Words from Coach Winn

Remembering Nothing is Ever Good Or Bad

2012-01-26T12:44:00.003-05:00

As we began our trip to Shepherd University things starting seemingly falling apart. Before we departed, we almost left our practice gear in the locker room and then once we arrived, we found we have left the Blueberry (our nickname for the DVD player). This created quite a ruckus among the athletes as I queried them about who was supposed to bring it as none of them wanted to face my wrath. Of course, I knew what they didn't. I wasn't going to go crazy. Nope. Instead I was going to find a way to make things work without it.

Once we got to the hotel, we discovered our gym time we had reserved with the hotel's gym had been usurped by the government. I didn't know the government had imminent domain over hotel gyms! Since we had been denied practice time at Shepherd University, my wonderful staff started working on finding us a place to have a morning practice. When it was discovered our men's team had a practice time at Shepherd while we were not afforded one, we begged for a time there. After calling local schools, churches and fitness centers, we finally resorted to asking if we could use the upstairs gymnasium at SU. When we got an affirmation, we hurriedly assembled the team and got on the bus before we somehow missed our golden opportunity to prepare for the game.

Once we got upstairs to their practice facility, a class had taken over the gym. Without even batting an eye or letting a curse world slide off my lips, I led the team across the facility to the other side which looked like it was used as purgatory for wayward athletic teams and decided it would have to suffice for us. So with our men's team on the real court and a class on the next best court, we were stuffed in a makeshift rectangular hellhole with a blue rubber floor and no basketball hoops. As the team started to make comments about how everything seemed to be going wrong, I stopped them with one of my infamous stares and told them, "This is not bad or good. It is what we make of it. We can decide to use this as an excuse and tell our sad story or we can find a way to make it work. It is our choice to decide what we want to do."

I know when I was younger I would have taken every misstep as a sign things were going badly and I would have plummeted to despair and hopelessness believing the game was already lost before we had even stepped on the court. Good thing I am no longer that youngster and know better than to attach an emotion to a series of events. I now know that events happen and they are neither good nor bad; they just are. We are responsible for the emotions. And in this situation, our choice was to find a way rather than to find an excuse.

I don't yet know the outcome of the game as I am writing this before the game has occurred, but I do know this--we will not allow the events which transpired before the game to affect our thoughts about our abilities to win the game.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Passion is The Only Way To Play

2012-01-17T15:47:00.004-05:00

I'll be the first one to admit I haven't done a consistent job of posting blogs this year. I could use many reasons but in the end the reasons are just excuses and don't work. The truth is I've been reluctant to write about this team and the journey they have taken. It is not a journey of power and courage, not one of strength, but one of insecurity and a lack of confidence. I understand they are young, one of the youngest teams in the league. I get that in my system, there is a tremendous amount of learning which translates into a difficult freshmen year. Not very many freshmen in my system have done well.

I can only recall three freshmen who were outstanding in the eleven years I've coached at the University of Charleston: Sarah Batchelder, Lisa Lee and Courtney Thomas. All three of those players made significant contributions their freshmen years, but they also were emotionally immature and made many errors. There have been others who came through in their freshmen season and we wondered if they would ever make good players like Jihan Williams, Kika Carman, Rachel Pike, Lindsey Kentner, Tiana Beatty and Tarenna Dixon. None of those players were outstanding their freshmen season and most of them came off the bench for 10-15 minutes a game but by the time they were juniors, they were amazing.

So I sit here wondering who will grow up and become an All-Conference player and who will sink into a vat of nothingness, who can step up and become a leader and what players will never find their voices. I always want to have hope, to have this belief every player can develop into something special, but I also know after years of doing this that there are some players who have the heart, the passion and the work ethic to make it happen, and then there are others who simply fade away never allowing themselves the opportunity for greatness.

I think we have several who can be great but I haven't seen the passion, the consistent fire in them I want to see. I love passion, the thing inside players which makes them scream after a big shot or pump their fist after taking a charge. I'd rather have to tame an angry player than try to pull a small bit of fire from an apathetic one. Apathy drives me crazy, makes me want to spit and foam at the mouth. I've never understood giving less than 100% believing the giving is the part which makes the person and the player.

I want to believe in this group of players and I have tried everything in my bag of tricks to make them motivated. I have been positive, shown encouragement, yelled, screamed, thrown fits, talked circles around them, and even tried the silent treatment. At some point, it has to mean something to them; it has to come from them. I cannot carry them all with my passion and heart. So I have decided to put it back on them hoping they will see the light, hoping they will step up and want to be good, hoping they will want to put on the maroon and gold jersey of the Golden Eagles and feel what others felt inside it. I can only hope.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

An Oxymoron--Patient Aggressive Offense?

2012-01-03T09:36:00.003-05:00

December was a weird and unusual month for us as we played only four games in a five week period. For the players, it meant never-ending practices where the coaches could push them with high intensity and force them to go hard day after day without worrying about tapering off for games. After enduring six weeks of conditioning in the fall, what player would want another month of perceived conditioning?

Personally, the opportunity to work long practice hours, to get in the gym twice a day over the winter break, is a slice of heaven. With such a young team, it is necessary to teach, to do high numbers of repetitions of the same skill, to demand the right execution of offense, and to get them to buy into team defense. This past week we've been spending hours and hours on the concept of side to side and back on offense. When we broke down the game tapes of our last two games and noted the number of times we took bad shots, we knew things had to drastically change.

Most coaches don't mess with teaching the motion offense because it requires so much time, patience and structure. I bought into it because it provides freedom within structure and it teaches the players how to actually play the game not just run from spot to spot. The problem with teaching players how to set a screen and use a screen is that most of them have never been taught how to do either. In fact when I watch basketball on television at the Division I level, I am often surprised at how many elite players do run-by screens or how they screen only air.

Some of the hardest concepts about motion offense are letting the ball take care of itself meaning each player has to trust the person with the ball taking her eyes off the ball while she sets a screen or uses a screen. The next most difficult concept is to learn what a good shot is within the offense and when to take that shot which is where the side to side and back concept arises. If we can teach the team to be patient enough while still being aggressive with the ball, we will make better shots but to most players the idea of being patient aggressive sounds like an oxymoron.

It is a lengthy process but one I believe in because I have witnessed the growth of players over the years. So many of our freshmen come in averaging four or five points but by their senior year are closing in on a thousand points. I know it works but the process of teaching and learning it is very challenging.

My hope is by the time the winter break is over, our players will have caught on and our shooting percentage will be on the rise.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Loving The Life Of A Coach

2011-12-16T14:24:00.004-05:00

Most people have no clue what goes on behind the doors of the gymnasium. Some people have this concept the coaches spend their day hanging out, talking to peers, working out in the fitness center and waiting around until practice begins as if practice time is when our day really starts. The truth is the day sometimes begins at 10:00 a.m. and sometimes at 5:30 a.m. Sometimes it ends at 6:30 in the evening and sometimes earlier but on away trips, it usually lasts until 2:00 a.m. We don't get the holidays the other staff members at the university receive as our season rolls right through Thanksgiving, Christmas and spring break. Oh it is true, we now receive a seven day recovery time during the Christmas holidays because of the NCAA Division II Life in The Balance Initiative, but our peers get a four week vacation.

So what do coaches do in a normal day? Well, first of all there is no such thing as normal. Nope. Not in the world of coaching. Every day brings a hotbed of new challenges to the table. Sometimes we have to stop everything for a "crisis" of one of our players. I put the word in quotation marks because I rarely see things as a crisis. I mostly see events now as opportunities, as doorways, and as the marker for something better to come, but most of our players have not yet gotten to that philosophy of life. They still think there are good days and bad days and evil lurking around every corner waiting to grab them up and insert its nastiness. It is our job to help them see the good and the light at then end of their perceived tunnel.

When we are not dealing with academic or personal issues of our players, we are preparing for practices, doing the much dreaded NCAA compliance paper work, and recruiting which entails writing emails, making phone calls and watching tons of games. During the season, we are mostly breaking down game film pausing the film, rewinding it, taking notes and watching, watching, watching. The preparation for a single game takes hours. We have to discover through game film how to defeat our opponents and what are the keys to winning the game, and then we must sell that to our players in a way they understand it.

The life of a coach is hectic, stressful but oh-so-rewarding. It is not the wins which feel so good; it is witnessing the growth of the players, watching them as they transition to better people. It is getting an email from Ali Tobias saying thank you and telling me how I touched her life, and hearing from Mr. Carmen how Kika is now attending law school because she learned so much from playing at UC. It is watching Jihan who we literally had to babysit through classes to make certain she graduated now bring her books and computer to study for graduate school while she is visiting her boyfriend. It is knowing I have so many former players who are now extremely successful in their chosen careers.

Coaching is a crazy profession. It requires a dedication beyond the ordinary; it requires people who live with a passion for the teaching of the game. I know I am blessed to have been a coach for 22 years, and I am so grateful for each player who passed through the gyms where I coached for each one of them taught me something valuable and made me a better person.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Firing From The Hip With Chrissy Keir

2011-12-07T09:39:00.005-05:00

There are probably not many coaches who would have recruited Chrissy Keir as she stands about 5'2" on a good day with extra padding in her high top shoes. In fact, I clearly remember the day we were recruiting her. It was in a gym on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. where teams were playing on ten courts. We happened to be sitting at her court because we were watching the point guard from the other team.

As we sat and observed, we became more and more enamored with her ability to squeeze a ball between two defenders, to see the floor, and to monitor the tempo of the game. There were many coaches sitting around us all lamenting her size commenting if she were only taller they would recruit her. I wasn't in on those discussions. What I kept coming back to was the height she played not the height she was.

So now after two years of playing experience where she has shown small bits of her game, letting passes fly from the hip on occasion, holding back just a little, letting the senior starting point guard have the glory, she has finally decided to step up and be a player. During our last two games, she was the floor general fully in command supporting her troops in the way only a general could.

In the game against West Liberty, she did all the little things that only a discerning eye could see--playing position defense, calling out screens, tracing the ball on the dribbler, recognizing the play and calling it out to teammates. None of these are in the stat column, none of these are noted by reporters or even fans, but her coaches and teammates know they all make a difference in the outcome of the game.

Not only has she been playing amazing defense, but she has begun feeling when to push the ball and when to slow down the tempo recognizing the pace of the game we want. She knows when to hold the ball and allow her teammates to get into place or when to push it for the transition basket.

But what I really adore are her passes--the ones she pulls out of her trick cap, the ones nobody sees coming except for her teammates who have learned to keep their hands up and ready. She has this ability to put a spin on the ball which makes the ball travel one way and then back to a teammate. I'm not certain how this works but I do love it when a defender tries to get to the ball and thinks she has a hand on it and then it slides away from her. There is the behind the back pass and the no look pass, the passes that graze defenders' ears as they whistle by their heads on way to the posts in the low block. When she makes one of her amazing passes, it dazzles the crowds and gets her teammates off the bench in excitement creating momentum for the team.

I am thrilled to see the floor general in complete confidence, playing in the zone, commanding her teammates to play harder and faster. If no other coach or opponent notes her importance to this team, I want her to recognize the coaches do. Thanks Chrissy for stepping up and being the player you were meant to be.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Living In Optimism

2011-12-02T14:14:00.005-05:00

When I was younger, in my twenties, I considered myself a realist. Most people who knew me would have called me a pessimist but I thought I called things as they were and lived in reality. I had no idea reality is something which is made up in one's mind so I spent much of my time looking at things and seeing the worst possibility and believing in the "facts" other people gave me as truth. Lucky for me I dropped being a realist and signed up for optimism because now I believe in all possibilities and I seek in the best in things.

Take for instance this basketball season. Had I been coaching this team full of youngsters and inexperience in my twenties and early thirties, I'm certain I would have listened to the wisdom of all those who would have offered their belief that youth cannot win big games. I would have bought into this hook, line and sinker thinking like most people do that young players don't have the experience to play in tight situations. I would have coached the team with the mindset we would be a good team the next year and take our lumps for the season.

We started the season 0-3 losing to teams which we could have beaten, looking rather raw and incapable of doing anything remotely close to resembling solid basketball fundamentals. The coaches watched from the sideline as we boinked the ball off the backboard on easy put backs, fumbled passes, threw the ball directly to the players who were not on our team, shot a measly 60% from the free throw line and generally looked like a sandlot group of athletes who were playing basketball for the first time in our lives. It was dreadful and I could have believed we were going to drown in this ugliness, swallowing too much of the missed cues, but I chose to believe in what I knew to be this team's potential.

We have speed and more speed, players who are lightening quick and appear like shadows on the court, coming in and out of a play before the opponents can see them. We have rebounders who can jump up with with great hands grab the ball right out of the air and we have this thing called "passion" which flows through so many team members it is like electricity on the court. Because I now believe in miracles, in the creation of great events in our minds, I didn't panic early in the season; I kept the faith knowing these young women would eventually come to see in themselves what the coaching staff saw in them.

Oh, it is still a work in progress and they are still trying to see the best in themselves, but they have improved from November 12th, our first game, to last night in what only could be called an amazing miracle of sorts. In our first contest, we only scored 46 points. Last night we had 44 points at half time. We have won three straight games and totally changed the pace of the way we play. In my old mind, I would have determined this was a fluke, a one time thing, but in my new mindset, I know it is only the beginning of amazing things to come. These young women will get better and better rising to the occasion, learning to see with their dreams rather than with the "facts" other people might try to sell them.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Coaching Is An Art

2011-11-26T15:14:00.004-05:00

It is always interesting to me how the older players always believe I was tougher on them their freshmen year. Every year I hear the same tale--I'm getting softer. It is a story I've heard for the past 21 years. At this rate I should have been a marsh mellow by now.

So I listen to the upper class players and I get tougher for a few days, making them run for not hustling, perform frozen push-ups for not boxing out, jump on the heavy ropes for not using a screen. I yell louder, act tougher and everybody is happy thinking I'm back to my "normal" self. The truth of the matter is I'm a demanding coach year after year and sometimes I do get a little off kilter but never as much as the players claim. The thing is they don't put it in perspective. When they first arrive here, it feels tougher because they have never lived through the experience. First year players always feel targeted, feel they are getting the brunt of the criticism, and are certain I am on their case more than any other player. After the first year, the norm for players is the demanding practice so they don't believe I am being hard enough.

I often alternate between being extremely hard on players and giving them love. It is not uncommon for me to hug a player or slap them playfully on the back. I often tell them they are amazing or awesome or incredible. I believe all people need to hear this regardless of their age. Then there are days when I push and demand and ride them as if they have never done anything right on the court. There is a thin line which a coach must always walk; this line is between allowing a player to remain in her comfort zone and pushing her to a new awakening of her potential. It has to be done with tough love, giving praise and then demanding more.

I know they must feel as if my praise is real and valid so I give it only when they do well. I also know if they hear constant criticism even if it is meant to improve their skills they hear that they are not good enough preventing them from performing at a higher level. It is a thin rope to walk and I try to keep the balance but sometimes I fail and they falter because I haven't been positive enough.

About a week and a half ago I blasted two of my leaders in front of the team yelling at them for a lack of effort, taking them out of their leadership roles, making them run instead of doing drills. This was a calculated plan on my part. If I lost them for the season, we were not going to win a game, but I knew if they heard me and made an adjustment, it could mean success. Both of them were angry at me, refusing to look at me, wanting nothing to do with me believing I was being unfair to them and targeting them. I did target them as they were my leaders; they had to work at a different level.

Now they are playing better and being more vocal leading both through effort and voice. They will forget the practice where they were "targeted" as they play better and the team wins more. Eventually they will know I did this out of love as I wanted them to get to the next level, to be the players hidden inside of themselves.

Coaching is an art and sometimes I do well at it and sometimes I miscalculate. Hopefully, the players know my intentions are always the same--to make them the best possible players they can be.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Losing Is Only the First Step To Winning

2011-11-18T13:02:00.007-05:00

After our third loss in a row and a loss to Bluefield State, I've had people calling me, consoling me as if a family member had died. It is interesting to me in the world of athletics how a loss or a losing season makes people get depressed and think less of themselves. I'm not angry or depressed or in a state where I have lost faith in the team or myself.

I know this group of players will figure it out. My teams historically start off slow because I teach so much. I have this philosophy about the game of basketball which includes breaking each part of the game down into a very small portion, teaching each skill exactly how it should be done, demanding the players execute everything correctly. This can result in a type of paralysis where players start to doubt their abilities and initially it hinders their talents, but when they get it, they become three times the player others thought they could be.

I have seen this occur so often that I don't panic over losing games or freshmen not playing to their potential. After all, I've witnessed players evolve from substitutes off the bench to All-Americans. I watched Jihan Williams grow from her freshmen year where I couldn't play her because she wouldn't adhere to our defensive principles to an All-American her senior year. I observed Tarenna Dixon expand from a player who couldn't score consistently to averaging a double-double her senior year. I witnessed Lisa Lee develop from high school where she barely averaged 10 points a game to becoming UC's career leading scorer.

I've watched so many freshmen struggle with our system and with their confidence that I am acutely aware of how we affect them. I've even had parents angry with me after watching their child in their freshmen year, telling me I was ruining their child only to later tell me after their child's senior year they were amazed at how good they had become.

Being a teacher means I have to have patience, to push the team when I think they ought to be pushed, but to love and hug them when they are distraught and in despair. I alternate between being incredibly demanding to being patient hopefully giving the players the feeling of confidence they need to be successful.

If I chose to put them in a system where they ran to spots and had the freedom of not having to think so much, we might be more successful earlier but I am in this for the long haul, wanting them to intimately know and understand the game. Every one of the players at UC will know why each play works, how to correctly defend it, how to read the defense and improve their individual skills. They will be smarter than many coaches and this added game intelligence will give them power; they will feel they can defeat anybody with their brains.

So when people call to console me, they must first know I am okay. I understand we are in the teaching mode and our young players are learning. What I am absolutely confident in is the faith we will discover a way to win and we will get better. We will win some games and defeat some very tough opponents before the season is over. Those who are laughing at us now and doubting us will soon become aware that we don't give up at the University of Charleston. Instead we use each game to get better, each loss as an opportunity for growth.

I am proud of how far we have come this year in only three games and I know with our hard workers and passion, we will continue to grow at an amazing rate.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Change is Good!

2011-11-01T08:29:00.003-04:00

On Saturday night I dressed up as a good friend of mine putting on a dress with full accessories of matching earrings, bracelets, a necklace, five inch heels and then went the entire enchilada wearing make-up and pink nail polish. For those of you who don't know me that was a long stretch from who I normally am. My normal attire consists of sweats and t-shirts and occasional jeans. If I get really dressed up, I put on a nice pant suit and a shirt which I pray matches.

The only reason I mention the above is to illustrate how quickly change can occur if one has the desire. This is exactly what the Golden Eagles did on Sunday in our second scrimmage. In just a matter of five days, we shifted from a team who did not comprehend what help side defense was to a team who shut down an opponent. It was an amazing transformation--one that even I had did not expect.

On the very first team meeting, I told them there were two necessary ingredients to creating success. One was the willingness to learn and the other was the willingness to change. Many players want to keep doing the same thing and expect different results which is by the way the definition of insanity. This team, however, understands the need to change and to do it rapidly.

In order to prepare for our scrimmage on Sunday, we prepared differently. Coach Pike took the time to watch the game DVD with small groups of players, pointing out how they performed--the difference between what we wanted from them and what they were doing. We broke down the opponent's offense and worked on defending their pick on balls. We presented a scouting report depicting how to defend their plays and players. We walked through all of their out-of-bounds plays and offensive sets, taking the time to specifically coach the team on exactly how to defend each movement.

This was a lot of information in a short amount of time, yet the team swallowed it, let it digest and then spit it back it back out as if they had been doing these techniques for years. Oh, I know it was only a scrimmage but the implications of how quickly they learned and wanted to do better is the reason I'm so excited. If they are willing to change and grow, great things can happen.

When a victory occurs like that and I'm not simply talking about the scoreboard but the process of change, something goes off inside the team. It is a realization or recognition of potential, of the ability of greatness within themselves. This is what changes players--their belief systems. As much as we try to tell them they can do something, they have to internally believe it and once it becomes a belief, then they show their true talents.

