A TRIBUTE TO SNAKE PIT U.S.A. COACHES ASSOCIATION LEAD/HEAD COACH, FLOYD “BAD NEWS” WINTER FROM UFC HALL OF FAMER RANDY COUTURE:

From Coach Winter’s award presentation at the 29th Military World Wrestling Championships Oct 5th 2014.

“A tribute to my army wrestling coach, Floyd Winter, and all the wrestling coaches I had through my career that taught me so much ! Thank you !

This is an ode to all those that have never asked for one.
A thank you in words, to all those that do not do , what they do so well, for the thanking.

This is to the coaches;
This is to the ones that watch our hands raised, or our face fall,
at the end of each match; Who harmonize in our shared pain and shear joy and terrified wonder as we walk to the center of the mat.

This is to the coaches;
To the ones who shout the loudest and fight the hardest and sacrifice the most to to prepare us for combat and ultimately success though out all our lives .

This is to the coaches
This is to the ones with so much pride for us that they cannot fit it inside their chests after all they have endured, to the leaking of blood and wiping of sweat from the back of their hands , to so many trails from so many mops pushed across mats left behind and the tape laid on the cracks to insure we remain injury free as they smile through those training sessions and always manage a laugh.

This is to the coaches.
This is to the patience and perseverance and unyielding dedication that they have given willingly to see us succeed in grappling competition , for all the whistles blown , Drop steps and back steps and headlocks and arm drags and slide byes and duck unders and single legs and double legs shown slowly by the numbers just so we could grasp and understand and then call them our own.

This is to the coaches
For all the uniforms handed out and per diem divvied , for all the trips trains planes buses cars and hotels booked . This is for the counseling sessions , motivations speeches , slaps on the back and moments of encouragement for one more sprint or one more minute in the grind or round robin .

This is to the coaches
This is for all those arguments; some with all those referees over every single passivity or point given or taken away . Some with wives over family time missed or vacations not taken for the sake of the team .

This is to the coaches
To those that demonstrate a character of the highest order and passed on a fire and a passion for the greatest sport in mans history!

To the ones that show us the way to find our own way.
This is to the coaches”