How to keep a players memory

Gosh, so sorry for your player and his family...You are going to hear many suggestions on this board..I cannot offer a suggestion, never having experienced anything like that. I think you probably have to go through this stage before thinking about the future...you also might want to at least include the boys family in making a decision

Very sorry for your loss. Throughout my career a number of players have passed on and what we have done is to have board erected with a gold plated plaque with the name of the player, date of his demise, and the years that he played placed on the board. It was done for every player that has passed on and the players on the present team must pass by it each and every day. It is on the wall directly next to the doors to go out of the locker room to the field. After a while what surprised me the most was that on game night each player on passing the plaque gave it a high five and some said some words prayer and thanks.

Hawke

My JV year we lost our starting QB in a house fire. Im only 21 and it happened when i was 15 so it really wasnt that long ago. I can feel for where your players are at right now. Because 6 years ago i was in their shoes.

Things we did...
Retired his jersey for that season. Since we have only let one player wear his #4, and that was during my senior year and the player was his very best friend so as a team we decided it was ok for him to wear #4 to honor our fallen teamate. Now i coach along with the guy who was HC and he still doesnt allow anyone else wear #4. When we got new jerseys he didnt even order it actually.

We took his helmet and got his name and number air brushed on it. it is still in our field house to this day up on top of a shelf. Every year freshman will come in and ask who it is, and ill explain to them who he was as a man, and that i played with him. I try to keep his legacy alive within the program.

The only time you truly lose someone is when you forget about them.

Sorry for your loss, coach. This post is already filled with ideas, I love the fact of hanging his jersey on the locker. If you do a senior night, or opening night, or any other ceremony, I think it would be important to honor and acknowledge his parents.

Sorry for your loss, Coach.

A patch with his initials or number could be worn (as stated above), or a decal with the same information could be added to the back of your helmet.

I'd also think about painting his number in your school colors on the field for the year. If he wore between #1 and #50 then you could do it at one of the corresponding yard lines (between the hash and the regular numbers). If he wore above #50 then just paint it at the 50 yard line. I've seen that before, and it's always a special tribute. Even if you have turf they make "temporary" paints for painting turf.

Coach, I'm so sorry and I know what you're going through. Here's what we did. He was a sophomore when he passed and our best player. We put his number on the backs of our helmets. We kept his locker just as he left it. We made a highlite tape of him for his family and for anyone who wanted a copy. We always called his name at role call and the whole team would say "here" for him. We would lay out his game equipment in his locker for each home game. His buddies would pack his bag and bring him with us on away games. We visited his grave together as a team and remembered him before each season. On what would have been his senior night, we retired his jersey before the game. We display his jersey in our trophy case. Now, the whole team gets to vote on who gets his locker - It's considered the highest honor on the team. We remember him each year when we have the vote. A lot of these ideas came from the kids. I think it's very important to include them in how you want to remember him. It became a ritual for us, and the kids will hang on to the ritual of rememberance as long as they need to. Good luck Coach, and God bless.

Happened during my junior to senior summer of high school to a soon to be junior. The soon to be senior player who wore the number the victim wore during his freshman and sophomore year gave up the jersey. We had letters with his initials put on a sticker for our helmet. The first game, we did a moment of silence. We helped name a "fun run" in his honor and it was an effort to prevent underage drinking.

It was weird cause I squatted with him in the weight room a day or two before and had been doing it because he was always one of the first to arrive.

The worst thing about it was some of his best friends on the team (all his age and juniors) got caught drinking in the middle of the season. 3/4 were starters, and one got suspended for the whole season because it was his second offense, the rest for like 3 games. It was right in the middle of a playoff chase too. We still made it, but we seniors almost kicked all their behinds to put it lightly, mainly because of the disrespect to their friend since they were main contributors to the fun run. I know for a fact 2 of those guys still claim to have never drank again.

Sad day.

I am sorry for you, your team, and the family and friends of the young man's loss.