In a matter of a five days we altered who we were. Granted we still have a long journey in front of us, but the future appears bright for players who are committed to learning.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Looking For The Go-To Player

2011-10-28T10:39:00.004-04:00

Usually the first scrimmage game is ugly and our initial attempt at playing was not an exception to that rule at all. With only seven players returning and eight freshmen, we are experiencing some concept issues such as playing together. It is always challenging to mold players into a team but now with our youth and inexperience, it is double the challenge.

We have high school players coming in not knowing exactly what their role is, trying to discover what they can and can't do at the collegiate level. Beyond that we lost our top four scorers to graduation so our underclass players are trying to figure out who is going to step up and become the go-to player. At this point, the coaches don't have any answers. We have to wait and see who has the guts, the heart, the talent and the I.Q. to get it done.

This is probably the first time in several years I don't know who our go-to player is. I've got some ideas on who it could be but I'm waiting for that player to show me who she is. A player has to want to score and has to believe in herself. Confidence cannot come from the outside; it has to come from the inside. It might take a few games for somebody to step up. I can remember a few years ago when it took Lindsey Kentner a few games into the season to decide she could score. Heck, it took her two years to decide that when we knew it the first day she walked into the gym. When she finally decided that she was it, she became MVP of the conference.

Do we have another Lindsey Kentner lurking in our midst? I know nobody else will be exactly like her, and we will never have another Jihan Williams, Courtney Thomas, Lisa Lee, or Rachel Pike either. We could have another great player. In fact I'm certain we have several on the court right now. They just don't own that awareness yet.

I am hoping as we push them somebody will emerge as a great player or maybe several players will begin to get that feeling of accomplishment, of the inner knowing they are amazing. I am patiently waiting for greatness to emerge but I hope with my not so gentle prodding, it will be soon.

We have much to learn as a group. On the sideline as a coaching group, we couldn't even tell the team how to adjust in the scrimmage. The problem is with our youth they don't know that they don't know. So if we tell them the other team is running something which we as coaches know how to defend, but our players have no idea of what it really is we can't make adjustments. All we can do is to continue to coach, to continue to teach, to tell them little by little what they need to do. I know we will get there eventually and I truly believe in our talent but it may take a little time.

In the meantime as we are waiting for the go-to player to evolve and for others to find their strengths, we will just have to keep teaching, to continue to push and to keep believing.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

A Special Team

2011-10-18T14:26:00.005-04:00

After our seventh practice in four days, I cannot predict the success of this team, but I can predict they will always give 100%. I am fascinated by the way they constantly put their bodies in jeopardy, diving into the chairs, the scorer's table and each other, wanting the ball so badly they will sacrifice their bodies just to grab it. They don't have to be coerced to take charges; they love taking them. It is an honor to be on the floor and to get their jersey dirty. What is amazing is it is not just one or two players doing this; it is the team.

I'm surprised by their capacity to train hard and then come back three hours later to train hard again. This is a group of players who possess a passion, a love for hustle, a determination that oozes out of their pores. They may not do the drills right or execute the technique the way I want it, but I find it so hard to get mad at them when they are doing it with every ounce of energy they possess.

This team doesn't take the criticism or discipline personally. They recognize it for what it is--the coaches' determination to make them the best they can be. If they are a second late and the team runs, they don't look at each other cross-eyed and curse; they encourage one another to get it done.

The first time we introduce a drill, I can barely stand watching it. We appear so disheveled, so out of sorts, all kind of body parts where they shouldn't be, and yet a day later when we do it again, they seem to have miraculously discovered the formula for running the drill correctly. I'm not certain how they achieve this overnight and want to ask them, but I'm afraid I'll mess up whatever they are doing.

After only six weeks of working with this group of players, I think they are special. I'm not talking necessarily about talent but about their emotional maturity, their willingness to be coached and their never-say-die attitude. They possess something which makes me want to be a better coach, which drives me to work harder to make them better. I think this is the greatest compliment a group of players can have--that they make their coaches want to be better.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Surviving The First Real Practice

2011-10-12T09:45:00.007-04:00

The first day of official practices is coming closer and with this comes a different coaching staff. For the first six weeks, we are patient in teaching, slowing down our instruction, repeating ourselves often, showing compassion for those who struggle in the learning process. We want the best environment for learning where the players can feel comfortable.

All of that changes as soon as we step on the court for our first real training session. For the freshmen, it is as if the coaches have changed personality, as if some alien has taken over our bodies. It is written in their faces, the way their eyes widen the first time they are yelled at and in the way their cheeks fall and their mouths stay frozen in astonishment.

I would love to be a fly on the wall listening to their rendition of their first practice experience. I'm certain they are all thinking I spent the entire practice yelling at them. At least they have upper class players to tell them all will be well. The juniors and sophomores are living proof of survival, of making it through the intensity, the demands, and the insanity of having to pay attention to every small detail.

A freshman might wonder why it is essential to do something exactly as the coaches preach but an upper class player gets it. She knows why there is such a push to make the little things perfect. She understands how one small detail like jumping to the ball on defense creates so many defensive stops. She gets how that one little detail stops a cutter to the basket, allows her to help and recover on a penetration, gets her through the screen on a back screen, and helps her hedge on a down screen.

The biggest thing the freshmen have to adjust to is not the running in practice but the mental drain of having to listen and to do all the little things. Before coming to the University of Charleston, the idea of having to talk on offense was unimaginable. Now they have call to call out everything they do: call out the person's name they are passing to, call out their screens, call out their pops and dives, call out the cut off a screen. Every freshmen usually only knows one cut off a screen and I allow them to yell "curl" for about a week before I take that away from them, and the moment I ask them to use a different read like straight, slip, fade, dive, their world falls apart.

It is the thinking that does them in. Most of them arrive believing they know basketball but as soon as we start teaching, they think they missed Basketball 101 and skipped to the advanced class. It probably doesn't help that I have rules for everything. What are the rules to be a great offensive rebounder? Number one--go for the rebound on every shot. Number two--think rebounding angles. Number three--get around a box out. What are the rules for a cutter? Number one--set your player up. Number two--wait for the screen. Number three--go off shoulder to shoulder. Number four--read your defender. Number five--call your cut. There are others. Many others. Past players could probably recite all of them. They are scripted in their brains and 20 years from now they would be able to write them down verbatim.

But for the freshmen, all of this sounds something like we are speaking in tongues. The language is new and seems weird on their lips. The court looks the same but all the rules have changed. I know it is a tough experience and their egos suffer from the constant reminder they are failing in some area, but they will get tougher and learn and eventually be thankful for the knowledge gained.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

An Easy Week For The Weary

2011-10-03T15:01:00.007-04:00

My parents taught me to work--that you couldn't get anywhere in life without working harder than the next person. We were a family who thought a weekend off meant going to the farm, cutting hay, fixing fence, and burning brush. Relaxation was kin to sin and so I never really learned how to simply sit and enjoy the moment as a youngster. I knew if I wanted to be successful I had to work while my opponent was resting.

I gave some personal background to assist you in understanding how challenging it is for me to provide the team with an active rest week. This is a week where we continue to train but we change the methods of our training. Instead of running timed sprint sets, we play games like Ultimate Frisbee, Gator Ball (an adapted form of soccer where you can use your hands), Hungarian Dodge Ball, Czechoslovakian Dodge Ball, and Russian Tag.

All of the games are running games involving strategies to win where I can legally watch under NCAA rules how players perform under pressure scenarios. We can determine if they grasp such concepts as ball pressure, spacing, screening, cutting and passing. We can also quickly analyze whether or not they are smart, how quickly they grasp tactics, and how competitive they are.

One of the things I love to do is to make horrible officiating calls to watch for negative reactions. I simply make up rules to the games as we go along, trying to bait a player to get angry. Whenever I am successful, I stop the game and the team runs sprints. This is meant to assist them with the idea we cannot control the officials and to focus instead on their reactions which are controllable. We believe yelling at the officials or showing anger or disbelief at a call not only angers the officials but it gives power to the opponents. Opponents can gain momentum when they feel the disruption in our belief system. We allow ourselves to be victims when we give our power away to the officials.

Active rest week is also meant to provide a mental break, to allow the players to recover from the intense work we've been doing, and to add the feeling of fun back into training. While it is true I enjoy watching them battle through timed sprint sets, I'm not so certain they feel the enjoyment as much as I do. I do know this, though, they love it when the sprints are over and feel as if they have achieved something remarkable, which they have.

This team is special and I know I say that every year, and it is because I believe it every year, but this team--there is something amazing about them. I think it is their energy; it is like they are bound together in a team energy which flows in and out of each one of them gaining power with every practice. I like the feel of being around them.

Last week was a good recovery week and now we are back to getting tougher and becoming stronger.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Journaling--The Way to Self-Awareness

2011-09-26T14:39:00.005-04:00

Each week we spend a few minutes on a self-awareness question with the intent of helping our players know more about who they are. We believe you cannot change who you are if you are not first aware of your characteristics. Last week we asked them a three part series of questions.
1. Define mental toughness.
2. List the three players who you believe possess the best mental toughness on the team.
3. Rate your mental toughness on a scale from 1-5 with 1 being the lowest and five being the
highest and then explain why you gave yourself that ranking.

The definitions were right on target:
"Accepting Criticism and learning from it."
"Limiting negative reactions and thinking in a positive way."
"The ability to keep working hard even when things are not going your way."
"Digging deeper when you think you can't push any more."
"Staying strong in the mind no matter what obstacles you face."

Even though I loved their definitions and found them for the most part to be right on target, what I loved even more was their honesty in their self-ratings. We went around the room with each player explaining her rating. In settings like this, some players would be intimidated, not wanting to share their high rankings for fear of being considered conceited or on the opposite end of the spectrum, sharing a low ranking which might show incompetence.

These players, however, spoke without fear of judgment which proved to the coaching staff two important points--the team has already evolved to the place of unconditional acceptance and our players are willing to be vulnerable in front of one another. Many great things can be accomplished with a group of people who can accept each other for who they are but at the same time be willing to push each other to expand to a different level.

This is a team with a high level of mental toughness. It is evident in their timed sprints, when I am demanding they run faster, and instead of faltering, of feeling they cannot possibly do what I demand, they encourage one each other to get it done.

One of the best moments on the court came last week when we were running 1-80-1's which are a series of sprints building up to eight and going back down. This was after our 15 minutes of defensive slides. I was at the point where I was ready to provide them with an incentive for meeting the times when I offered to reduce the sprints sets if everybody made it. When a couple of people failed, I heard a player yell, "You have to keep running hard even if we didn't make it. It is not about the sprint sets; it is about getting better. Keep running hard."

Because she yelled that, I offered another incentive. This time they all made it.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

The Eagles at Work Giving Back

2011-09-20T13:02:00.007-04:00

I like the idea of community service, of giving back to people, of the gift of assisting others, and of the knowledge goodness exists in the world when you take a moment to look. We ask our players every year to donate some of their time to those around them. It is also keeping with the mission of the University of Charleston which is to prepare each student for a life time of productive work, enlightened living and community service.

The past weekend our players split up into two groups to assist with the American Heart Walk and the Capitol City Challenge. At the heart walk, Chrissy, Tianni, Lauren, LeAnne, Nichole, and Frenchy performed two ball dribbling and passing drills up on stage as entertainment and as part of the official warm-up. At the end of their exhibition, they walked around and gave their basketballs to some of the children in the audience. They also tried their skills at Zumba with Chrissy showing off her extraordinary dance steps.

By the way, if you wish to catch more of the Eagles dancing Zumba, you can catch it on the University of Charleston women's basketball facebook page.

The other group of players assisted with the Capitol City Challenge pulling kayaks out of the Kanawha River and loading them onto trucks. Apparently this group of players met some Golden Eagle fans who told them and I quote, "Your coach is really intense." Quite frankly, the freshmen have no idea what intense means yet.

This is only part of the good we hope to give back to the Charleston community this year. It is my wish that our players learn to give as part of the cycle of life, because I believe good comes to those who give goodness out.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Rebuilding or Moving Forward?

2011-09-12T09:21:00.006-04:00

There are going to be many conference coaches and fans who will think this is a rebuilding year. After all, we graduated six seniors who together in their career totaled 4,891 points, 2,544 rebounds, 1,318 assists, 238 blocks and 591 steals. Last year they represented 77% of the points scored, 60% of the rebounds grabbed and 64% of the passes which resulted in baskets. On paper it appears to be a daunting task to fill their shoes.

But paper does not have passion, heart nor hustle. It is a flimsy piece of dissected wood, unfeeling, an inanimate object which statisticians make important. I'm looking at a group of people who are flesh and blood, who in my earliest impressions make me thrilled I am their coach.

What is it that thrills me? Walking into an individual practice and seeing players already on the floor working on their ball handling, not waiting for us to enter, just getting it done on their own. Seeing players on the court as I walk up the stairs to my office working on changing their footwork for shooting. Witnessing incredible improvement from one practice to the next. Hearing Frenchy apologize to the team for not running hard enough in the sprints when last season she would have thrown me the evil eye and an attitude. Watching as Chrissy steps up in a leadership role, becoming louder and more importantly showing some emotion.

The freshmen are young. It is true. There is no way to take their inexperience out of them but with this group, I really don't think it matters. I am certain they will make up for their lack of experience with passion. When we are coaching, they hang onto every word as if the word itself will make them better. They listen and then they apply what we tell them. It is a wonderful process to observe.

Sometimes with a group of people you can simply feel their power. Their energy transcends the building and grows into a feeling so amazing it pours out of them and through the gym doors. I'm not certain where the year will take us and what our record will look like at the end, but I do know this--it is going to be a very special year.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

What A Year Can Do

2011-09-06T08:54:00.004-04:00

I am always amazed at the growth of a player in a single year. I am reminded of this as we bring in ten, yes count them all, ten freshmen. When the rookies arrive, their faces are so pure, the innocence of living under their parents' protection still keeping their eyes and chins soft. They come with a lack of awareness and understanding of what it takes to be a Golden Eagle, thinking they had trained hard in high school and believing they know all about the sport of basketball.

In a few short weeks, they will change. Their bodies will begin to harden, the cut in their biceps and triceps will sharpen, their calves will form a split in the back of their legs, and their abs will crack and carve into the much desired washboard look.

Their minds will change as we teach them the Golden Eagle way. When they grab their shorts to bend over catching their breaths, they will be taught we never bend over here--we never show weakness. When they are running timed sprints and they fall over, fatigue, the air in their lungs depleted, they might initially think we are cruel as we tell to get up and run again. When they quit because they got away with it in high school, and now when they quit, they discover the team runs for their lack of desire. When they hang their heads over a missed shot or a mistake and suddenly find their coaches more angry at the reaction than the mistake. These are the things that start changing their faces.

I can see the growth in our sophomores after only a year and in our juniors after two years. They exude confidence and assurance, an awareness they have survived "boot camp" before and know they can survive it again.

Chrissy is confident, talking louder, leading, secure in her knowledge. The other lone junior, Tianni is communicating well with the coaches, leading by example and showing improvement in her offensive skills. Tiffany came back in incredible cardiovascular shape and believes she can run forever. Erika trimmed down, gained muscle and is more at ease with her relationships with teammates. Lauren has learned tolerance and patience, curbing her honesty to include compassion. Marilene has learned to allow her true inner self to shine more, and LeAnne gained 24 pounds of muscle, two tons of confidence and calmer footwork.

I see the potential in all of them even when they fail, even when they make a mistake and we must discipline, even when they believe they can't. I see them for who they can be--who they really are if they just reach deep enough. This is our job--to make them reach deeply.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

First Lessons

2011-08-29T12:53:00.005-04:00

And so it begins again. The 6:00 a.m. practices. The P90x Plus weight training. The suicides. The defensive slides. The Yoga. The Challenges. The individual practices. The teaching. The lessons.

At 6:00 this morning as the mist was settling in the valley hovering over the track, we had our first lesson on discipline. A player made a mistake over the weekend, breaking our rule which states honor yourself, your team and UC. In her desire to have fun, to enjoy Saturday night, to laugh, to let her hair down, she made a poor judgment and so the team got the opportunity to learn from her error.

We spent an extra 20 minutes running sprints, bear crawling, hopping, sprinting, skipping, plank running and just overall having a grand time. When their tongues were hanging out, the sweat was dripping off their brows and their legs were quivering with fatigue, when I was just about to let them start our 12 minute challenge run, a player threw out the "F" bomb. Bummer. So I tacked on a few more sprints.

When we had completed the fun portion of the workout, I was certain none of the players would make our 12 minute run which would mean they would have to run it again on Wednesday morning. Another bummer. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised when three freshmen despite their fatigue and inexperience found the mental toughness to kick butt and make their times. After a morning of disappointment, this put a smile on my face.

Afterwards we headed to the fitness center to do walkouts which are push-ups combined with walking the hands out from the feet, going to a plank position, executing 11 push-ups and then walking the hands back to the feet. The goal is to complete in descending order 71 push-ups beginning with 11 and going down to one with an additional set of five. This must be done on my command with their chests touching or closely touching a tennis ball placed beneath them. Much to my joy, most of the players completed this test.

Our final challenge was front core abs for 2 minutes and 15 seconds, something which is not too difficult if you haven't been running and doing push-ups for the past hour. What I loved was the determination to make the time--the yelling and encouragement of teammates, the total body shake of a player who refused to go down, and the atmosphere of desire to achieve.

I was amazed at the sophomores who were stronger, who had packed on muscle, who just a year ago couldn't keep their butts from rising up in the air or their trunks from bending to the mat during any plank position. They had worked hard and had muscles to prove it. I was also surprised by the strength and passion of our incoming class.

This could be a fun season if they learn their lessons quickly.

PLAY HARD. PLAY TOGETHER.

Fact or Fiction

2011-02-25T12:55:00.003-05:00

It is amazing how a few months can fly by in what seems like minutes and then a few weeks can last forever. Since the beginning of preseason, time has been elusive floating by us like dead wood in a flooded river. It has been so hard to grasp or hold. Recently, though, after we've suffered a couple of injuries, time has slowed down and it feels as if time is now an enemy rather than a friend. We need time to stop, to slow down, to let us recover and catch our breaths.

In the game against Seton Hill, time seemed to stop when one of our starters suffered an injury early in the game. When she went out, our timing got disrupted. We felt off kilter, a little bit rough as balls were passed to the wrong team, lay-ups were missed, and plays were forgotten.

This is our second major injury in the past two weeks which is why we could believe we need more time--time to heal, time to get other players ready, but time is not going to stop. We have to keep going. We have to find answers and we have to continue believing we can still have our dreams.

As a team, we could call it quits. We could convince ourselves we now have a solid reason for losses. We could tell the story we lost to Seton Hill, because a starter was out of the game. However, the coaching staff doesn't believe in telling this story. We had plenty of opportunities to win the game. We made a three pointer to go ahead and all we needed was a stop. When we failed to get the stop, we had a chance to score to tie it up and we didn't make it. We lost the game because we failed to execute, not because a starter was on the bench.

The difficulty now is to make certain our players can distinguish between fact and fiction. We can still tell the story we want. We can still create the outcomes we want. We don't have to buy into a pity party. Self-pity is always an enemy and never a friend.

In order to get the point across, we played a game called fact or fiction. Each player was given a card which had printed on one side the word "Fact" and on the other side the word "Fiction". We came up with 41 statements which the players had to decide were fact or fiction.

Some of the statements were meant to be funny:
Coach Winn's eyes increase in size by three inches when she is mad.
(FACT)
Coach Testa dresses fly for the games. (FACT)

Others were meant to make teammates think.
Lauren is too slow to get on the ball stops. (FICTION)
Tianni's biggest opponent is her own mind. (FACT)
Tianni cannot overcome her self-imposed limitations. (FICTION)
Frenchy isn't competitive enough to become a great basketball player. (FICTION)
Mo is a big defensive stopper. (FACT)
Mo is limited to being only a defensive player. (FICTION)
Encouraging each other and sticking together is overrated. (FICTION)
We are not a comeback team. (FICTION)
When we lose, we never learn from the experience. (FICTION)

We wanted them to realize we get to tell our story and whatever story we tell is the one we create. If we want to chose to believe we can no longer win with injuries, it will become our story. If, however, we are strong enough to tell a different story like winning with the challenges we face, then we will make that story come true.

