“The Monster, the Legend, the Mentor, Coach Schembri”

I would like to thank Ms. Basko for all of the feedback that she gave me. I tried to take all of it and add them into my paper. I think this paper does a really good job in explaining to the reader who Mr. Schembri really is.

“The Monster, the Legend, the Mentor, Coach Schembri”
Mr. Schembri is absolutely a man of his word. If he says he will do something he will always do it. Even if it is the craziest thing anyone could ever think of. He is the most respectable man you will ever meet and he has an influence on anyone that comes into his life. He has so much respect that when he talks to you, you always listen and he will always look you right in the eye. Mr. Schembri is also a very intelligent man who seems to have an answer for everything. Whether it is about lacrosse, nature, or the most ridiculous biology question, he will have an answer for you. Coach Schembri can always bring out the best in everyone. When he cracks jokes he can brighten your day, or he can bring it a little down if he finds out you did something wrong. You can never get anything past him. He will always find out what you did no matter what. Eventually when he does find out you go right onto his, “PooPoo List.” And this is not a place that you want to be.
Being a senior on the varsity lacrosse team and having played 3 different sports with around 10-15 different coaches throughout the years, coach Schembri is definitely the most influential coach I have had. Coaching a varsity sport is a lot of pressure and a lot of work. He balances all of the pressure and work very well and still has time for his family. It seems like he is always trying to put everyone before himself and he is trying to teach us to do the same thing along with leadership and respect.
Coach Schembri is a big man. “Use what your mama gave you” is one of his favorite quotes. When he plays sports he uses what his mama gave him! He has big tree trunk legs that move quicker than you think. Although he has a nice bald head that is usually covered when he is outside by his Penfield Lacrosse hat or a Nike hat, he is not that old. When you look at Mr. Schembri straight in the eyes you might get a little intimidated at first. Don’t worry that is normal. But right when you walk into his room you get a friendly “hello how are you doing?” Once you get to meet him he is a pretty funny character. While he is a very outgoing person who knows how to have fun, he can be a very serious man at times. During school, practices, and games he shows that serious side of himself. When he is with his three boys playing outside, or in the off season, that is when he shows the teenager side of himself. He is a very entertaining person to be around if you just want to have a laugh.
During the winter of last year our whole varsity lacrosse team when to Camp Stella Maris, also known as CSM, or CAMP as a few of the teammates became fond of calling it. “I love CAMP” was a very common quote people would say while we were there. Here we all bonded together as one team and Coach Schembri helped us do that by setting up activities for us to do throughout the whole day. When we went to CAMP we all saw a different side of Mr. Schembri. Rather than that serious in season lacrosse coach, we saw that laid back, outgoing, and fun Coach Schembri. Telling stories around the camp fire, playing football, capture the flag, and many other fun exciting games brought us together as a team and I think what Coach Schembri did for us that weekend made us a better team overall.
During a lacrosse practice Coach Schembri will call the whole team over to talk. He will tell us all to stand behind a certain line. Once he says that everyone looks down to see if anyone is on or over the line. Although he has many unique quotes, there is one quote that will stick in my head forever from Coach Schembri. “On the line is over the line.” He repeats that sentence over and over again throughout the year. In lacrosse if you are on the line you are over it. Not like in soccer where if the ball is still on the line it is still in. That one sentence from Mr. Schembri shows a lot about him. He does not like to cut corners and he does not let his team cut corners. Coach Schembri does not believe in half effort. You go hard every time when you do something for him. If we cut corners he makes us do more. During workouts, preseason, and games he will always expect our best effort.
Coach Schembri is a very passionate person. When he has a job to do he always does it to the best of his ability. He never puts half effort into something. He is always there for you when you need help with a problem, school, sports, or even life in general. He is the person that wants to help people and wants to see people succeed. He is always trying to make people better and pushing people because he knows that they can always do better.