I don’t usually carry a bag each day, so the contents of my pockets will usually be keys, wallet, and phone.  However, when I do carry a bag, that means I’m usually off to a practice or tournament to coach.

How do these items fulfill my needs?

• There is usually a roll of athletic tape, handy for quick repairs of players or equipment (a more serious med kit is separate).
• Keys for the gym, car, etc. to get me where I need to go, and provide access to the facility.
• Ball pump and gauge to maintain our volleyballs.
• Binder for practice plans, tournament schedules, player rosters and checklists (I still like most of this as paper, even if only as backups).
• Personal meds (painkillers, and whatever prescriptions I may be on).
• A spare pair of shoelaces, for me or a player.
• Lineup cards — coach can’t do without for games, and game hosts can’t always be trusted to provide them.
• If the game is out of town, there will be a pile of marking that I’ll have to take with me and try to get done in the downtime.
• Missing from the photo will be an iPad that I use for taking game and practice stats, and very useful tool to attempt to bring an objective perspective to coaching decisions.

These items really do speak to what I do — you will find me in the gymnasium a lot, and I’m clearly a coach. Theses items reflect that I like to be prepared for obstacles to a successful practice or game – situations that have happened in the past that I don’t want to be repeated.

The “text technologies” in the bag are a bit traditional; paper and pen. What’s not there is a whistle.  I don’t coach with a whistle, as I trust my voice to project well enough to get the attention of my athletes when I need to. I communicate with my players using my voice, and using visual symbols and sketches/diagrams.

The narrative the contents aligns  with the image I have of myself and that which I project. I’m known for dedicating a lot of my personal time to volunteer coach in both school and in the community, beyond being a high-school physics teacher, spouse, and father.

In the past, the bag would look pretty similar, perhaps with a bit more marking along for the ride, and there would have been a Palm Pilot instead of the iPad for taking my game statistics.

In the future, an archeologist would have an interesting time with the contents of the bag…the written text would be brief notes, lots of symbols and drawings with arrows, numbers, and lines in quadrants (was he an engineer or architect?). The ball pump and gauge would perhaps reinforce that image of an engineer, or perhaps the owner of the bag was engaged in equipment testing. The iPad? What will our electronic devices look like a thousand or so years from now? Will archeologists take them apart and recognize the internal electronics?