I have faith in our story-telling abilities.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

2011-02-18T21:12:00.002-05:00

Imagine me taking a sandwich size baggie into the locker room and telling the players this was what we were going to use to pack for our upcoming three day trip. They laughed, of course, but waited to see if I was joking. After all I had made them take a single carry-on bag on our trip to Hawaii. For those of you who don't know me, I am a minimalist.

I can pack for a month in a single bag and am happy if I don't have to make clothing choices. It is one of the perks of being a coach. I can wear the same colors day after day after day and nobody questions my attire. It eliminates so much hassle when I can open a drawer not having to think if it matches.

I was joking though about packing their essentials in a baggie. Well, actually the essential part wasn't a lie. We were going to take the most essential thing we would need in a small plastic bag.
We were going to take our strengths along with us. On this trip I couldn't risk leaving any of them at home.

We had every player write something she wanted each teammate to take with her. It was supposed to entail something not so obvious or maybe a little more detailed than a simple line about whether she was a good shooter or a great rebounder. We wanted 18 different notes. This was done on small slips of paper which were then deposited in a player's "luggage bag." Each player received 14 notes from teammates plus four notes from the coaching staff. We sealed the bags and I took them with me for safe keeping.

When we got to our destination, we sat down in the locker room and gave out the bags. Each player was allowed to blindly grab five of her notes to share with her teammates. We went around the room sharing the funny, heartfelt, compassionate, positive and loving notes. As players read the notes, high fives and smiles were given to the players who had sent the essential messages.

This exercise defines this team--devoted to one another, full of loving kindness and a willingness to share joy, pain, laughter, wins and losses. This is not just team chemistry; it is a group of players who truly admire one another. It is deeper than the simple act of working together. It is bond which will not stop when the games do.

I love this team because they exhibit such love for one another. This is why they survive tough games and why they find a way to win when the odds are against them.

I am proud to be associated with them and am basking in every second I get to share with them.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

The End Is Just The Beginning

2011-02-10T14:23:00.003-05:00

As I watched the Golden Eagles perform in our last two games, I was dismayed at their lack of . . . well everything. They were slow to recognize defensive rotations, forgetful when it came to calling screens, incapable of running an offense, and their shooting was abysmal. While they won the games, it was not their talent but sheer will power that pushed them through their weak moments. They were not themselves.

How can a team forget who they are? How can one week they appear to be invincible and the next week look as if they have just recently begun playing the sport?

If it were simply about techniques or tactics, we could resolve the issue quickly in a couple of practices. I knew this was not the case. They were not playing anywhere near their talents. There was something more going through their heads.

As the coaching staff discussed the issue, we came to realize we were getting near the end of the season. While this happens every year, this particular year we have six seniors who have been friends and teammates for four long years. Rather than anticipating the joy of every game, they have been wanting to extend every moment, to delay the inevitable. They do not want their collegiate basketball careers and friendships to end.

While we cannot stop time or rewind the clock, we can assist them through this process and help them know this is but one chapter of their lives. On Monday, we had each player write down five goals for the next year, five goals for the next five years, and five goals for the next 10 years. We then went around the room sharing our goals. We wanted them to see they had much more in life to enjoy, much more to experience and much more to love.

This first step was a solid one in assisting them with thinking about the future. The next step was much more difficult. We needed them to confront what they didn't want to think about--the end of the season. Gathering the seniors only, we sat in a circle and spent 45 minutes in a powerful discussion. Our first topic was to discuss what each of us would miss from our experiences at UC. The rules were that no repeats were allowed, no discussion and no comments. We went around the circle ten times. There were some tears and some quiet moments when some of us had to find our voices.

Using the same rules, we then spent time sharing what we could take with us from UC. Each player had a jar with a lid and a label which said, "Bottle It Up. UC." When a player said something she wanted to take with her, she wrote it down on a slip of paper and put it in her jar.

Hopefully our exercises have moved them beyond their concerns and fears about the future. It is hard to be in the moment when you are steeped in worry and anxiety. I want them to love each second and be fully present in it so they can play with all their talents.

It is far better to enjoy each second than to waste it on the future. If we will focus on the moments we have, we will be the talented team we are.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Beating the Blues

2011-02-02T10:00:00.002-05:00

Last week we almost lost to the worst team in the league. The team had only won a single game all season. Many people have asked me the question: "How could you almost lose to that team?"

Actually, it was really easy. The first step our players had to do was to not take our opponents seriously--to believe all we had to do was show up and the game was won. The second step was to not prepare ourselves mentally--to not get in that same mental place we did before every game. The third step was to panic when things were not going well and to start doubting ourselves.

Fortunately, our seniors didn't falter. All their panic was internally hidden and their words and actions were strong. We continued playing together despite not actually being mentally there on the court, and we believed somehow we were going to win.

After the game, the coaches were not mad. We didn't throw things in the locker room, nor did we curse out the team. We simply reminded them how important it was to arrive every game prepared and to take each game seriously. Then we walked out of the locker room and laughed until we cried. We were so bad it was comical. Of course, it would not have been funny if we had lost and it really wasn't funny then but the alternative was to be mad and angry.

The question, we asked one another, was how did we move the team off this performance and to the next one? We knew we didn't need to linger on this game. This was not who we were. After discussing the matter, we came up with a game plan.

The next day at practice, we gathered around in a circle and put the game tape on the floor in the center of us. We then purged ourselves of the game. Each player got to make a comment of what event transpired in the game that we never wanted to see again, and then that player got an opportunity to smash the game film. When we had gone around the circle and the tape was now in little bits of rubbish, we left the game behind. Then we went back around the circle and asked each player what was great about this team we wanted to keep.

We wanted to keep: great team chemistry, defensive intensity, the inside-outside game, the ability to push the ball, the fun on the court, the positive team leaders, the noise from the bench, our three point shooters, our hustle, and our love for one another. We knew this was who we were. The rest was already gone and vanished from our thoughts.

I believe if we would have lingered on that game, pushed how bad we performed on the players, got in their faces and yelled at them, the game would have impacted our next performance. Because we let it go, we were able to get back on track and find a way to win in our next two games.

I applaud our players for knowing who they are and not allowing a single performance to get them down.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

The Unsung Heroes

2011-01-26T09:31:00.003-05:00

There are many roles and responsibilities on a team. Some of them appear to be more important than the others because they gain the attention of the media or the fans. How many points a player scores is highly visible. Even the most uninformed fan can tally up baskets. Players who can make flashy passes are high on the list of the notable. Rebounders also can catch the eye of the newspaper guy.

All of these categories are essential to winning. I don't wish to downplay how critical they are to success. I am one of the best in the pulpit about the role rebounders play in victories. I do, however, want to discuss the players who never receive the limelight, who never get to slam high fives, and whose rare slap on the back comes at the end of a game after the victory is already assured. These are the players, the unsung heroes, who silently go about their jobs with the rare acknowledgement of others.

They are the ones who sit the bench yet have to come to practice with enthusiasm and determination. They have to suffer the same consequences the starters and the main substitutes do if they fail to do the drill correctly. They are never excused from the sprinting, the weight training, the video sessions, or the walk-throughs. They are expected to perform each of their duties the best they possibly can, and yet their reward is a few muttered thanks from the coaching staff and teammates.

This is a dirty, thankless job. Imagine being the player who loved so much to play that she spent her junior high and high school days neglecting social activities to practice, then achieving a college scholarship to discover herself on the bench. Nobody wants to do this job. It takes a player with tremendous character and love of her teammates and the game to watch from the sideline game after game after game, to be the one who is responsible for cheering from the bench, counting down from ten when the shot clock is winding down, calling "wolf" when a teammate is about to get the ball stolen from behind, and yelling "black" when the opponent's shot clock is about to expire.

I know how hard it is to sit the bench. I did it once and I was a terrible failure at it. All I cared about was myself, not the team, not our success. I wanted everybody else to be as miserable as I was. I was selfish and a horrible teammate. So when I say I understand the challenges of being the players on the bench, I mean it.

Today, I want to thank those players who rarely get in the game but who are always there for their teammates. Julianne Smith is a senior who is always in the game, watching from the sidelines and offering advice to the starters when they come to the bench. Shannon Zasloff is central to the laughter of the team. She keeps tight moments light and offers continual support. Lisanne Comeau never gives less than 100% in practice and always offers encouragement to her teammates. These women are the backbone of the team and have accepted their roles as critical to the team's success.

I applaud them now. Their roles on the team are the most challenging and they have accepted them with grace and honor. They have fulfilled them with integrity and have used them to better the team.

Thank you for being great teammates and for doing your best at your roles. You are appreciated.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Superhero Ali T

2011-01-20T10:27:00.002-05:00

For this blog I would like to play homage to Ali Tobias or Ali T or Al or "A" as we lovingly refer to her. Around Christmas time, Ali came to the coaching staff with a dilemma. She needed to take a Praxis exam in order to graduate. The only dates available for the exam were the same dates we played games.

Now Ali is an amazing woman. She has more than once taken 21 credits in a semester and still achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA. Last semester she took 11 class hours while student teaching (a total of 29 credits) and playing basketball. Even with all her super hero skills, I did not know how she was going to take an exam on the same date we were supposed to be playing. This was a task even The Dynamic Duo would pass.

After consulting with the coaching staff, we agreed she could take the exam at Shepherd University on the morning of our game. In order to understand the magnificence of her feat, let me do a little history of the events surrounding the test.

We had just played four games in a nine day stretch against three opponents who had great records and ranked above us in the conference. Two of those games were on the road. On Thursday night, we played Wheeling Jesuit University at home where Ali played a significant role scoring 20 points. Friday morning at nine a.m. we departed for the long 5 1/2 hour drive to Shepherdstown.

Upon arrival at Shepherdstown, the team had about 45 minutes to rest before we met for an hour of scouting. At 5:45 p.m. we departed for practice, thinking our practice time was at 6:00. Since the practice time was actually 6:30, we were at the gym longer than we had anticipated, not departing until 7:45. Once back at the hotel, we went to eat which took over an hour and a half. There was no down time for the team. That night after watching more video on Shepherd, I brought Ali back into the room for a short 20 minutes session on some new things I had caught.

The next morning, Ali departed for her test at 7:00 a.m. At 1:25 p.m. as I was entering the extreme panic phase, Ali entered the locker room to get her uniform for the game. Without lunch or rest or her usual pregame warm-up, Ali had a short 30 minutes before tip-off.

Fortunately for the team, Ali in her silent but determined way, went about her business on the court as if nothing was out of the ordinary. It was just another day for a superhero. She scored 16 points, played incredible defense and led us to another tough victory on the road.

Thank you Ali for giving more than any coach has the right to ask.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Leadership In The Trenches

2011-01-13T09:31:00.003-05:00

It is not easy being a leader. I tell this to my team leaders every year when they think they want to the the ones to lead. They think being the team captain is important; it gives them status or a critical role on the team. They are right. What they fail to understand is how difficult it really is.

When you are a leader, you cannot take criticism personally. If a teammate criticizes you, you have to take what is important and let the rest go. You cannot be afraid to speak your mind-- afraid of what your teammates might think of you. You have to be able to say the tough things, to get on teammates when they are not performing, to encourage them to play harder, and to think of their needs first.

It is a lonely position. It is not one where you are hoping to be liked; it is one where your primary goal is to be respected. When you are the leader, you are isolated from your needs. Teammates don't think you need to be encouraged or pumped up. They don't look to support you; they want you to support them.

When you are having a bad game failing to play to your potential and you are a leader, you still have to be a leader. You can't allow your performance to affect your leadership responsibilities. When you are sick or sad or feeling a bit out of sorts, it doesn't matter. You still have to be the one to get the team going, to fill the emotional hole and to encourage them to do their best.

A leader doesn't get a day off. Nope. She always has to be on the court emotionally for her teammates. She has to be willing to do the extra things--dive for loose balls, take a charge, yell from the bench or get in a teammate's face who needs it. She has to call team meetings, communicate with her teammates about practice times and hold the team together when they seem fragile.

It is not a role for the faint of heart. It is not a role for those who are self-centered. It is not a role to be abused nor to make those below you work for you. No, it is a job only for those who are mentally tested, who have endured the challenges of life and who desire something so much they are willing to get outside of who they are to make dreams happen.

I've never glorified the position of team leaders. I know it is a tough one. Heck, I have to live it every day except I have a bit of an advantage; I'm not leading my peers. I'm older. I've got more power. I hold the edge of the disciplinarian, and I've been working at being a leader for 21 years . . . and yet still I fail at it. The team leaders have to do what I do without my advantages. Their jobs are tough. No doubt about it.

I almost feel bad for the leaders when I get on them. ALMOST. The thing I know is I cannot feel sorry for them or take pity on them, because they are the keys to our success. When they fail in their jobs, the team fails.

We lost our last game due to poor leadership. I hate to say it but it is true. We lost because we went into panic mode, and there was no leader there with composure, with the emotional strength to get the team back on track. We went downhill quickly, pointing fingers, whining and blaming teammates. Our leaders felt bad for themselves--their performances. They wanted somebody else to step up, to take up the slack. They wanted somebody else to pick them up, to bring them composure and encouragement.

I know the feeling. There are days I want that. I want another person to take over, to have the responsibility for our successes and failures, to call the right plays, to make the correct substitutions, to adjust defenses when the opponents are running a play. Ultimately I take responsibility even when I don't want to take it. Like now. If our leaders failed, then who was leading the leaders? That would be me.

I know our seniors can do better. They know they can. They get sidetracked sometimes and forget how capable they are. They forget they are strong enough and they have the inner strength necessary to do what is asked even in the most challenging of situations. When they remember, we will win and win and win.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM!

Learning How To Celebrate

2011-01-07T13:33:00.002-05:00

When I first came to the University of Charleston ten years ago, we celebrated every victory. We were thrilled to simply win a game. This tradition only lasted a season as we quickly became a good team who expected to win games. The more games we won, the less it seemed we felt inclined to feel good about a victory. We hated the losses, cried about them, cursed at them, and lost sleep over them, but the victories . . . well, we just kind of let them slip right by us.

I think it is time we instituted a mandatory celebration after each win. I don't mean a throw-it-in-your-face kind of celebration. I simply mean we should take the time to feel good about each accomplishment. If we choose to only beat ourselves up over the losses, all our energy is going toward the losses and none to the wins.

After we won a game last week, I made the players get up in the locker room and do a little celebration dance. A day later, we had the locker room decorated with crate paper and balloons and gave out noise-makers to our players while we sat down to watch the game tape. It should feel good to win.

I think if all we do is focus on the losses, then we are essentially doing the same thing a team does at the end of a game when they are playing not to lose instead of playing to win. It is a recipe for disaster putting your focus on the negative.

So we are learning how to celebrate all over again. We will not put a show on in front of the opponents, but once we get behind closed doors we are going to party. Life should be fun. Playing should feel good, and winning, well . . . winning should feel like sunshine after a week of rainy days.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

A Game Can Last A Lifetime

2011-01-01T13:03:00.003-05:00

I've coached games which were long--longer than a car ride across Texas, longer than a plane ride to Africa, longer than it takes to swim, run and bike a triathlon. The moments in these games don't even tick; they don't have a sound that goes with time moving. The moments in these games are like a slow ride into eternity.

Most of these games are ones in which we are playing poorly, where the players eyes are glazed, their minds have separated completely from their bodies, and timeouts are useless forays into a swamp of confusion. Most of them.

On Thursday night, it wasn't the entire game which moved excruciatingly slowly; it was the last three minutes. In those last three minutes, an entire NFL season could have been played.

We had a ten point lead with three minutes and five seconds to go. All we needed to do was protect the ball, take good shots, play smart defense and we were assured the victory. This is the point where a coach usually looks at clock and feels relief not the desperate need to pray for the right ending which I must now confess I was doing.

We fouled. They made the first free throw and missed the second. We pushed the ball down the floor and missed a lay-up. They scored a lay-up. We were up 62-55. They pressed. We got the ball inbounds close to the end line where Ali Tobias was trapped with the ball. As the seconds ticked and the official counted, the bench collectively held our breath. Ali called a timeout, and as a unit we exhaled.

As we came out of the timeout, we were able to get the ball inbounds safely, get by the first three defenders and then, we passed to the wrong jersey color. Praying, cursing, watching desperately from the sidelines as the Vulcans looked to score a certain lay-up. We fouled. They made two free throws which made the score 62-57. I looked at the clock. Only seven seconds had passed.

When the ball came out of the basket, we quickly pushed it up the floor beating the press and then stopped, waited for them to resume their traps, and looking quite helpless, we stood transfixed on the court perhaps waiting for a moment to tick by, or waiting for time to move. Then they had the ball again, scoring another lay-up (62-59) and we were still waiting for the time to move.

A nine point lead had elapsed into a three point lead, and the neon numbers of the score clock on the wall were stuck in a time zone where only the Vulcans could make it move. I called a desperation timeout and made a passionate speech about the need to play for the victory. We were playing not to lose which is always the precursor to a loss. You must, I screamed, play to win.

Tiana Beatty's eyes were glued to mine during the speech, and we connected in a way only coaches and players can. On the next possession when she received the ball, she shot it with such certainty that it sailed perfectly out of her hands into the net. With a five point lead, the time finally felt different. It wasn't as fatal. We could make the clock move; we could shift the numbers on the scoreboard.

There was still time to play. In fact, we scored four free throws. They scored four points. We crossed the mid line of the court five times. I practiced breathing and mentally moving the numbers on the score clock.

When the buzzer finally did go off, time flew by and we were done. The celebration was completed, the post game talk over, the parents and fans gone, and the time without any thought to lingering went right to the preparation of our next opponent.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM!

Aloha from Hawaii

2010-12-24T15:31:00.004-05:00

I realize we've physically been back from Hawaii for five days but my mind is still reaping the affects of the Aloha State. I can feel the rays of the sun flowing over my body; the smell of the ocean as the waves were rolling upon the sand; and the sound of the seagulls squawking from the azure sky. While the folks in West Virgina were getting hounded by snowflakes, we were on the beach allowing our bodies to feel the heat from a sun which did not know a cloud in the sky.

Yes, we went there to play basketball and I'll not say we were successful on the court. It would be a lie. I am disappointed in our season thus far. We are blatantly underachieving. Our playing continued to be below average as we lost our first contest by a single point and then won our second game by 13.

The success of the trip was not on the court, but it was in the bonding of teammates as they shared memorable moments together. Sometimes a trip can change the outcome of a season. It can create a team chemistry that practice or games cannot. In a place where there are no other friends or boyfriends or other distractions, the players had to rely upon one another for comfort, for laughter and for entertainment.

I did feel a change come over the team. It was subtle like a slight breeze gently blowing through my hair, but I could feel it. There was less tension and struggle between players. There was a feeling of family, of togetherness, of holding one another gently as if this was a moment to be held and kept forever in our memories.

Perhaps I am making this up, wanting us to change, to become the team I believe us to be, yet I feel strangely comforted by the idea of us as champions. I have never lost faith in this group, never believed they weren't good enough, never thought for a moment we couldn't reach our goals, so perhaps I sensed something which wasn't there. Perhaps I just wanted it to be so much that my mind created it, but I don't think so.

I think the trip was special, an entry point into a different season, a starting place for us to come together and begin playing like the team we are. I know I spent more time laughing at the players (I mean with the players) than I have in the past 3 1/2 months. I talked to them differently, heard more about their personal lives and let them more into mine. They became more real to me.

We did spend a memorable breakfast together before our second game. I knew after the loss from the night before when we made exactly the same mistakes as our recent loss to Concord, and I reacted with anger and distance that we had to come back together. At breakfast the day of the game, we had statements where the players had to fill in the blanks. One of the statements was: "If I could be anybody, I would be ____________ because she ___________." The player who received the compliment would then forward it on to another player.

After spending several minutes with this idea we switched the topic to: "If I could change anything about ____________, I would change _____________." We allowed the players the freedom to openly say these ideas without reactions or discussion.

After a few minutes, we switched topics again to say: "I respect _______________ because ____________." We finally ended the breakfast with three rounds of teammates sharing what we needed to do to win. No repeats of a previous statement were allowed.

