills. Poetry, more than prose, demands careful consideration of every word. Every syllable. Every sound that slithers out from the page. I can see the same goes into to every post he makes, every sentence in his books, and likely, every athlete he coaches.

Here are four beautiful poems--in perfect iambic tetrameter or pentameter, no less.

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