Thu, Nov 26 2009
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Family first With her daughter, Joslin, needing more of her time, Roberta Cozad has made the call to step down as Geneva softball coach BOB ETTINGERStar Beacon Those attachments between coach and player were part of what Cozad tried to do as a coach. She wanted her players and coaches to become like a family. She treated them as if they were her own daughters.
“One thing I’ve always been big on is the safety of the kids and their well-being,” Cozad said. “Athletics breeds kids to be well-mannered. One thing I’ve always tried impress upon is sportsmanship. “Brittany Powers hurt her knee. She wanted to play the next game. I said under no circumstances was I going to let her play. She wanted to play through it. As much as I want to win, I don’t want to take a chance and ruin the rest of her life. I look after them like a mother hen.” Speaking of family, Cozad’s could be found at the field with her and the team nearly every day. Her husband, Kyle, served as an assistant coach and Joslin and older brother Benjamin were there, too. “I love to coach sports in general,” Cozad said. “When Kyle and I were discussing me walking away from the basketball job at Richmond Heights because I had Benjamin, he said to me that I didn’t want to lose who I was because we have children. “That stayed with me. I want my children to see what I do, see what I love and be a part of it. It’s easier to see their face from across the field than at home at while they’re asleep at 8 or 9 o’clock.” Kyle Cozad may have liked being a part of the program every bit as much as Roberta did. And with her resigning the post, he, too, will be affected. “Kyle and I had a lot of late talks about it,” Roberta Cozad said. “There were times I’d say, ‘I just can’t do it anymore.’ ” The next night I’d come back and say that I come back and say I couldn’t give it up. He let me make my decision. “It was the program I chose. He helped. He loves it just as much as I do. It was a decision we definitely had to make together. It’s something that I’m now taking away from him, as well.” Cozad believes she will be back coaching. And she’ll probably be back sooner rather than later. “Kyle and I talked a lot about it a lot,” Cozad said. “I don’t see myself staying away too long. Kyle and I are very sports-minded people. It’s going to be really difficult not to be involved.” Though she is no longer the softball coach, Cozad will keep her position as the seventh-grade basketball coach for varsity coach Nancy Barbo’s Eagles. “I’ll still coach basketball,” Cozad said. “I love basketball. It’s a little easier to deal with — scheduled games don’t typically change much. I can work around that with Joslin’s therapy.” But when she is ready to return, Cozad will be mindful of whoever is currently coaching the Eagles. “If someone’s coaching, I won’t come in and try to take the program away. I won’t be trying to come in and push somebody out.” 
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