It was a great breakfast and the open communication was welcome and wonderful. The players left feeling good about themselves and the past game had been forgotten. We won that afternoon not because we played but because we felt more of a unit.

I hope the time apart does not create forgetfulness, and I pray when we come back to practice on the 27th the players will remember Hawaii and how they loved one another there.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

A Little Listening Goes A Long Way

2010-12-09T12:34:00.003-05:00

I believe this team could be really good. I dream it. I think about it and I feel it. Until last Saturday night, I hadn't seen the real team, the one I think exists. What I had seen was players struggling with their abilities, thinking too much and not allowing the game to flow through them.

As I watch the athleticism of Tarenna Dixon, Moneka Slaughter and Tianni Kelley, I know they could be amazing players. They are fast, strong, quick, and have the leap of a mountain cat. It is not their abilities which hold them back; it is their belief system. Some where along their journey, they heard they weren't good. The coaching staff has been trying to change that belief system for years.

Saturday night they showed their talents. It was beautiful. Amazing. Inspiring. I wanted to freeze the moments when they played with complete confidence so they could see the ease with which they performed. I wanted to bottle it up and give it back to them as a Christmas present. They are so good. If they could just keep that awareness close to their consciousness, then they would be able to do almost anything.

Others played well too. Chrissy Keir, the little package of dynamite, who can see the next pass five plays before it occurs. She hadn't been showing her true skills either. Sometimes she thinks at 5'1" she is too small. I don't think that at all because her height is in her vision and her passing skills. She played like she was 6'0'' tall on Saturday. I loved watching her no-look passes as they zipped through defenders to her teammates.

Tiana Beatty started to look like her old self again. Driving and dishing, weaving through defenders like they were Swiss cheese. Then there was Ali Tobias stealing passes and playing defense as if she was reading the opponents' minds.

How did this all occur? What was the event which created the change? It was the simple act of listening to the players. They wanted me to change the way I organized practices. They asked and I listened. Simple.

I hope they hold this place of confidence and play with their full abilities. I believe we can create an incredible season if they do. I hope I continue to listen.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Dumb or Blind??

2010-12-04T09:25:00.004-05:00

No, I'm not talking about the officials. It would be natural to think that but I am not against officials nor do I think they intentionally make poor calls. The next assumption might be I am talking about my players. Some coaches do this--blame their players for not being good enough, for not handling pressure, for not running the offense or defense correctly. It can be an "us" versus "them" mentality.

I'm the sort of coach who thinks in terms of unity, of a group of people coming together rather than a separation of coaches and players. So who I am talking about being dumb or blind? It is a little bit of a description of me, of what I missed and of my moments of not being present.

On Wednesdays, I meet with our two team leaders, Lindsey Kentner and Tarenna Dixon to discuss the team and to study a leadership manual together. Usually, I start the discussion asking them if there are any team issues which should concern me. They are good about being frank and honest, telling me what they see and what needs to change.

On this particular Wednesday, they brought up the issue of playing more 5-on-5 during practice. I must say I am a fundamentalist coach, one who loves doing drills. This stems from my experience as a player when I was RARELY coached and all we did was scrimmage. I want to teach. I want my players to have the opportunity to get better which I think comes from breakdown drills.

Yet, when I listened to them I heard them. They are, after all, two excellent players who understand the game and who love the game. They are on the court, not me. They are going through practices, not me. They are the ones who have a better feel for the game.

Unfortunately, we didn't have an opportunity to change our practice before the next game against West Liberty. I didn't want to fatigue the team on the day before a game.

During the West Liberty game, I was frustrated and disappointed at how we played. I knew we were so much better but we simply weren't performing at a very good level.

I watched the game film the next day and again I thought we looked shackled, chained, unable to play freely. When I planned Friday's practice, I thought about all we needed to do in terms of breaking down our skills to get better at passing to the post. I dreamt up a hundred breakdown drills and put none of them on paper. I heard the voices of Tarenna and Lindsey and I made up a short practice with 15 minutes of breakdown drills and thirty minutes of 5-on-5.

I swallowed my needs and allowed the team to play simply utilizing the rule the post had to touch the ball before the guards could shoot. WOW! I watched them play with skills I didn't know they possessed. I was thrilled at their "new moves" and athleticism, and I knew I had been dumb and blind.

The good news is I can hear. I wasn't deaf. I heard them. Now, if I can keep my hands out of it and teach while allowing them to play, I think we can be really good. I mean exceptionally good.

Lindsey asked me after practice if we were going to continue to practice like this. I smiled. She said, "Thanks for listening."

No, Lindsey and Tarenna. Thank you for sharing.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Forgive Me!

2010-11-26T16:35:00.004-05:00

It was two days before Thanksgiving and one of my team leaders, Lindsey Kentner, approached me about allowing the team to go home on Thursday. Even though we had the day off, I had told the team I wanted them to remain in Charleston. I understood her request, the need for the players to go home, to see family and friends, to feel loved and appreciated by those who were closest to them.

Yet, I told her no. It was a hard decision, one I hated to make. It is not easy to tell a young person that sacrificing Thanksgiving with the family is necessary in order to get a win. It wasn't about being home or with the family. I would have loved for each one of them to enjoy that special day with loved ones. The problem is the fatigue attached to the travel.

We are tired. We played three games in four days last week, two of them on the road four hours away from home. Even with a day off on Sunday, the team had not recovered by Monday's practice. We were lethargic, barely moving. Worse than the physical symptoms of fatigue, our brains were not working. In the next seven days, we have three more games.

A few years ago, I allowed a group of players to go home for Thanksgiving. When they came back, we lost our next two games. They couldn't move. I swore then I wouldn't ever allow a team to travel over a single day and a half. I haven't yet.

I haven't been home for Thanksgiving since I was 17 and that 32 years ago. First as an athlete and then as a coach, I've been busy playing games or practicing. One year I was in Budapest, Hungary preparing for the World Championships. Another year, the team was on the bus driving 8 hours away for a game after having gorged on turkey and dressing. I didn't know then turkey was a natural sedative. I learned another hard lesson that year. We lost that game too.

I am not saying a game is more important than family. I don't believe that for a nanosecond, but I do know the hard work and dreams we have are worth the sacrifice for a single year. I hope they forgive me. I hope they understand I was looking out for their best interest. I hope they know they can have many more family Thanksgivings unless, of course, they choose to coach.

I am thankful this year I have this team. I am thankful for the wonderful people they are. I am thankful for their efforts. I am thankful they know their coach is just helping them find their dreams.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM!

Burning The Ships

2010-11-18T09:32:00.003-05:00

Before every game I always provide the team with a small five minute motivational talk. Most of the time these chats are small stories I have read or heard. Last night as I was contemplating what words would inspire the team for the first game of the season, I rambled through many stories. The one that stuck was the burning of the ships.

A captain was in a war and he had taken his troops across the ocean to a battle they much needed to win. He knew if they lost this battle, they would probably lose the war. Once his men had gotten off the ships and safely to the land, he order his men to burn the ships. He told them there was no going back, no retreat. There was only the possibility of winning or dying.

I don't believe for a moment a game is between winning or dying, but it should be played with the idea of no retreat. There should be no looking back, no thought of a way out of the battle before the team. If we knew we would either die or win, how would we play? Would we not play with urgency and passion?

This is what I asked of the team: to play with determination, heart, a deep love and trust in themselves and the team.

THEY DID.

We needed to change the way we have played defense in the past. We were not aggressive enough. We were looking to detain not destroy. We needed to determine for our opponents what they were going to do, not allow them to create as they wished.

Last night was the first step in changing our attitudes. We played with the idea of going forward and creating what we wanted. If we can only play like this every night--play as if there was only one option--we would win every game.

I want them to keep this vision of the burning ships, see it in their dreams, smell the smoke of the dying embers, and hear the water gushing around the hulls. I want them to keep the resolve, the fortitude, and the fierceness of believing in the necessity of winning.

I don't want to make winning everything, and I won't burn the vans as we enter the gymnasium. I do want to make the will to win important, because it is. It is the essence of success not only on the court but in all they will do in life. I want them to know they can.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Forgetful Coach

2010-11-11T13:51:00.006-05:00

When I was in training for the Olympics, we trained year around two times a day six days a week. No, this is not a story like the ones your parents told you about walking six miles in the snow, uphill both ways to get to school. This is a true tale.

So, when I train the Golden Eagles I think they should be able to tolerate a couple of two-a-days. They are young and fit and recover fast. They should be capable of handling a couple of days of practice where the days consist of getting up, going to practice, taking a nap and practicing again.

The problem occurs when I forget how intense I am. I tend to push a little bit. Okay, so maybe I push more than a little; maybe it is a lot. Then I forget how I ask them to think while they practice. It is one thing to just run up and down the court, but it is quite another to have to engage your brain every second of the practice.

Monday night after having two practices on Saturday and two on Sunday, I noticed how their brains had quit functioning. It is the first sign of weariness. The second is uncontrollable laughter. We had both symptoms on Monday night.

Imagine being a coach and spending fifteen minutes working on a skill, breaking it down into small portions, explaining why we do something a certain way, and then in the next drill expecting them to take what was learned and apply it into a faster, more complex drill. On paper this seems fairly reasonable, but when we moved from one drill to the next, they looked at me, squinting with that look of confusion as if the language I was speaking was in a tongue most foreign to their knowledge.

Then on top of that, imagine Shannon skipping to her next position on the court and everybody toppling over in laughter. It was cute, perhaps even deserving a chuckle, but a falling down, tears-down-the-cheeks laugh, is a little far reaching. When Lisanne tripped over her two feet, I thought we were going to have to resuscitate Chrissy who was curled in a fetal position on the court.

It was not a pretty practice.

I gave them Tuesday night off believing after 24 hours of recovery, they would return with rested legs and brains. In the middle of Wednesday's practice as they were struggling with the most mundane of skill work, I asked them if they were tired. I even quantified the question by telling them it was not a trick question. I understand players are often afraid of admitting to being fatigue. When they told me they were okay, I responded by yelling at them to get after it.

This was when I knew they were not okay. They were physically trying to pick up their intensity. Their faces showed their determination but their legs and minds would simply not obey.

Later when I asked them why they didn't tell me they were tired, they all said they thought it was a trick question. I am not like the coach who asked if his players were tired and when they said they were tired, he said, "Well, you are not in good enough shape. Let's run some more." After a while, he asked them again, "Are you tired?" When they responded no, he said, "Well, you haven't worked hard enough. Let's run some more."

I am not that coach, BUT I am the coach who forgets how demanding I am and the one who forgets to cut back practice time. I forget we do more in two hours than most teams do in four. I forget how hard I ask them to go every drill.

Bless their hearts that they keep trying to give even when their legs are too weary to move and their brains can't keep signals straight. Bless them that they will forgive this forgetful coach.

ONE HEART! ONE DREAM!

Feeling Better But Not Taking Any Excuses

2010-11-04T11:09:00.005-04:00

After our second scrimmage, I was able to calm down a bit. Just a week ago, I was on a rampage seeking out the competitive nature of the team. I felt I had to reach down inside their chests and pull it out of them. I was exhausted from the strain of pulling and I'm certain they were pooped out from having to give more than they believed they had.

While we didn't perform awesome in our second scrimmage, we did manage to look better and to compete. This was what I wanted--passion. I wanted to see it on their faces and feel it coming out of their pores. I wanted to smell it on their breaths and hear it in their voices.

I know this: if we will compete as if our hearts would break in half without the victory then we will win games. If it means so much to them they will go outside of who they are to play, then we will be champions.

Often times they want to tell me this is not who they are as if that excuse will mean something to me. I see it for what it is--an excuse not to be better. If they tell me they cannot shoot outside, then I tell them to work on their shot. They can shoot outside if they practice it. If they tell me they are not fast enough, I tell them they are smart enough to appear fast. If they tell me it is not in their nature to talk loudly on the court, I tell them then winning doesn't mean enough to them to change.

I believe they can do whatever it is they really want to do IF they get rid of their fear about it. They fear failure too much. If they have an excuse, then they can rationalize why they can't get it done. If I don't accept excuses, then they must face themselves. This is scary!

Cruel aren't I?

I've seen players get outside of themselves to become amazing. Two years ago, we had a player named Kika Carman, a quiet person who barely spoke loud enough for us to hear her when standing right next to her. When she was a freshman, we always had to ask her to speak up during positive circles. Nobody could hear what she said. By the time she was a senior, she was a no-nonsense captain who told teammates what they needed to do, when they needed to do it and how. She wanted to win. Her leadership took us to a 26-7 record.

So, no I don't accept their excuses. I know they all can be better than the players I see today on the court. I've seen others come before them who became more. They can too.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Coach Gone MAD?

2010-10-27T14:05:00.006-04:00

I've worked diligently over the past few years to get rid of my anger. I've read books, processed past experiences, discussed my history and spent time in meditation and prayer. I've felt a lightness in my heart and joy on my tongue for several months UNTIL our first scrimmage game.

While we have been known to play poorly early in the season, I was distraught over the lack of competitiveness shown in the scrimmage. Passion is something which I know must exist in order for teams to win. There is no substitute for wanting to win and be willing to put everything on the court in order to do so.

After watching the game footage, I seethed for several hours and allowed the anger to stew and get nice and hot. When practice time came, I was ready to let the team know what my expectations were.

Imagine after all the positive words, all the time spent encouraging that some wild maniac shows up for practice.

Don't worry parents. There was no abuse. No balls thrown at your daughters. No words said which weren't carefully chosen to make them become better. There was some spittle coming off my lips, a few veins popping out of my neck, a red hue covering cheeks and throat, and then, there was fire coming right out of my eyes, but nothing which could have caused physical harm.

The problem is this: they are much better than what they showed. They needed to break through their ideas about what they could and could not do. Using anger to get them to move past their limitations isn't my chosen path. I'd prefer just to ask and to watch them grow.

I have learned, though, anger used in the right manner can produce positive results. It is not something to be utilized daily, and it should not be the corner stone of our practice time. Monday, though, it was what was needed.

After I threw my temper tantrum, a qualified two year old's fit, they responded. Ali penetrated to the basket and scored. Tiana picked up her on-the-ball defense. Lindsey became more aggressive on offense looking for her shot. Tarenna decided she could become a scorer outside the paint, and Mo showed her rebounding capabilities.

I, on the other hand, got totally worn out. Exhausted. Pooped right down to my little toe. This mad coach stuff is hard on the heart and the body. Hopefully, I won't have to go back to it this season, but I will if it is needed. They need to know they can become awesome and if it takes me getting out of my comfort zone to make them get out of theirs, then that is what I will do.

I just hope it is not too often. Let us hope our next scrimmage is more promising.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Creating Masterpieces From Catastrophes

2010-10-19T13:49:00.005-04:00

Last Wednesday I was the speaker at the Lions Club here in Charleston. My topic was "Creating Masterpieces From Catastrophes." From my blog last week you would know I don't really believe in catastrophes--only opportunities. As always, it is far easier to speak these words than to practice them.

There were six points I presented at the meeting:
1. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.
2. Don't take anything personally.
3. Give your best and forget the rest.
4. Think of every "crisis" as opportunity.
5. Make laughter a part of every day. Find reasons to smile.
6. Look for and accept your "angels" meaning those people who come into your life as mentors and teachers.

I was pretty proud of the words I had presented. They sounded positive and strong rolling off my tongue. Then a couple of days later I had to practice what I had preached.

It is far, far easier to say the words than live them!

Before our first practice on Friday, one of our players quit without any rhyme or reason. She was a phenomenal player with an incredible future ahead of her. It is a longer story than I have time for here, but suffice it to say we had invested much effort into getting her into school, going to classes and feeling a part of the team.

We could have been devastated, angry and vengeful. We could have wasted a lot of energy into those emotions which would have taken us the wrong direction. I will not say it was easy to simply drop her and go forward. I was hurt by her abandonment of the team who had given so generously to her and who had loved her. I was mad she broke her promise to me to finish this season. I was upset she had blown this opportunity to move forward in her life.

Yet I knew this event was a lesson, a gift and an opportunity for us. Although it wasn't clear exactly how this was going to help us, I knew from experience this was going to make us stronger and better.

We presented her departure as a small, matter-of-fact event and went forward with our training. A couple of days later, Tiana Beatty said to me, "Her quitting is a great omen. The last time she quit, we got to the national tournament and won our first game. This time we are going all the way."

I couldn't have received a better gift.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Trouble in Paradise???

2010-10-13T12:45:00.006-04:00

Did the subject line get you interested? If you are a parent, did you fear this was about your daughter? Were you eager to hear the "bad" news?

Oops. I lied. I just wanted to grab your attention. There is no trouble here--only opportunities for growth. For certain there are lessons to be learned, but I don't view those as trouble.

We might have a few instances where players "forget" to go to class or struggle with turning in their assignments on time. In these instances, we gently prod them to do what is right. By gentle prodding, I mean making their teammates run more on conditioning days or maybe even kicking them out of practice until they come to the awareness school is important. (You might be wondering if this is gentle what the hard stuff is, but I'll save that for another blog.)

Last week we had a player who temporarily lost her notebook and didn't have her journal answers prepared on time. She bargained with me to not make the team run because of her failure. When she offered to run 10 suicides if I wouldn't make the team run additional sprints, I agreed. I'm not certain she was happy I so quickly agreed with her offer, and I don't know if she learned not to lose her notebook or if her lesson included never offering to run 10 suicides for her teammates. I'd prefer she learned not to lose her notebook.

My view is every day is an opportunity for the players to get better and to discover something about themselves. I don't believe there are mistakes. Mistakes are chances to get better, to expand, to listen and to learn. So when a player comes to me who has experienced a mistake, I want to know what they have learned. It does not mean they are free from consequences for their actions, but I am interested if they have grown to a new level.

We had some players who made poor decisions over the weekend. Since it was over the weekend, you might be able to guess what those decisions involved. I can remember when I was a student-athlete and had a few poor decision-making weekends. Fortunately, I paid for them which made me learn how to make better choices. I am hoping that the 30 minute butt-breaking workout I put them through on Tuesday will enlighten them. If not, the next lesson will be tougher.

Some people learn lessons slower than others. For those people the consequences become tougher each time. The important thing I want them to learn is to admit their mistakes, be willing to grow from them, and finally to forgive themselves. After suffering a consequence the continual beating up of self serves no purpose. Forgiveness allows them to go forward with confidence and clarity.

Is there trouble in paradise? Never. There is only opportunity.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

New Found Wisdom

2010-10-05T15:19:00.002-04:00

Last week as we were doing our positive circle which is a an opportunity for each player to share something positive, I asked what they had learned since the beginning of the year. We took turns sharing our positive thoughts for the day.

Not many players loved what I said during my turn. I said, "I have learned players can be pushed further than I believed." While I thought this was an incredible new awareness, I found when the players groaned they were not necessarily aligned with my new found wisdom.

Pushing players is what coaches are supposed to do. It is our best way of making players expand who they are. So many of the young women I coach box themselves into a small space where they are guided by the thoughts "I can only do this or that." Such silly thoughts.

Yesterday the players ran 18's which is a little sprint set where the players build up from one to two to three to four court lengths and so on until they reach eight sprints then they reverse the order and come back down the ladder. I suppose it wouldn't have been as difficult without the clock and the times we had arranged for them. It was the all out sprint which created problems.

I can always tell when something is difficult when players start hitting the wall. This is when the asthma kicks in, players hyperventilate, cramps occupy their calves, a hamstring is strained and their legs are wobbling so hard they have difficulty standing up.

Since nobody passed out and Lindsey Kentner and Ali Tobias were still running, I assumed all was well. When these two get tired, I know I have made the workout too hard.

Five players out of 15 made the times for all the sprints. This is what I wanted--making the workout challenging enough that players had to go all out and risk everything to make the times. It is the risk I want--the heart, the drive, the ability to reach inside and pull something more out of themselves.

I want them to be willing to risk it all on the court, to leave their hearts and minds there. To be so exposed as to feel vulnerable yet to know that by risking they can receive the greatest of all gifts--becoming the very best they can become.

Even though not all of them made their times, they pushed themselves. They tried with every ounce of their beings. This was success and I was pleased.

