This high school coach talks about "having the best season of his life" after coming out. Beautiful and inspiring!

Read this first-person account by Saunders High School boys basketball coach Anthony Nicodemo: 

There are two parts of the season that I despise. The first comes in the late autumn when I have to make cuts. Telling kids that they're not quite good enough to make the team can be gut-wrenching as the potential players' dreams are crushed.

The second comes at the end of the season. Entering the locker room after the final loss can be extremely emotional. A team that has worked hard for the past 10 months has to say goodbye. Hours of effort and bonding ends in seconds, and as coaches we often wonder what went wrong.

This season ended with a 54-51 loss in a great high school basketball game. As I entered the classroom to address the team for the final time I knew that it would be difficult to keep my emotions in check. This was the team that I came out to and who supported me all year. They wore Nike's gay-themed #BETRUE shirts in warmups. They finished 13-5 and went undefeated in the league. I thanked them for their effort and for providing me with the most enjoyable season of my career. With my voice cracking, I told them I loved them. They slowly trickled out to move on with their lives, with hugs and tears exchanged.

The end of the season is so definitive. Months of the same routine end suddenly, and it usually takes a few days to accept the inevitable. You never enter a game expecting to lose, so when that final horn sounds, it can send you into a major funk.

My journey over the past eight months has made me a better coach. I am more relaxed and secure in everything I do. When I attend an LGBT function or visit a gay bar, I do not look over my shoulder. Friends no longer attempt to match me with their sister or their wives' friends. I am longer expected to comment on the attractiveness of females when with my buddies. 

The feeling of being free carries onto the court on a daily basis. Being stress-free has allowed me to better communicate with my players and run better practice sessions. My quality of life has improved, and in turn so has my performance as a coach and educator.In sports we so often equate success with wins and losses. 

This year I felt that the journey was so much more than just basketball for both myself and my players. I watched them deal with national media, and they were stellar in their representation of the community. Their evolution was remarkable. In April, when Jason Collins came out (two months prior to my own coming out) I asked how they would feel if a teammate had announced the he was gay. Several said they would be very uncomfortable, stirring my own fears of coming out. The same players now wear #BETRUE shirts to school. 

Read the entire article at Outsports.