While they are counting down then number of days until official team workouts (October 15th), I am still thinking of ways to push them further. They will eventually love me for it even if right now that thought is far, far away from their minds.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

What Makes a Player Tough?

2010-09-28T10:18:00.002-04:00

Every week we take a few minutes to ask our players a question. The question is often directed toward self-awareness in the hopes our players will take the time to listen to their internal voices. All personal development starts with self-awareness.

Last week I asked them to write their definition of mental toughness. There were some great definitions.

"The will and power to push past the doubt in a situation and believe that obstacles are mere challenges."

"The toughness in your mind when your body is past the point of exhaustion and your mind takes control and pushes you forward. It is also being able to move on to the next play with no reaction or thought."

"Mental toughness is staying calm in pressure situations, is getting up after you fall, and is adapting to any situation no matter the adversity."

"To me, mental toughness is when you have nothing left and you're fighting yourself and your mind to think and be positive. Also, it is not allowing anything negative to enter your mind."

After they had written their definitions, I asked them to rate themselves on a scale of one to five with one being the lowest and five being the highest. I was pleased the seniors all rated themselves as a four. A five rating would have been better but a four means they believe in themselves. The others . . . well they were not as confident. They still need to see themselves in a different light. They still need to believe they can achieve.

It is all a matter of the mind!

What I would like to see in each player is the ability to recognize their negative thoughts, to work on replacing them with positive thoughts and to know the power which comes with this process. Negative thoughts are limiting. They have no place for players who want to be mentally tough.

Negative thinkers expect the worst, place the blame on others, fail to trust themselves or others, take on a poor me attitude and cannot see they are responsible for creating what they are experiencing. Due to the way they think, they feel hopeless, worried, fearful, angry and frustrated.

Positive thinkers look for the best in all situations, seek solutions, seek help from others, know what they want and have a plan, and are willing and ready to receive inspiration. They find joy, happiness, success, achievement and fulfillment.

Mental toughness is not something players are born with; it is something they receive from their beliefs. The great thing is every player has the ability to control her mind. It is as simple and as complex as that.

Not one player who thinks she cannot do something ever achieves it. NOT ONE! This is the mind talking. This is controllable.

What I want from every player is her willingness to listen to what she tells herself, to stop the negative thoughts from getting in her way, and to replace them with positive thoughts. When she is able to do this, she is mentally tough and the court is hers to own.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Active Rest Week

2010-09-21T09:14:00.003-04:00

Last week as we pushed our players, provided a few necessary lessons about going to classes, and asked them to get tougher, I kept reminding them next week was active rest week. Our upper class players in full awareness of what was to come were able to push themselves through the challenges.

The freshmen on dead legs and bodies which were sore from toenails to the crown of their heads wanted to know what active rest week meant. Finally, Tiffany Scott, a rookie from Sylvania, OH, gave me the best definition I've ever heard. She said, "I was talking to my mom and telling her we had active rest week next week. She asked me what that meant. I told her I didn't know but everybody told me it was the best thing ever. It was just like Christmas!"

So this week according to Tiffany, we are on Christmas break. This is not exactly the truth. There are no presents involved, no holiday dinners and no festive activities. We are, however, giving the players an opportunity to recover, to allow their bodies a chance to rejuvenate and their minds a chance to catch up to what we've been teaching.

What are we doing this week? In place of running sprints and then running some more, we are playing games. Since NCAA rules don't allow us to have a basketball, we play ultimate frisbee, gator ball, Hungarian dodge ball, and other games which involve a lot of running.

The difference in training is really in their minds. There is not a clock or a timer, no extra punishments for not making the times; only a consequence of sprints for the losers. There is still running involved and sweat . . . lots of sweat.

In weight training, we change our P90X Plus routine and provide something a little less challenging. We don't want them to lose their edge they have gained by pushing them the past three weeks; we do want them to feel revitalized and eager to return to tougher practices.

What Tiffany doesn't know is when the players come back from "Christmas" we push them harder. I guess none of the upper class players explained that concept to her. Oops!

So next week we increase the number of sprints they run, decrease the amount of time they run them in, and we push harder in individual practices. I'm not certain what the upper class players call this week and I probably don't want to know.

Hopefully they enjoy the holiday this week while preparing their minds and bodies for the challenges to come.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Getting Tough With P90X

2010-09-14T15:37:00.004-04:00

A few years ago I was sick and unable to get out of bed, running a high fever with chills and aches all over my body. Since I am not a television junkie and, in fact, not a person who likes to be still for longer than 25 minutes, the illness was driving me crazy. I needed to move even when going to the bathroom five steps away was enough to completely exhaust me.

Lying in bed, mindlessly watching game shows and old movies, I found an infomercial for P90X which is an extreme workout. So I watched and visualized myself working out, and then when I was getting better and my thoughts became more rational, I realized it was my players who should be getting the benefit of an extreme workout. Right then and there I purchased the entire P90X package.

In fact, not only do I have the original series, I actually have all of Tony Horton's workouts which by the way the Golden Eagles have come to love. Well . . . not all of them. In fact, I'm pretty certain the newcomers are not very fond of P90X. It is the way they shake and nearly pass out which makes me think this. Upon further review, maybe it is just the coaching staff who loves the workouts.

What I love about the workouts is how much they challenge the players. Who wouldn't want to try to do a combination of lat pulls and push-ups for two minutes? Who wouldn't want to do a lunge while executing a bicep curl or a tricep hammer curl? Who wouldn't want to do a combat push-up for a minute and a half? Who wouldn't want to go from one challenging exercise to another with only a 20 second rest?

The problem I've found is not the exercise; it is the puddle of sweat accumulating at the players' feet. This puddle seems to grow in size and depth until the sweat has formed a miniature swimming pool. With the sweat pool all around them, their hands tend to slip during push-ups and their feet slide every which direction. If they wouldn't sweat so much I'm certain the exercises would be easier.

While I understand P90X is probably not sport specific for basketball; it is a mental toughness workout. When players can go through a 40 minute workout with only two 30 second breaks, continue through an exercise when their breaths are pounding in their chests and their muscles are next door to total exhaustion, then I know they will be able to talk themselves through a double overtime, a week with three games in it and a long road trip.

If the P90X is not enough, we manage to do a little 40 minute conditioning workout before hitting the weights. Our goal here is simple enough: we want the players to sprint so hard they feel their heartbeats in their toes. If they are able to stand up and walk easily out of the gym after a conditioning workout, we have failed to make them better. Somebody should be on the floor unable to move, struggling for breath and praying thankfully that sprints are over for the day.

Preseason is about mental toughness and mental toughness is what the game is. If we can succeed in creating the right mental attitude now, the games we play will be so much easier.

I believe we are on the right path. I love the heart, the desire and the passion and I love TONY HORTON and P90X.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

2010-09-07T08:27:00.003-04:00

There are memorable moments every preseason--moments where athletes push past their self imposed limits, where they gain muscle and watch with wondering eyes in the mirror as biceps bulge, where sweat is left in puddles at their feet as they run past the final line in suicides, and when a leader is formed by a moment of pure passion.

While I could write about any of the above with a certain amount of awe and pride, I want to share with you the moment when a leader was born.

Last week as we were running timed suicides, the players kept forgetting to touch the lines. We believe every line should be touched because it is a sign of doing the little things right. We can't allow small things to slip. Small things become larger events and we want our players to live up to high expectations.

With each misstep, the players suffered a consequence of a minute of planks or a minute of boats. Both of these exercises are tough enough on their own but within the confines of fatigue, they become much harder. Holding a plank after sprinting all out feels like having an elephant sit on your back as you hold yourself completely level on a horizontal plane.

We had gone through about seven of these when Lindsey Kentner decided enough was enough. Before I continue with this tale, you should know a little bit of history about Ms. Kentner. She is a level-headed, intelligent and calm player who in the midst of the greatest game will never blink an eye. She is not one to cheer or pound her chest or do cartwheels even after she makes the most impossible of shots. She just shoulder shrugs and sighs as if this is an every day experience.

In fact, prior to this moment I am about to divulge I don't believe I ever witnessed more of an emotion than a slight smile curling on the edge of her lips. Oh, there was the one time when she mildly raised a fist in the air after hitting the game-winning three point shot. That was an extreme display of emotion for her.

Then the improbable happened. She exploded. She ranted and raved. She told her teammates in the most passionate tone that their behaviors were simply unacceptable. It was not the single curse word she let slip which made her point; it was her passion. She didn't just want her teammates to come up to the next level; she implored them to get there. NOW.

It was beautiful--such an act outside of who she was that I almost called practice right then and there. She had to reach so deep inside herself, to touch a place where she never went to get there. This is what we want from our players--to reach out and touch a place inside themselves they didn't know existed. This is growth. This is expansion. This is success.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

The Power of VIsion Boards

2010-08-31T13:35:00.003-04:00

Our first team meeting was more than impressive; it was almost surreal. Over the summer I had requested the players to make vision boards which would include pictures, phrases and words of what they wanted to accomplish this season. The boards are to remain on the wall near their beds or on their ceilings or some place where they can see them on a daily basis. The purpose of the vision boards are to assist them in visualizing their dreams.

During the first meeting, each player got up in front of the team to display her vision board and to explain what the board meant to her. It was immediately clear the players took the homework assignment seriously. They had cut out photos of championship trophies, teams celebrating, nets being cut down and UC teammates celebrating the conference championship two years ago. The boards reflected not only a vision but a feeling. I could almost feel each player's dream as she held up her board.

In order to reach our goals, our players must feel and visualize their dreams making them as real as possible. Faith is just that--acting on something as if it has already occurred. It is faith in our future which we are visualizing and feeling.

The ability to visualize and feel with intense emotion an event which has not yet occurred is a precursor to success. If our players will feel as if they can accomplish a championship, then they are very close to achieving one. If they cannot get that feeling in their heads, then we have no chance of success.

Acting upon an event as if it has already occurred changes everything. The players work harder. They believe. They push. They encourage. They desire. If they know they can, then they train as if they can. Practices become a quest rather than a drudgery.

I am a believer in the power of dreams and I see that power in each player as she gains strength in the dream of the team.

It is early but I feel the heartbeat of this team and it is a strong one.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.

Saying Goodbye to Katy Arick

2010-03-09T14:19:00.005-05:00

It was a successful year in terms of the journey, the miles of emotional growth the players ascended, but yet it ended so much shorter of our desired outcome. We had dreamed from the beginning to get back to the NCAA Regional Tournament, to be back in the WVIAC Championship game, yet we fell short of all of goals.

We won 20 games which for most programs and players is a positive outcome, but for us 20 is short of our expectations. On average, we have won 22 games a season with some seasons like the 2005-06 year being an incredible one with over 30 victories. Sitting back and evaluating the year, we know had we won the close ones at the beginning of the year, we would have been a different team. It is winning the close ones early which provides confidence and assurance of good things to come. Losing those games places doubt and anxiety in the brain.

It it true we were in every game with opportunities to win them. We were never blown out and never so deep over our heads against talent that we knew there was no hope. In the nine games we lost, we lost by an average of 4.7 ppg. They were close; they were heart breakers. One bounce of the ball, one missed free throw, one foul, or one missed call could have been the difference. These are the games I still feel deep within my soul. The wins I have already let go.

Mostly I feel for our lone senior, Katy Arick. She had some real ups and downs as a player not due to her lack of effort or determination but due to knee injuries and other team personnel issues. Her freshmen year, we were relatively successful winning 23 games while losing only 8, but we missed the regional bid by bowing out early in the conference tournament. Her sophomore year was one of the worst in UC recent history with us not reaching the 20 win mark and teammates who didn't share in the dream of winning. The junior year was remarkable in that we turned a 17-10 record into a 26-7 record, winning the conference, the conference tournament, and the first game in the regionals. This year, being the lone senior on the team, she had wanted so much more.

She gave her best, diving for loose balls, playing on a bum knee, never complaining, stepping up to take charges, saying the tough things to teammates a leader has to say, and finally scoring 1,054 career points. I want her to feel good about her achievements and what she gave to the program. I know I do and I know Katy's accomplishments will not stop now for she has a bright future. She will be a successful businesswoman. In just four years, she has managed to earn two undergraduate degrees and a Master's Degree in Business Administration in Leadership. WOW!

I am thankful for her attitude, her laughter, her intelligence, and her willingness to be coached. She was always gracious to her teammates and to her coaches, and she was a competitor in every sense of the word. I will miss you Katy. Thank you for four wonderful years. I wish it could have ended better.

Turning on The Light

2010-02-25T11:17:00.004-05:00

I know I have not kept regular blog days this past few weeks. I am having a difficult time prioritizing what is most important: recruiting, scouting opponents, preparing for practices or writing the blog. Unfortunately, the blog keeps getting pushed to the back because I know without the others I won't have a job for long and the blog . . . well, the blog is just for fun.

This week I want to mention a single player--one who is been on the team for 2 1/2 years but who has not received much attention. She is strong, powerful, athletic, quick, plays solid defense and can score, and she did all these things in preseason never allowing herself the opportunity to show up in games the same way she did in preseason practices.

We have waited for her to become the incredible player we told her she was, but she didn't buy into what we told her until recently. In the past three weeks, she has found her inner light and has begun to shine in every aspect of the game. As coaches we are astounded by what she is accomplishing and at the same time aware she had this talent all along. Our amazement is that she has finally allowed herself to be the superb player we all knew she was.

I am thrilled for her, excited when she does something good and am hopeful this new found confidence will shine in other areas of her life. We want our players to believe they can become anything, accomplish the seemingly impossible. It is what we preach on a daily basis, but alas we cannot reach into their brains and flip the confidence switch. They must do this for themselves.

Moneka Slaughter found that switch. It took her a little longer than I would have preferred but she found it. Some people go through life never believing, never seeing their talents; they surrender to what they believe life has given them. BUT Mo, well she has found the strength to change, to seek something better for herself, and as a team we are all behind her and cheer her on when she makes a steal or blocks a shot or catches the ball with one hand and slaps into her chest.

This week I give three cheers for Moneka and I hope this is just the beginning of a life full of confidence and fulfillment.

Loving The Journey

2010-02-18T11:07:00.004-05:00

There was a psychology teacher who was giving her class an oral exam on the chapter of mental illnesses. She asked the question: "What would you call a person who is exuberant one moment, pacing up and down screaming at the top of her lungs and the next moment is sitting down, head held between her hands sobbing?" A student in the back row raised her hand and replied, "A basketball coach!"

I know the feeling--total exuberance, excitement, a feeling of euphoria, the moment when all seems to come together. I know this feeling. It was the home game against West Virginia Wesleyan when all our shots fell, when the defensive timing was right, when all the players were on the same page. And then again, I felt the joy of winning in Glenville where they hadn't lost a home game, where the crowd can be a bit rough, and when they created 28 turnovers yet we still found a rhythm and a way to win.

And only a short two days later in the game against Davis and Elkins, I felt the sobs, the tears, the heartache of watching the Golden Eagles fall after two such decisive victories. It is like this for a coach and team--the coming together, the feeling of complete and utter joy when the journey takes a turn toward our goals and dreams, and then the disappointment and pain when the road seems to curve too far and the dream disappears from view.

Sometimes we forget that life is a journey and a season is a segment of life, of this journey that we are here to travel. We forget a journey is this great opportunity for growth, to extend ourselves, to create new possibilities. What we think we want is to get to the end of the rainbow, to sit at the pot of gold without taking the trip. We believe we would be content with the arrival of our dreams without the journey, but the problem with that is we would not be the people we are.

I look at the players who are on the court and I am thrilled with who they are today--who they created themselves to become. I think of Tarenna and the young woman who used to put her head down with every missed shot, who quit at the first taste of adversity and who now has the strength and maturity to push through bad shots. I remember Tiana who took every coaching critique personally and who got too angry to receive any tips from her teammates and who now can listen, shake her head in the affirmative and continue to play hard. I remember Lindsey who just a year ago when she missed a shot would quit shooting, believing she wouldn't make the next one. And now, this tremendous shooter, just keeps shooting knowing the next shot will fall. How about Ali and Katy? Ali was the teary-eyed player, who when things weren't going well couldn't get her confidence back and today she fights through the tears, not letting them fall, keeping them in check and allowing herself the ability to get back on the court and play with toughness. And Katy? Well, Katy was the player who could never make the time for the 12 minute run until this year. She was the player who couldn't play back-to-back games tough until this season.

Who would they be without the journey? Who would they be without this opportunity to get better? I am thankful for the journey, for the ups and downs, for the challenges that get placed in front of us, because in the end, we are here for the growth, for that opportunity to become better people and players. What we must learn to do is to enjoy the journey no matter where it takes us having faith our dream is still real.

Playing on Pluto

2010-02-11T09:34:00.005-05:00

Sometimes the game can eat you up, tear up your insides, making your intestines jelly and your stomach cement. It can make you go crazy as you watch perfectly good players become aliens from another planet, substituting spaghetti for brains and tombstones for hands. When you look into the eyes of your players and they are glazed over, a sheen covering their pupils, making them appear glassy and reflective, then you know they have left planet earth and are taking a trip far, far away in a different galaxy. This is the time coaches appear insane, doing things fans believe should qualify them for the loony bin. We cajole, make jokes, plead, jump up and down, yell, and scream encouragement all while attempting to bring our players back to the court.

Last week was one such game as I watched helplessly from the sideline as the Golden Eagles forgot who they were. Every offensive principle we had taught was thrown into space somewhere orbiting Pluto. We build our offense on ball reversals and the inside-outside principle, spreading the defense, making them shift side to side until we find the hole, the split, the opening to take advantage. When we play in this fashion, we are strong, utilizing the strengths of each of our players. When we forget and start to pretend only 1/4 of the floor exists and the paint is toxic to our touch, then we don't perform as well.

Defensively was perhaps worse, if possible, than our offense, as we allowed our opponents every opportunity to do exactly as they pleased. Our defensive principles rest on the concept of taking something away the offense wants to achieve. We study their game, their individual players and come up with a plan which will limit or disrupt what they do well. When we give them what they desire, our defense falls apart.

This happens once or twice a year when perfectly good players are lost in their own bodies. It is a phenomena every team experiences; it is not limited to the Golden Eagles. A coach only hopes it occurs on a night when the opponent is weak enough her players can fight through it and still claim a victory.

The danger in playing such a game is players tend to start believing the bad game is who they are--not all the other games when they played as somebody else who inhabits their body on a daily basis. What does a team do to recover? How do they go back and ask their bodies and brains to operate on normal?

This is the million dollar question--the one if I answered correctly would net me a book deal, a new house in Montana and early retirement. While I do have an answer, it is not easy to provide because it requires players to manage their thoughts--to listen intimately to their daily inner conversations, and to change the negative thoughts which swirl around their brains telling them such nonsense as they are not fast enough, smart enough, quick enough, etc. The mind is a powerful tool and we rarely spend time cultivating it, tending to it as if it were a beautiful garden providing us with all the nutrition we would ever need.

The power is always in the thought. Those players who are great BELIEVED they were great long before any coach or parent or sibling told them so. They knew it to be true. I tell my players all the time how good they are, what talents they possess, how they can become better, feeding them positive words for their garden, but if they can't hear me and always answer with a but then I can't help them. For example, if I tell them they are a great three point shooter but when they hear me, they add "but only when I am wide open and get three seconds to shoot the ball" then they have limited their belief system.

Since I couldn't get into their brains to rewire them, I did the second best thing and asked to write down 10 positive things they gained from the loss, 10 ways they played better when they were enthusiastic and motivated, and to list each of their teammates and a great thing about them and then the one thing which if they changed would make them better. I then had them share their thoughts with one another, hoping the words on paper would filter through into their brains.

We have not played a game since departing planet earth, but we have practiced and the team appears normal . . . at least as normal as they can appear with a crazed coach pushing them to get past their self-imposed limits.

The Blessings of Being a Coach

2010-02-03T09:27:00.005-05:00

Sometimes as a coach I feel absolutely blessed by the members of my team. They make me smile. They make me laugh. They make me feel young. They make me proud. During the game against Ohio Valley last Thursday night was one of those nights when I was in such a state.

We were not playing well, shooting the ball rather poorly, slow to transition to defense, forgetting to box out. We were in the gym physically but had left our brains somewhere on the rather slow-moving van ride in the sleet and snow between Charleston and Vienna. The athletes from Ohio Valley were giving us all we could handle, bringing their best and making us sweat.

Tarenna and Tiana, two of our consistent starters, were struggling with their shots, feeling a little out of sorts and beginning to feel the consternation which comes with doing less than their best. Their attitudes started to falter and they began to look toward the negative side of themselves and teammates. A year ago, Tarenna would have continued the down slide letting herself tumble into the abyss of negativity. She would have doubted her skills and performed at a lower rate. Tiana would have gotten angry, mad at her teammates and coaches and would have shown frustration on her lips, eyes, jaws, on every limb and every particle of her being.

BUT that was a year ago. This year that is not who they are. They have been transformed into strong women, women who believe in their abilities, who see the power of enthusiasm. After half time, they came out dressed in smiles, determination and self worth. They carried themselves differently, taller and stronger, powerful women in maroon shorts and shirts.

During the second half, they left all doubts behind and became the heart and the strength of the team. They encouraged others and stepped up their games. They played with the heart of warriors, battling for rebounds, sprinting the floor on transition, and taking the ball to the hoop without fear.

I sat back on the bench and smiling felt that parental feeling which comes when a child does well, when she reaches an apex, an epiphany, the top of the world. I felt that way then, the parent loving the child, loving what the child had become. They gave a gift to me that day--the gift of emotional maturity, of a child growing into a woman, and I felt blessed.

A Team Player

2010-01-27T09:19:00.002-05:00

Every coach who coaches a team sport understands the challenge of getting players to buy into the concept of team. Players, by nature, want to be individually successful. They want to start, to get playing time, to score points, to grab rebounds, to be the one who made the assist. They want to feel important.

While this is what I want my players to desire, I also want them to accept the role which most benefits the team. Those roles when viewed by outsiders appear to be less significant but in the scheme of the team, they are of high value. Every team needs a player willing to be the screener, the one who gets the shooter open or a defensive stopper who refuses to allow the opponent's number one scorer to get her points or a rebounder who boxes her player out every time so a teammate can grab the ball. None of these stats are charted nor noticed by the media, but they are instrumental to the success of a team.

Every single player is of value to a team whether they are practice players who hustle every drill or scorers who get the nod for player of the week. In a team, every individual has to note her significance and build on it to create the unity needed to accumulate victories.

I think for the most part, we have team players but there is one player who has over the years bought into the team concept totally without remorse. After our game against Davis and Elkins, Katy Arick came to me asking if the possibility existed she could rest in our next game knowing our opponent was one who had yet to win a game. She has played throughout most of her career with knee pain, still throwing her body on the floor after any loose ball and taking charges even when the player dribbling toward the basket is thirty pounds heavier than her.

When I told her I would allow her to rest if she knew she needed it, but that the possibility existed she could potentially score a thousand points this year if she played in 30 games. Without hesitation she said, "Scoring a thousand points would be nice but it is simply not that important. Winning is important."

I knew she meant it. She left the idea of statistics behind her first year on the team, realizing winning was more fun than scoring a few points. She has been the ultimate team player since, doing what she can for the team, sacrificing her body and being the ultimate team leader. I am thankful for Katy's attitude and effort, for her willingness to play through pain, and for her recognition that what she does on and off the floor is incredible. She has made my life on the coaching floor so much easier.

Thank you Katy!

Letting Go and Believing

2010-01-20T16:12:00.003-05:00

What does a coach do when she knows she has the makings of a great team but the team hasn't fully bought into that knowledge? I believe the Golden Eagles have the intelligence, the athleticism, the work ethic, the team chemistry, and the leadership to be awesome, yet we sometimes play as if we are tentative, afraid of what the outcome of the game might be, fearful perhaps there will be dire consequences. I've never seen a player shot for missing a basket, nor one executed for making a mistake.

Here is what I understand. I understand we are good but we are sometimes not aware of our own talents. This is not a new concept; it is the oldest play in the book. It is the card of unworthiness we all pull out on occasion, believing somehow we are not good enough to receive blessings. It is the negative drum beat we play, beating the same rhythm of unworthiness some coach or teacher or friend sold us when we were younger.

We have several players who can knock down the three pointer and shoot it with such consistency opponents have to respect them. We have intelligent players who can read screens, anticpate the defense and get an open look off reading a fade or a slip or a curl. We have a low block player who no defensive player can get around because her feet are so quick. We have players who can penetrate to the basket or stop and pop the jump shot. We have good free throw shooters and rebounders who can fly close to the rim. We have defensive players who can play opponents to their weaknesses. We truly have enough to be one of the best.

It is not the mistake or the error which haunts us; it is our ability to it go. It is not that we are not an awesome team; it is our ability to believe it. It is not the lack of skills our players have; it is our lack of recognition of those skills. We are so close to being great, to finding the winners within our bodies I get giddy with anticipation. If the team can hold onto the thought of greatness, let go of past mistakes, and believe in our talents, then we can create the future we so much desire.

Joy, Laughter and Success

2010-01-13T09:25:00.003-05:00

This team is unique and different as all of my teams have been, but this one seems to generate energy off of fun and laughter. When they laugh together, they find unity and when they find unity, they play well. So in lieu of my usual intense self, I've had to relax with them and just enjoy the moment which quite frankly has made my life easier and less stressful.

As they have discovered fun, they have become stronger in their play. In our most recent two games, both of our opponents made hard runs at us, closing the gap within the final minutes, pushing us to change our tempo and our approach to the game. During timeouts when the game got tough, I looked into the eyes of our players and I didn't see fear or anxiety but the relaxation which comes only through faith and joy.

Some teams get angry at one another when things get tough, some scream and yell, others panic, or find fault with their teammates, but this team has decided somewhere in that vast mysterious part of the body called the brain to reach for joy. In the game against UPJ, as I gathered my coaches away from the bench during a timeout to discuss strategy, the players had already decided what they wanted to do and had found some manner of lightness with which to present it. By the time I got to them, I could see they had already made the resolution and pact to win, yet they politely gave me their attention as if trying to make me feel good about my efforts.

Winning to them is important but more importantly they want to feel good about what they are doing. They want to love the game and to love playing the game. By doing this, they have found the true key to success which is passion for what they are doing.

I am happy to be a part of what they are generating on a day-to-day basis. I have to keep reminding myself of who they are and how they operate--that they are fun-loving people who want the best from life. So the most important thing we can keep doing as a group is to continue to have fun, to laugh, to find the joy of doing our best and to allow those things to flow through us. I believe by doing this, success will simply flow and we won't have to strive hard for it.

Where Did They Go--The Dynamite Kids?

2010-01-05T09:34:00.004-05:00

What happened to the dynamite kids, the ones who loved the anticipation of the last second of the game to see who won? Did they disappear into Christmas cheer? Did the holiday spirit envelope them? Did they forget the essence of who they were during their seven days of vacation?

Let me first determine I am okay with change. Change is inevitable as people evolve and these young women have evolved! Wowser! All of a sudden, there was confidence, an inner glow of knowing, of assurance, of the awareness they were good. It was as if they suddenly understood their talents.

In the first game after the winter break, we became the team that the Golden Eagles are known for--an intense, focused team with great defense, offensive play centered on togetherness, and players who knew their roles and performed them to perfection. We had inside-outside play with Tarenna solid in the low block, great three point shooting from Lindsey, Ali, and Chrissy, penetration to the basket from Tiana and Chrissy, substitutes coming off the bench to keep the momentum flowing and fast break lay-ups from a variety of players.

Defensively, we started to play our scouting report, defending the opponents to their weaknesses, and making them do things out of their comfort zone. Finally, we are talking more on defense, rotating to the open player and feeling comfortable getting out in the passing lane to get deflections and steals.

I am not sad the dynamite kids have disappeared or at least gone on furlough for a while. I am comfortable winning by twenty points, sitting down at the end of the game, breathing regularly and allowing everybody on the team to get playing time. For a moment, it felt to me like the teams I coached in 2005 and 2006 who played with such force and determination they regularly defeated opponents by 20 points. I liked that moment, watching the players on the court perform as I knew they could, watching them moving with ease and confidence, free of self doubt and full of passion for the game.

I hope the Dynamite Kids stay on vacation replaced by these women I saw on the court. While I loved the thrill and excitement of hanging onto the edge of every game, I'm okay with watching confident players doing what they do best.

Giving Ourselves the Best Present

2009-12-26T10:24:00.002-05:00

The day before we departed for the holiday break, I asked my players to write in their journals. Journal writing is something we try to do at least once a week in order to get our players to gain self awareness. Self awareness allows our players to understand why they do things and what they need to do to become better. It is the best tool for creating positive change.

The two questions they were asked were:
1. If you could give yourself a Christmas present which would make you a better player and person, what would it be?
2. If you could give the team a present to help us be successful, what would it be?

Most of the players understood what I was asking and responded to the first question with answers such as patience, self confidence, the courage to make a mistake, belief in my abilities, etc. The second question was also answered from a position of awareness when they wrote: ability to trust teammates to be where they should be on helpside defense; the knowledge of how to run the offense as a group; the understanding of what it takes to be a team and not just a player on a team; and the ability to finish a game from a position of confidence.

The next day I gave the sheet back to them and asked them to answer one more thought I had which was: List one good reason why you cannot have the gift you have wished for yourself and the team. I did not have to wait long for them to turn their papers into me. They already knew why I was asking that particular question. They knew such an answer did not exist. There might have been reasons why they couldn't have what they wanted, but none of the reasons would be good. They knew if they believed they deserved and were worthy of the present they wished for themselves, then they should receive it.

I hope they believe they are worthy. I hope they understand they are deserving. I hope they know with all their hearts they should receive the blessings they wished upon themselves. This is what I want my gift to be to them: for each of them to know they are worthy, brilliant, beautiful, deserving, talented, good, kind and wonderful. If they believe, they will tap into what it is already inside them and find what they already possess. If they don't believe it, they can never find what is missing even it if it already exists within them.

Playing With Dynamite

2009-12-16T09:23:00.006-05:00

I have coached teams who have consistently won games by 20 points, teams who have consistently lost games by 20, teams who have surged ahead in the last five minutes to win, teams who have lost in the second half, but I've never coached a team who wants to play each game to the last second of the clock . . . until now. It is as if these players are adventure sport athletes playing basketball. They want the thrill of mountain biking off cliffs, parachuting off the Empire State Building, ski jumping with triple flips, or just waiting until the final moment of each basketball game to decide what team wins. It is as if they like playing with sticks of dynamite.

I'm not a coach who can take this. When I was younger, in great shape working out 2 1/2 hours a day with heart and lungs working like a twenty year old, I might could have withstood the thrill. Might could have. Now, I find myself out of breath, gulping for air, heart pumping like I was sprinting the 100 meters, and closing my eyes rather than watching the finish. It is too much for this coach to take.

In the eight games we have played, we are barely scrapping by with a two point margin of victory (77.1 ppg to 75 ppg). We have had opportunities to win every game we have played and we have succeeded in half of them. In the ones we have lost, we have learned from the errors we made. Yet, with each new opportunity to play, we have been able to discover new ways to make errors. My players inform me they are simply getting through each and every possibility so they will have that particular game experience. They are excited by the wisdom and knowledge they have gained. YAHOO!

I'm not saying I'm not enthused by their new found wisdom but I'd prefer a little distance in games, a little safety where I can breathe regularly, and where I can sit down on the bench at the end of the game and know we have won without waiting for the final shot. Surely this is a possibility.

The ironic thing is my perception of these players is they are not the crazy, insane, off-the-court thrill seekers who might find danger in all they do. They are the stay-in-the-room watch movies, play-card-games types who might occasionally go out on the town to dance and let loose a little craziness. Perhaps they need to get their excitement from games. Perhaps this is the only place where they can play with sticks of dynamite. I guess in the scheme of things this is better for their mental, emotional and physical health. But is it better for mine?

Alas, it is the concept of team I must succumb too--not my own preferences. If it is better for them to play until the last (and I mean last second) of the game, then I must sacrifice my needs and wants for theirs. It is how the team concept works. We all must buy into what is best for team and I am a part of the team--not a separate entity. So all I ask of them is this: learn from all your end-of-the game experiences and apply them to the next contest, then we will win more than we lose which is what we all desire.

Taking Criticism

2009-12-09T09:24:00.003-05:00

When I was a player I hated to be criticized, because I thought it meant I wasn't any good--that I was failure. Now I have learned not to take criticism personally; it doesn't have anything to do with me as a person. I am still a worthy and good individual; however, I might need improvements in some areas. This is the lesson I want my players to recognize. It will save them years of pain and self condemnation.

I am happy to report my lone senior, Katy Arick, has learned this lesson well. Even though we begin every year telling our players constructive criticism is necessary, many of them fall apart when we begin to criticize their skills. They have to accept we care enough about them to want them to be better. They have to start with the inner awareness we are here to assist them to become the best they can become. We cannot do this by allowing them to continue making mistake after mistake after mistake.

When Katy first began playing for us, she could easily tear up when we demanded her to be better. Now, after three seasons of understanding why we criticize, she is able to handle our demands from a place of inner strength and confidence.

Last Saturday during our game, we had a twenty point lead early in the second half only to see it dwindle quickly to six points. We were in a situation where we needed to score. Katy was struggling with her shot, missing open opportunities which she normally made. After missing back to back shots in early offense, I took her out of the game, sat her down and told her in a not so gentle manner to stop shooting the ball. She needed to play good defense, be a screener and a passer and go get the rebound.

I didn't curse at her, nor did I use any demeaning language about her person, but I was very firm in what I told her she must do. A younger player with less self awareness might have inwardly crumbled not hearing my intent. A younger player might have heard I didn't believe in her, she was a bad shooter, she couldn't play in stressful situations, etc. BUT Katy didn't hear that. She heard my message and knew what she needed to do to help us win.

After only a minute of sitting on the bench, I put her back in the game where she dutifully did exactly as I had requested. The only shots she shot for the rest of the game were free throws which she made. She screened. She rebounded. She passed. She was the ultimate team player.

Katy has learned she is still a great player but there are times when she must do what is best for the team. She didn't take my criticism personally; instead she understood my intent, used the strengths she possessed for that particular time period and helped us win.

I couldn't be more proud of her.

Challenges Create Champions

2009-12-02T14:40:00.003-05:00

The great thing about athletics is how it relates to life situations. Life always offers opportunities for personal growth whether we want them or not. Playing basketball games is a journey of learning, growing from mistakes, keeping a head held high when things don't go the way we want them to and keeping faith in our abilities when the scoreboard doesn't end in our favor.

We are a team who could be 6-0 but instead we are sitting at 2-4. With every close loss, there is a heartache, a vacancy so deep and wide, it could fill the New River Gorge. If we begin to think like a 2-4 team, we will discover more losses, and we will not play to our abilities. If we know the truth as something different and think as if we were undefeated, we will play like a confident team with all our abilities.

This is a critical point in our journey. Do we look at ourselves and see losers or do we choose to see our depth, our strength, our courage? It is not our past which determines who we are; it is what we gain from our experiences. Now is the time for the Golden Eagles to make choices. What choice we make will determine our future. Are we going to allow our mistakes at the end of the games make us into a team who expects more of the same? Or can we choose to see each mistake as a stepping stone toward success?

Players with courage and confidence know this: a missed opportunity, an error, a mistake remains a failure only if we fail to learn from it. Learning from our losses will give us more than wins; it will provide us with the knowledge of our depth--our ability to overcome, to face adversity, to know with certainty when life throws us a curve ball, we can still hit it out of the park. Only a pessimist believes the journey is over this early in the season. Only a team without heart gives up and gives in before the last game is played.

There is always an option with each loss we face. Do we face our struggle with courage or do we give in to fear? Do we use these first games to make us stronger or do we allow them to make us weaker? It is not the outcome of the game which is so important; it is how we perceive it. If we can gain strength, look deep within ourselves and find a depth we did not know we had, we are better for our losses.

When I see our team, I see winners. I see women with heart and determination, with desire to be better, to learn from their experiences, and to grow as players and as people. I believe this team is full of champions. I hope they believe the same.

Don't Let The Record Fool You

2009-11-25T09:41:00.004-05:00

Last week was a long week. Playing four games in seven days is challenging especially with the emotions wrapped up in a single contest. Within one game, so many emotions can be felt: joy, fear, elation, passion, anger, insecuity, unworthiness, strength, belief, faith and hope. Every game is like a journey through one's soul going through so many opportunites for growth in such a short amount of time and when in that short 40 minutes, it ends with a loss, the prevailing emotions felt are sadness and a deep questioning of self and team.

It is difficult to take a loss and then stand tall with faith in the next opportunity. It is especially hard when a team which is as good as we are now has three losses in four games. How does a player recover? How does a team recover especially knowing that within each game an opportunity was there for a win? The games were so close we could physically touch and emotionally feel them, yet not hold them as ours.

How do we gather ourselves up in the full knowledge and awareness we are good and the journey has just begun? How do we find the right stuff to end the game as we desire? The real question is: how do take these losses and turn them into victories? It is not what has transpired which determines our future. It is our hope, our faith, our belief in one another and ourselves. It is the unwavering knowledge we can overcome; we are deserving; we are good; we are capable and we can.

I have witnessed such tremendous growth in the individuals and the team this season that they have inspired me. There is Katy Arick who has practiced and played with pain every day but who is playing the absolute best she has ever played in her career. The mental courage and willingness of Ali Tobias to step outside of where she has played the last two years and become a scorer willing to take the toughest of shots. Tiana Beatty, another injured player, who without fear jumps and leaps and plays with reckless abandon knowing every step hurts her. Tarenna Dixon who just a year ago couldn't sustain playing through a mistake and now keeps playing and giving effort when she misses a shot. Lindsey Kentner, an athlete who has beaten herself up with mental games, allowing herself to not be perfect and to let go of her missed shots playing in the now.

I have seen Jules overcome self doubt and the pain of not playing much last season to step up with confidence. There is Chrissy, an freshman, who last night after the experience of just three games, razzled and dazzled everybody with her passes and vision. Tianni, another fresh face out of high school, work through her self frustation to come again and again to play with determination. Lisanne getting out of the throes of self pity after injuring her ankle to encourage her teammates and be a team player. Moneka in her disappointment of not playing as much as she desires to continue to work hard in practices to improve. And finally, Emma, our sweet Emma who has shown such tremendous heart in her willingness to take on the journey of loving herself through each of her mistakes.

I believe in where this team is going, where the journey is headed, what they will achieve in the future because I can see into their hearts. I am full of hope.

A Little Blip

2009-11-10T09:09:00.004-05:00

Last week the Golden Eagles had a blip, a blot, an out-of-sorts kind of week. We were grouchy, slow to react, unwilling to listen to one another, full of excuses, blaming somebody else for our inadequacies and all around not playing together. It was rather nasty--not a week for singing positive praises about our team.

This lack of unity is not unusual. In fact, it is a normal phase of coming together. When a group comes together, there are times of laughter, fun and enjoyment and there are also times of jealousy, anger and blaming. What determines a team is not this time of "storming" but how we decide to deal with it. We could have chosen to leave it alone and pretend it wasn't there or we could have continued on the path of pointing fingers. What we chose instead was to find a way through our issues to gain the cohesiveness of a unit.

Saturday, rather than practicing on the court, we sat together in a circle with the instruction for each individual to write down three ways in which she contributed to our current state of affairs. We then went around the circle one at a time and shared our faults. No person was allowed to comment, judge or state anything after somebody had shared with the team.

Amazingly I found the players to be rather astute in their perceptions of what they needed to do in order to exert some control over what was occurring. One player said she needed to lead without fear of what her teammates would think about her. Another said she should voice her opinion when a teammate said something negative she didn't agree with rather than simply siding with her. One said she didn't need to bring her bad day with her on the court. Several of them stated they needed to be more vocal and show more enthusiasm when practicing.

When we had completed that exercise, we tore up our sheets of paper and threw them in the waste basket acknowledging we had dealt with our issues and they were no longer with us. Then we went around the group 10 times with each person stating something positive she did to help the team either on or off the court. No repeats of what another person had mentioned were allowed. At first, the Eagles were worried about the no repeat rule but they soon discovered how easy it was to find the positives. After 130 positive comments, we were well on our way to healing the experiences of our past week and moving toward the unity we needed to be successful.

When members of a team are willing to come together and share their faults, to admit their need for improvement, to take a part of the blame for what is occurring, then they can find the strength they need to defeat opponents.

To all the Golden Eagles for their willingness to work through our conflicts, I say: IHHOAGE!

The Cool Coach

2009-11-03T10:43:00.003-05:00

I must be losing my touch--the coaching touch that is. A couple of weeks ago when we were doing a positive circle and each team member was instructed to say something positive about the person on her right, I was told by Julianne I was cool this year. I had to check her face to see if cool actually meant good or if it was some meaning I had not yet deciphered. Sometimes with younger people I get lost in the lingo. Words change meaning with them as they tend to use their own interpretation of definitions. So once I determined cool actually meant good, I wasn't certain how to react. I've been called many things in my 21 years of coaching but I sincerely doubt I've ever been called cool.

What does this mean--being a cool coach? Have I been too nice? Too easy? Is my intensity waning? Have I forgotten how to push? Am I getting soft? Are practices not challenging?

I've always known it should be more important to a coach to be respected than to be liked. Being liked in the coaching world almost has a nasty connotation associated with it. It means you are being friends with the players; you don't know how to discipline; you can't draw the line in tough scenarios; and of course, you don't have your players' respect.

So I had to take a deep breath on this "cool" factor. I had to examine who I had become and if it was okay to be known as cool. After several hours of reflecting upon it, I decided I was indeed a different individual than I was years ago or perhaps even last year. I believe there was a time when I confused fear with respect meaning I thought if players feared me, then I had their respect. I no longer believe that. Respect comes from being organized and prepared, knowing how to coach, showing respect for others, being able to accept criticism, and coaching from a center of compassion. Perhaps I am not as hard-nosed, but I am still demanding and intense focused on getting the best I can from players.

I'm not certain if I am truly qualified to be a cool coach, but I am okay with the players believing I am if it makes them play better. If it doesn't make them play better, then I guess I won't get to hold the cool status.

The First Scrimmage is Just The First

2009-10-27T09:39:00.004-04:00

After our first scrimmage game, there were many comments from people who watched us play who were anxious about the upcoming year. They expressed their concerns about our lack of a cohesive offense. I agreed we did not play team offense; however, we never do this early.

The motion offense is an offense many coaches choose not to teach because it involves teaching multiple concepts. There is one famous coach who calls it the chaos offense because she assumes players are always confused and thus unable to play well. I agree that the motion offense can look chaotic, jumbled and messy. It can also look absolutely beautiful when all five players understand the principles of offense and buy into reading and reacting to the defense.

Unlike plays or continuity offenses, the motion offense requires teaching players to think while playing. They must not only understand spacing, headhunting on screens, reading their defender, choosing which cut or screen to make and the number of passes to make but they must intimately know the strengths and weaknesses of each of their teammates. It can be frustrating to teach and equally frustrating to learn.

The beauty of teaching players how to play the game and not just what "X spot" to run to on offense is that each of them evolve to a higher level of play. They eventually understand how a combination screen confuses the defense, how a back screen is more likely to get the screener open and how to create space by using different cuts. They will always be able to get open no matter what their defender does because they are watching and reacting to where she goes.

Not only does the motion offense create better offensive players; it creates better defensive players. Our defensive players become smarter because they understand what an offensive player is trying to do by cutting or screening. They get the game. When we face opponents who adjust a play from the coach on the sideline by how we defended the first time, we adjust with their adjustment. For example, a coach notices we are switching screens, so she chooses to call a "slip" screen. Because we work on slip screens daily in practice, we are prepared to defend it.

Our offense takes time. Every year there is a breaking point when I am prepared to ditch motion and go to some continuity offense. Just about the time I am ready to throw in the towel, the light bulb goes off and we begin to jell as a unit. It shouldn't take us as long this year to understand and grasp motion offense because we have several returners. So I must remind myself and others who witnessed our first scrimmage, it was just the first.

Watching the Wide-Eyed Freshmen

2009-10-20T11:15:00.003-04:00

After 20 years of being a head coach, I know one thing is a certainty: the freshmen are going to get overwhelmed, their brains exhausted from information overload. As I watch our newcomers this season, Chrissy, Tianni and Emma, try to keep up with our incessant teaching, I can't help but laugh at their wide-eyed stares. Their brains are cooked, drained and completely fried from our first eight practices.

When Tianni feels as if her I.Q. has dropped below double digits, Lindsey Kentner will say, "I've been there. It will get better." When Emma will look at me as if I'm speaking Russian, Katy Arick will interpret my words. When I yell at Chrissy for not remembering to hedge the screen, Lisanne will say, "Hang tough! We've all been through it." When I expect the seemingly impossible, loading another play upon them or worse, a new defensive rule, and all the fresh faces cannot believe there is more to learn, Tarenna or Ali will knowingly pat them on the back.

I know it is a difficult transition coming into the Golden Eagle program, because it is my philosophy to teach. I have rules for everything from offensive spacing to using screens to transitioning to defense to coming off the court to sitting on the bench. With initial entry into the Eagle program, players become confused, their feet stuck on a message that is trying to get from their brain down their legs. They become paralyzed from being analyzed. I understand their pain and would love to simplify the teaching but I also know the teaching is what will eventually make them better than they ever could have conceived.

With each practice, their feet will become more automatic, moving on muscle memory rather than brain focus. Their understanding of the game will make them smarter and this game intelligence will create confidence. I know this to be true because I have seen players evolve from their first year through their senior year. Each year they become better as their skills have improved. I see them adopt an attitude of belief in self and team. They become not only good but great.

So for Chrissy, Tianni and Emma, they will have to believe what the upper class players tell them. If they can live through this year, this self doubt, they will become phenomenal players. This I have witnessed year after year after year.

The First Day of Practice

2009-10-13T13:48:00.003-04:00

Official practices begin on Thursday which means that all players and coaches can be on the court at the same time with a basketball. Although basketball instruction has been taking place in small four-player groups throughout the past 6 1/2 weeks, we have not yet been able to put any of our offensive or defensive systems into place. We have focused on the principles or fundamentals of play.

When we begin on Thursday, the returners will know what to expect: more of the same emphasis on principles. The newcomers will undoubtedly want us to play more five-on-five. They will expect more focus on the systems. What they don't know is that 80% of our practices are spent in breakdown drills. It is my philosophy that the system isn't as important as the knowledge of how to use it.
In other words, I am more concerned about teaching athletes how to become better basketball players than executing a particular play or set.

For example, we spend hours upon hours teaching players how to set up their defender, go shoulder to shoulder off screeners and to read and react to where their defender goes. We might do this as footwork only or in 2-on-1 scenario or advance to 3-on-2 or 4-on-3. We move the players through drills adding speed and defenders until we get to 5-on-5. Then we break it down and build it up again. We do this from day one until the last day of practice and we do it for everything we teach.

We do the same thing with defense building on what we think are the essential pieces of defense: ball pressure, denial, help side, talking, boxing out, help-recover and closeouts. We use these principles on our half court defenses as well as our full court defenses. Whatever defense we play, we always go back to our defensive principles.

Everything is connected to how we teach our principles: how we defend screens, how we run plays, how we prepare for opponents, how we set up our scouting reports.

Inevitably, our newcomers don't understand the importance of our principles and they yearn for more scrimmages. Our returners know the benefits of the emphasis on fundamentals and they settle into practices knowing they will reap the benefits of becoming solid players.

Devolping Strength Within

2009-10-06T09:35:00.004-04:00

Yesterday a former player of mine emailed to ask me how to develop mental toughness. She felt her team members were not displaying the attributes they should in terms of being mentally tough. I believe I know what many coaches might say. They would lean toward the physical part of practice to create the mental part.

In other words, many coaches believe the way to mental toughness is to put athletes in positions where they have to physically push through their self-imposed limits. For example, we make our players run 15 suicides in a row with only a thirty four second rest between each suicide. It is tough. It hurts. They gasp for breath but in the end most of them make their times. They see a result they didn't believe they could accomplish. This gives them confidence which produces mental toughness.

Confidence is really what mental toughness is. It is the belief system developed by players they can do and achieve what they desire. The problem is most players doubt. It is this doubt which doesn't allow them to achieve. It is not their abilities which hold them back; it is their belief system. When a desire is matched by a belief, then a player becomes mentally tough and all types of wonderful achievements occur.

While the physical part of practice is critical to success, the greater part of achieving goals is the mental part. No action in the world can overcome the inner belief system of not being good enough. Success has to start within the player.

We try to approach mental toughness training in a variety of ways. We have chalk talks every Thursday where we talk about the aspects of mental preparedness: how to respond to pressure; how to improve self talk; how to use rituals to get mentally prepared for games; how to play in the now.

We address self-awareness through the use of a journal. We ask them to answer questions about themselves where they have to think about their inner most thoughts. We might address their biggest strengths or weaknesses. We might ask them their state of mind before the best game they ever played. They might be asked to define the characteristics which prevent them from being a great player. It is through self-awareness they can create changes. If they don't know what they are thinking, they cannot change their thoughts.

In order for team members to become aware of what are the desirable traits, we have them fill out a questionnaire after each practice and game. By filling out the short questionnaires, they become more in tune with how they are developing their mental abilities.

We develop a great learning environment where we constructively criticize and provide positive feedback. We spend more time telling players what they can do versus telling them what they cannot do. We place more emphasis on recovering from a mistake than the mistake itself. We hold positive circles where each team member shares a positive trait. We emphasize the good about the team and team members.

Mental toughness is a difficult skill to teach, yet is it by far the most essential trait an athlete can develop. When a player learns to change her belief system to match her desires, she will not only become an elite athlete; she will experience success in all life endeavors.

Recovering From Recovery Week

2009-09-28T11:22:00.003-04:00

When I was an athlete training with the national team handball team, we trained twice a day year around. It was our life. We got up in the morning, ate, went to the sports medicine center, practiced, went back to the trainers to pack ourselves in ice, ate, slept, then completed the entire morning scenario a second time. It was what I did for over five years.

So when I try to sneak a recovery week into our training schedule for the purpose of our athletes getting a little rest, I may not achieve all the recovery the players wanted. I think I am going easy on them when they think I have swapped one kind of running for another.

This past week instead of running timed sprints on Monday, we played ultimate frisbee and keep away. I believed these were rather innocuous games involving a little running, a little movement here and there, so I couldn't understand why they were out of breath and sweating when we were done. I mean 35 minutes of running should be relaxing. Right?

When Wednesday came around, I had another set of fun games for them to play. One was called Hungarian Dodge Ball and the other was titled Czechoslovakian Dodge Ball. Both of them involve sprinting full court while dodging balls. Again they were putting their hands on top of their heads, leaning over in taking huge gulps of air and perspiring. These were simple, fun games. Why were they acting as if they had just worked out?

By Thursday they were as fatigued as if we had completed a week of our usual conditioning. When I asked Lindsey Kentner, our extreme cardio woman who never gets tired, if she was feeling recovered, I was surprised when she told me that she wasn't. Using my astute deductive reasoning, I deduced if Lindsey was not fully recovered at the end of the week, then the other players would not have found fresh legs either.

Since the purpose of recovery week was for the athletes to refresh both minds and bodies, I had to convince myself on Friday to allow them to simply have fun without any running. I had to talk myself into the belief that we don't want to work harder than every other team in the nation, we want to work smarter. We desire to work smart hard, an endearing term which means we use the muscles of our brain as well as those of our bodies.

I would say when I was an athlete, we didn't use our brains which resulted in many overuse injuries and several losses along the way. Now I know the power of using our brains and hopefully, I am sharing that power with my players which meant that on Friday they were able to laugh and have fun fully recovering mind, body and spirit.

Using Discipline To Improve Team Concepts

2009-09-22T09:07:00.007-04:00

When I played volleyball in high school, I was fortunate enough to have a great coach, Shirley Langdon, who taught me the value of discipline. I often got mad at her seemingly dispassionate nature when it came to matters of discipline. I thought she should have held more understanding in her heart especially when it came to me. (I'm certain some of my current and past players feel the same way about how I've handled them.)

One day during the preseason when my mother was taking me to practice, we had a flat tire. I immediately began crying because I knew I would be in trouble for being late. During those days without cell phones (yes I existed before the invention of cell phones), I walked to the nearest pay phone and called the school secretary asking her to inform Coach Langdon of my predicament. When I came through the gym door late, I thought Coach Langdon would offer me some sort of shortcut through the sprints since I had made the effort to contact her and I had a legitimate reason for being late. No such luck. I cursed at her (underneath my breath of course) for the entire thirty minutes I sprinted. I never forgave her for that one until I became a coach.

I now appreciate and understand the value of discipline. I comprehend that when I teach discipline I am teaching self respect, integrity, mental toughness, and the molding of a group of individuals into a team. I don't believe a team can become great without discipline. It is the means to which all ends are achieved.

I didn't understand then why Coach Langdon didn't relieve me of the sprints, but now I know she cared so much about me she wouldn't let me have any excuse for not being good. She took my excuses and threw them out the door. Nothing mattered to her except we did what we were supposed to do when we were supposed to do it. Because she took that approach which seemed harsh to most of us, we did perform exactly as she believed we could. There were no excuses which we could use to tell her why we didn't block a hit or why we didn't get the ball across the net. We did it because she made us believe we could. No excuses were accepted. We battled and we fought for her. We gave until we didn't think we could and then she demanded more of us. It was her way of giving to us a power we didn't know we had.

When I discipline, it is always for the good of the team. My intent is to make them better as players and as people. It is to get them to understand they are responsible for their success and excuses only serve to take them further away from what they desire.

Last Friday, the Eagles forfeited their right to game day which is implemented as a reward for their hard work throughout the week. During game day, we substitute a game for our usual timed sprints. The amazing thing was when I told them why we were running sprints instead of playing ultimate frisbee or one of our other fun games, they didn't quibble, get angry at one another or shoot me nasty looks. No, instead they worked as hard as they possibly could and made the most of the day. This impressed me--this no nonsense approach to finding the best within the situation. I liked that. I believe this team understands the necessity for discipline which means they have matured. Mature players are always wonderful to coach.

Listening To Our Internal Voices

2009-09-15T09:55:00.004-04:00

We ask our players to keep a journal and write an entry one time a week. The purpose of players writing in their journals is to become more aware of who they are--to discover things about themselves they did not know. It sounds a little silly to say that our players do not know who they are. It would appear after 18 years years of living they would have intimate awareness of their inner thoughts, but the truth is that at age 48 I am still learning who I am.

Often we don't stop to listen to our internal voices and the messages we are sending to ourselves. It is these internal messages which drive us to succeed or to fail, yet we have lived with the same voices so long we haven't taken time to digest exactly what we are saying.

Since our mind thinks in pictures, we may not be aware of the negative messages we continue to perpetuate day after day. Imagine for a moment a player going to the free throw line in a pressure situation. As she steps to the line, she tells herself that she cannot miss this shot. She repeats to herself, "Don't miss. Don't miss." When she tells herself not to miss, she cannot help but visualize the miss. Her mind pictures the miss.

What she should be saying to herself is more in the lines of "I see this shot going in. I feel it coming off my fingers exactly as I have done a thousand times before. I can make free throws anytime in any situation." Now she has visualized the shot going through the net, the thousand times she has practiced free throws and convinced herself she can make this shot now. What a different story!

Players who don't take the time to evaluate what they tell themselves will have difficulty finding the success they want. Thoughts perpetuate action. There is no other way to start an action except by thought. The thought always comes first whether we know it or not. If our players recognize what they are saying to themselves can be damaging or preventing their success, they can work on creating better thoughts.

How many players began with the thought "I can't" because they heard somebody in their past tell them they couldn't dribble with their left hand or shoot a three pointer or defend a faster player? Once they start a thought with those negative words, it is almost certain it will come true. If, however, they can think past the person who told them they couldn't, erase that vocabulary and begin with a different and more affirmative outlook, they will be able to find greater success.

By having our players write in their journals, they have the opportunity to grow in awareness. By expanding their awareness, they can impact their success by simply changing the way they speak to themselves on a daily basis.

Winning is Everything

2009-09-08T09:54:00.005-04:00

Several years ago when I was a young, ambitious coach I was on a job interview at a small college in Montana where basketball was THE EVENT. When a member of the search committee asked me about my views on winning, I replied, "Winning is everything . . . it is the only thing." I could tell she was a little taken aback by my intensity on the subject. Then I defined winning.

Winning to me is not about the scoreboard. The scoreboard never tells the entire story. It may be true the final score is what is celebrated by fans, written about in newspapers and discussed on television stations, but it is not always the entire story. The scoreboard is simply a piece of the journey involving the growth of the players and coaches.

For the Golden Eagles, a win is about three things:
1. Giving 100%.
2. Playing through every second no matter what the circumstance.
3. Learning from the experience.

Giving 100% means exhausting yourself totally. It means when a player departs the court, she could not have gone for another second. She has given her heart, her mind and her body to the game. She has left it all on the court not saving anything for the next day.

Playing through every second means there is no quitting, no letting up, no getting down at a missed shot, turnover or a great play by an opponent. It means that if we are down 20 points, we are still playing as if the game were on the line. It means that if we are up 30 points, we are still intense and focused, working on getting the most from our time on the court.

Learning from the experience means that we are looking for growth, recognizing the good as it comes and feeling great about it, but also always searching for a way to become better. If we learn to take something from each practice and each game, we are continually in the process of growing. Growing means we are getting better. Ultimately, it is what we should desire from our life experience--the opportunity to get better each day.

If we can do these three things, we will win on the scoreboard more often than we will lose. We will discover success. We will feel good about ourselves. We will find wins in some of our losses and discover that a win is not always as it appears on a scoreboard. We will strive to be our best and in being our best, we will truly have done something remarkable. And that is by far one of the most important aspects of winning--learning to feel good about who we are and what we have achieved.

Laughter Creates Unity

2009-09-01T09:20:00.006-04:00

I like this team. I realize I say that every year but this team makes me laugh and laughter is good for the soul. Of course, there are times when laughter is not appropriate such as after a loss, during a frozen push-up, running a sprint, doing a competitive drill and when my eyes are five times their size and veins are popping out of my forehead.

This team has a good sense of timing their laughs, knowing when to tease, when to let something go and when I will laugh along with them. Friday night during our initial team meeting, a meeting which is usually full of tension due to the string of rules and regulations I impose, the team had me laughing--a deep bellie laugh with tears at the edge of my eyelids.

If I were to relate the stories to somebody else, they probably wouldn't find them funny. It was one of those deals where you had to be there to think it was funny, yet as a group we can reivist those moments and find the laughter again. This ability to laugh together has already sealed our unity--provided us with a togetherness that other teams can only pray they can achieve. It has given us an intimacy, a feeling of oneness that we will be able to utilize during the challenging times.

Friday night wasn't all laughter; it was team business and motivation for the future. It was a time for sharing when the players read a page from their workout journal which I had requested them to keep over the summer. The journal will be a concrete reminder of the daily grind they put themselves through to find their dreams. When they shared their toughest workout day of the summer, I found I was amazed at their willingness to spend hours and hours getting better. There was Canada (Lisanne) who "ran through grass as high as my waist in the hottest of days . . . uphill both ways." There was Katy who played basketball for two hours against the Chinese, then spent another hour weight lifting, then another hour doing shooting, then did an ab workout. There were others whose workouts were just as impressive.

After we had laughed at Canada's rendition of her workout which became tougher with each telling, we each wrote our biggest strengths on a piece of paper. Then I had them add to that paper their vision of a perfect game. We then took those papers and hid them in the gym in a place where they wouldn't be discovered. So our strengths and our perfect game will be in the gym waiting for us all year long.

I am not certain where this year will take us, but I am convinced we will find laughter along the way.

Fear or Faith

2009-08-26T13:34:00.007-04:00

Every year brings with it new challenges and opportunities. The unknown can be disastrous if it is feared or it can be joyous if it is looked upon as an adventure. What is important at this stage of the year is the attitude of the players involved. It is their belief system which will determine whether this year is one to be remembered and cherished or one to be forgotten and stashed deep within themselves.

In searching for the answer to this question, I look at the upper class players to see how they have grown internally. I am always more concerned with the strength of their minds versus the strength of their bodies.

I can see the strength of Katy Arick who finally after three years of failing the 12 minute run succeeded. She has always known this battle for her was not one of her lungs or legs but one of her mind. It was the little child within her telling her she couldn't that would not allow her to make the run. Finally she has learned to quieten that little child and allow the bigger woman to step forth--the one who believes in opportunity and success, in achieving the seemingly impossible.

I see the determination of Tarenna Dixon who has had to learn some very difficult lessons but who with a tenacity she has never shown in the classroom achieved a "B" in a difficult course over the summer. When she speaks to me now, she looks me in the eyes as if she knows she deserves the praise I will give her.

I see the willingness of Lindsey Kentner to take the next step--the one which could make her a failure or a star. Her obstacle has been the need to be
perfect--to make every shot she shoots. Now, with the understanding that she can miss without being less than who she is, she is free to be the incredible player she has always been.

I see Ali Tobias whose favorite past time was believing she wasn't fast enough to compete against athletic players now offering up the knowledge that intelligence can surpass athleticism. She is more comfortable in her abilities to be deceptive.

I see Moneka Slaughter taking on the constructive criticism I give her with the understanding she is capable of pushing through my demands. She is growing into the awareness she is strong, fast and a good low block player.

I see Julianne Smith gaining confidence in her shooting skills, the same skills she worked on endlessly last year but never used. It was never that she couldn't physically shoot the ball; it was that she thought she couldn't.

I see Tiana Beatty as a player who will not be denied. Even with pain, she has continued to find ways to train over the summer. She did not let what she could not do effect what she could do.

There is a difference between fears they owned and fears they have dissolved. There is a quiet confidence, an inner calmness which they now carry. This is their torch . . .their team . . . and their destiny.

A Coaching Change

2009-08-17T16:01:00.007-04:00

With the start of a new school year comes the beginning of a new season. This one is especially different for me as it will be the first time in 18 years I will be operating without my assistant coach, Lynne Fitzgerald. After 20 years of coaching, she made the determination that she was prepared to search a different direction for what life had to offer. Instead of spending days on end in the gymnasium, she has opted for blue skies, glacier lakes, and the wide expanse of the outdoors. Her focus in on the wilderness and outdoor leadership opportunites.

She has been a phoenomenal recruiter, getting us some of the top players in the WVIAC. Her strength as a recruiter was her ability to talk to anybody and make them feel special. She was also a tremendous teacher on the court. She knew how to break down a skill and develop it piece by piece to enable all players to be successful. One of the most important aspects of her job was to keep me level-headed, positive and coaching the game rather than reacting to the officials. She did this with humor and great insight.

She will be missed as part of the Golden Eagle coaching staff.

I welcome with enthusiasm the new member of my coaching staff, Rachel Pike. Rachel was a Golden Eagle from 2003-2007 and part of a team that acquired 106 wins versus only 24 losses. During her tenure, the team won back-to-back East Regional Championships and advanced to the Elite Eight in both 2005 and 2006.

During the past two years, Rachel was graduate assistant at Tiffin University where she received her Masters in Business Administration with a focus on leadership. While she is young, I have complete confidence in her ability to lead, to teach, to organize and to recruit.

When Rachel was a player, I often told her that she had the wisdom of an eighty year old mind in a twenty year old body. She was mature then in her decision-making and how she responded to conflicts which is exactly why she is a member of the coaching staff.

I often tell my players that you can't stay in the past. You have to perform in the moment. My challenge is to allow the wonderful 18 years spent working beside Coach Fitzgerald to remain part of the past and to be thankful for all she gave to me and the program and to allow Coach Pike to be part of the present.

Remember the Wonderful Journey

2009-03-19T15:32:00.002-04:00

At the end of the season, we are tempted to remember the last game, angry and upset by our lack of play. We could end the season that way, remembering the nightmare of being on the court but not actually being there, feeling embarrassed by our inability to perform. We could stay there in that place or we could celebrate the journey.

It is, after all, the journey which tells the story--which creates the people who are involved in it. Even though the Cal, Pa game was horrible, it does not define who we are and how far we have come. It was only a bleep in the long days of becoming better players and people.

I am amazed at the journey of the team and the young women who were a part of it. I am thrilled by their growth and their willingness to battle despite setbacks and challenges. Who would have thought at our mid-October scrimmage against Shawnee State when we were down 30 points at half time that we would win 26 games? Who would have dreamed when two returning starters went down with knee injuries from that scrimmage game that we could find a way to overcome it?

It is a testament to our seniors and their leadership.

I am grateful for Jen DeMeyer's ability to continue through her injuries and her emotional ups and downs from being hurt. She was strong enough to come back time and time again until the last knee injury then she was gracious enough to accept the role of cheering on her teammates.

I am grateful for Veronica Carman's growth as a player throughout her years here. Who would have thought her freshmen year that she would become a vocal leader? Who would have believed she would have spend hours and hours becoming a better offensive player? Who would have dreamed of her being not only our defensive stopper but our scorer as well? She did.

I am grateful for Jihan Williams and her willingness to overcome the concept of victimization to understand her control of circumstances. She determined she wanted a better relationship with the coaches and she created that. She became a stellar player after a junior year filled with frustration. She became a great player but a much better person.

These young women led from their hearts and souls. They provided the leadership the team needed and kept the team headed toward the right direction. They were not perfect . . . but then none of us are. They made some mistakes but they kept grounded and focused toward what was important. They made my job easier.

I hope the Golden Eagles can remember this season as the culmination of all experiences--of what they have learned and gained from the season. I hope they can use this success to propel them forward in the future. I hope they realize the life skills they can for the demands of tomorrow: discipline, motivation, self-awareness, responsibility, goal-setting, overcoming adversity, functioning as a unit, and hard work.

Basketball is much more than a game. It is a journey.

IHHOAGE!

DOUBLE WHAMMIE!

2009-03-10T16:18:00.002-04:00

As if winning the conference title was not enough, the Golden Eagles decided to go for the double whammie--winning both the conference title and the tournament championship. This was a dream they had from the first day they stepped on the court in August. It is a testament to these young ladies that dreams do come true. This was the best part for me--watching them create their dreams.

The conference tournament started on Monday with a game against Salem University who had not won a game all season. This was tough for the five players from Salem who had the character to make it through the season. Imagine showing up after being beaten up all year for the final game against the number one seed. For our part, we had to focus on being our best for the play-offs. While we didn't want to run up the score against Salem, neither did we want to become soft and forget who we were. Even though we didn't press one possession and played all 12 of our players in double-digit minutes, limiting our starters to an average of 16 minutes, we still beat them by a score of 127-25. While I understand the challenge the players for Salem had, we also had the challenge of playing hard and keeping the game in perspective. For our part, we never once laughed or displayed any type of jest at the Salem players.

On Wednesday, we were paired against our rival, WV State. I knew this was going to be a difficult task because we had defeated them on Saturday by a score of 87-54 where we made 14 of 21 three point attempts for a shocking 66.7% from the three point line. Getting our players to think that the WV State game was going to be a challenge was my biggest concern. It is difficult to get players to be prepared for an opponent after defeating them so easily, yet I knew from 20 years of coaching experience that this was going to be a tough one.

The Yellow Jackets were ready to play us and they gave us all we could handle. We bumbled and fumbled the ball, passed it directly into their hands and watched as they sailed down the court for fast break lay-ups. We were not mentally there. As we called timeouts and tried to get the players to reel their minds back to the game, I felt almost hopeless because their minds were not in the Civic Center. I do not know how we won that game. In reality we should not have won that game, yet we found a way. With Ali Tobias on the free throw line and Jihan and Katy singing to her, she sank her 1-in-1 to help us to a 53-52 victory.

On Friday, we faced the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. I was worried that we would not be able to regain our confidence after the WV State game. We were lost and worried. I've seen teams tank after a game like that. Yet, this team never dies. They just find a new way to recover. We spent some time with them revisiting why we were a good team. We did a little team bonding exercise where the players reminded each other of our strengths. I could feel the shift in energy after we had completed the exercise. It was just enough to change our focus and get us back on track.

We were able to outlast UPJ by a score of 73-56 in the final few minutes of the contest despite injuries to Jihan and Katy. They were so tough playing through injuries, never giving in to excuses. This is what being a Golden Eagle is all about--mental toughness!

In the championship game against West Liberty, it was gut check time. The players from West Liberty played with such heart and determination. They came out and nailed seven three pointers on us before we even had time to register them. We were down 11 points and things were not looking pretty, but we didn't give up. We just keep playing hard. I collected a technical foul for clapping my hands once. No, I didn't say anything--just clapped my hands. Yet, thank goodness for the technical foul. It pumped us up. It got us out of our slump and pushed us toward focusing our energies on playing smarter and harder.

We only had the lead two times in the game. Early in the game with the score 4-2 and then at the 7:22 mark when we went up by 1 point. Then we were not ahead again until there was only 32 seconds remaining. We nailed six free throws in a row and stopped them scoring to end the game. WOW! This was a testament to believing in a dream so much that circumstances and events did not deter the dream.

I am convinced this team has won 25 games from the center of their heart. They have won because they believed in dreams and wouldn't let those dreams die. I have been impressed with their desire and their heart.

TO THE GOLDEN EAGLES I SAY: IHHOAGE!

Dreaming on the Dream Board

2009-03-02T11:19:00.002-05:00

During the summer months each player created a dream box where she was to place any articles, quotes, or pictures of her dreams for this season. It was a great way to keep our dreams close and to continually feel them throughout the summer. At the beginning of the year, we each shared something from our dream box with the team. Then the coaches just let the dream box idea slip. We didn't do anything with it until a week ago when Coach Fitzgerald decided that we needed a dream board in the locker room.

We decided that each player should bring something every day to tack to the dream board. In this way, we would be sharing our dreams with our teammates. It started with just a word or two, then quotes, then pictures, then a piece of the net we cut down three years ago when we won the East Regional Tournament. It began as something they had to do and grew into something they wanted to do.

The board has become a constant visual reminder of our dreams. It makes their dreams appear more real because there is substance to them. The more the dream is plastered on the board, the stronger the sense of the dream. It feels real. Every person who has ever felt her dream come true knows there was a moment when the dream no longer felt like a dream. It felt real even before it became real. This is how we won the conference title: believing in dreams.

The power of belief is so strong that it is the difference between those who succeed and those who fail. The dream board has kept us focused on what we want and placed our energy in the direction we want to go. It has created an energy of its own--an energy each player has taken to heart. Heart is the center of this team and dreams are the center of the heart.

I am thrilled with the accomplishments of this team and believe they still have dreams to fulfill. Until the season has been completed, the dream board will be alive.

&%#$&@()#&%^@&!!)(@#$&!

2009-02-23T16:00:00.002-05:00

The title of today's blog is the words I happened to say during and after the game on Thursday. I don't like to curse. I try not to practice cursing but dang-it, I hate losing. I am not a good loser which is one of the reasons I work so hard at winning. I once had a coaching friend of mine say that he thought losing got easier after so many years of coaching. I've not found that to be true. I love to win and love players who love to win.

This team loves to win and certainly competes hard. They did not try to lose on Thursday night. They gave everything they had that night. The problem was they didn't have much to give. Most of them were suffering from some form of the flu where coughing takes over the regular breathing mechanism and the result is the body replaces the exhalation of a breath with coughing fits.

I always tell the players that it doesn't matter if they are sick, tired, injured, angry, sad, or upset. When they get to practice or a game, they have to be there without any excuses. Of course, I understand there are days when the body refuses to give 100%. Yet, I am more concerned about how they are going to enter the battle. If they believe they should play through whatever ails them, they are more likely to do so.

I knew going into the game we were going to struggle because we had not had a successful practice all week. Monday, we didn't have enough healthy players to practice so we shot for 30 minutes. Tuesday, we attempted a practice but discovered that the players couldn't go hard. We ran a 32 second sprint and half of them spent the next two minutes coughing. This was not a good indicator of how we were going to run for the forty minutes which constitutes the length of a game.

I will give credit to Alderson-Broaddus for playing hard, executing their offense, and shooting the ball extremely well the second half. They did what they should have done--take advantage of our inability to play well. Despite having seven sick players out of our nine who play, I was still upset with them. Couldn't they find a way to dig deeper? Couldn't the two who were healthy carry us through the game?

I will admit to being a tad bit demanding. Maybe this was too big of a hurdle for them, but I won't give them that opening. If they search for excuses, they will always find them. I don't want them searching for excuses, I want them searching for answers no matter how difficult the obstacle seems. If they believe they should have overcome their illnesses to win, then the next time players are sick, they will step up and believe they should win anyway. It is always about mental toughness and believing in winning. Always.

Growing on Dreams

2009-02-16T09:23:00.003-05:00

I have watched this team evolve from a team who could not defend an out of bounds play (Remember Concord scoring 10 points on the same play), who could not score on a 2-on-1 fast break play (ouch!), and who could not coordinate a team offense (the infamous one-pass-chunk-it offense) to a team who is third in the league in scoring offense (71.4 ppg), third in scoring defense (59 ppg) and first in FG% defense (.374).

Early in the season, I remember thinking that we were not very good. As I watched us fumble with our offense, consistently forget to rotate on helpside defense, and overall play with a lack of confidence, I didn't know how we were going to win a game.

Naturally, I didn't share these thoughts with the team. I told them that they were good, that they should be winning games, and that they had the talent to be the best. We talked about dreams and goals--about winning the conference and the conference tournament and getting back to the national tournament. We talked about these things as if they were true. Then we practiced on the court as if they were true.

Then little by little the team started to evolve. It was small things at first: scoring a fast break lay-up, getting a stop on defense, winning a close game, holding a great player below her scoring average. With each small victory, a larger victory came about--the inner confidence of believing we should win.

How could this team graduate from average to great in 3 1/2 months? How could players shed their lack of self confidence for a stronger belief system? How could a group of individuals come together so quickly in tight unity? How could they develop a sense for the game only experienced veterans have?

The secret is in the belief system. There is a quote which states, "Success breeds success." With each win, the players became more secure in their talents. They started thinking they were good. As their belief systems became stronger, their play on the court became better. They always had the ability to be good, but they needed to believe it.

Last week in our game on Thursday, I witnessed one of the best team efforts offensively and defensively I have ever seen a Golden Eagle team play. We scored 56 points on offense in a vast array of ways: in the paint, on fast break points, against the zone, with three point attempts, and on penetration. Then we shut down our opponent defensively allowing only 22 points on 30% shooting. On Saturday night, we had another incredible half of basketball, scoring 50 points while allowing only 14 points.

Is this the same team I witnessed in November? NO. It is not. It is an amazing team who can now touch their dreams, feel them on their fingertips, and taste the sweetness of victory on the tips of their tongues. This is a team who can dare to dream and dare to make those dreams come true.

Passion Is Stronger Than Fear

2009-02-09T10:07:00.004-05:00

There are many coaching philosophies and many ways to win. There is the tough coach who demands, demands, demands, and uses punishment as a means to right the errors on the court. I had a former coach like this whose answer to every loss was to make us run suicides. When we lost, we knew the next practice was going to be horrible. We were going to run until we could barely stand up. The awful thing was that this approach worked because we hated running. The consequence of not winning was so devastating that we absolutely feared the next day. This fear drove us to win.

Of course, we all loved the winning. Winning was fun but the means to achieve winning was not. I hated the thought of going to practice--the thought of running until I felt my insides were going to all come up through my throat. I grieved all day, anxiety eating through my stomach, tasting the acid of that gut rot on my tongue as I envisioned my legs turning to rubber. There was no joy throughout the day until the running was done. Then there was that small moment of reprieve when I knew I didn't have to go through that again until the next day.

Since I didn't enjoy my experience, I am not the type of coach who uses punishment as a means to win. I don't want my players fearing practice, worrying all day about what I might do to them. I want them eager to arrive, to learn how to become better, to enjoy the experience even if sometimes the answer to a problem might be a tough practice. I remember as an athlete running and running and running all the while thinking that we would be better off working on the skills we needed to improve.

Am I soft? I don't think so. Should I at times be a little tougher? Probably. Should I at times be a little more understanding? Probably. I do know, though, the answer to my teams is not punishment but coming together to resolve problems or issues.

Two Saturdays ago after we lost to WVW, I wanted to work them hard--to push and push and push until they got everything right. It was what I wanted but not necessarily what they needed. They needed to recover from a loss, to work on the skills they needed to beat the opponent the next time, and to allow themselves a little time off from basketball.

In order to achieve these things, we spent a few minutes writing in our journals about why we lost. Then we went around the room asking each player why she thought we played poorly. After it was determined that it was a mental issue, a game preparation issue, I asked the players to complete a homework assignment on how to change their mentality the next time this occurred.

The next step was to work on the skills in practice which needed improvement. We changed our emphasis in practices and spent more time on those skills. When my assistant coaches brought to my attention that the players seemed tired and needed rest, I gave them Thursday off. No practice. No team meetings. Their instructions were to get away from basketball and enjoy the day.

Does this philosophy work for every coach? No. It works for us because we build the team around the positive and focus on creating our dreams from this belief system. Hopefully, the idea is that our players will love the game and use this passion to play. I believe passion is stronger than fear and I know without a doubt it is more fun.

Playing Not To Lose

2009-02-02T11:03:00.007-05:00

There is a difference in playing to win and playing not to lose. It sounds the same. On the peripheral, it might seem insignificant to those who don't understand the psychological differences. Playing to win means you are in the moment, secure in the belief of the outcome, heading toward the goal of having more points than the opponent at the end of the game. You are calm, searching for answers as the game progresses, believing in your abilities and those of your teammates. It feels comfortable and easy even if the lead is changing possession by possession.

Playing not to lose, on the other hand, is stressful, mind-taxing, and muscle-tensing. Playing not to lose means you are worried from the beginning about the outcome. Your focus is not on the moment; it is on the what-ifs of losing. When you are in this place of torment, you are not free to play as yourself because your belief system is in doubt. Your emotions are in the zone of fear and fear creates the physical symptoms of increased heart rate, muscle tension, rapid breathing, tunnel vision, and energy consumption.

When coaches say at the end of the game that their team choked, they are referring to this concept of playing not to lose. It is a real not imagined phenomena. It is the mind controlling the outcome of a contest before the contest even begins.

Not to take anything away from West Virginia Wesleyan, but we lost the game before we entered the court on Saturday. After gaining the number one slot in the conference and the number three slot in the region, our minds begin to worry and be consumed with the idea of not remaining in those positions. The mind is a tricky organ, and it is difficult to change the course of a mind once it begins its route on a thought. It is like hearing a song in the morning and then singing it all day long. It just gets in your mind and repeats and repeats and repeats.

Going toward a goal is different than going away from one. For example, if I wanted to travel to Cleveland, I would get on Interstate 77 and go north. It would take me approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes to arrive in Cleveland. It would be an easy drive. I knew where I wanted to go and how to get there. There were no questions about which route was going to get me to where I wanted to go.

Suppose my goal was to go away from Charleston. I had no real destination in mind other than going away from Charleston. I might end up in Cleveland but it could take me hours because I had no real destination in mind; therefore, I might take back roads, detours, or go to five different cities before arriving. I would be tired of driving, my neck muscles would be tense, my eyes would be fatigue, and I would be hungry.

There is a real difference in heading toward something rather than going away from it or trying to avoid it. How do we return to going toward a win rather than trying so hard not to lose? We become aware of what we are doing. We change our words we speak to ourselves. We learn the lesson that we have to think in terms of a positive goal. We believe we have done it before so we can do it again. We understand that we control our minds and our minds do not control us. And we try. We get back on the court and play like we are capable.

Reading the Stat Sheet

2009-01-27T10:55:00.004-05:00

I once read a quote which started something like this: "There are lies, dang lies, and statistics." The quote was referring to the notion that perhaps statistics were not always truthful despite the hard push from researchers to equate them with the absolute truth. Any politician worth her salt knows that she can bend, twist, pull, and manipulate statistics into whatever form she desires creating her own form of truth.

What you might ask does all this mumbo-jumbo have to do with basketball? It has to do with the stat sheet which is suppose to tell the story of the game. After all, it has all the pertinent facts on it: field goals made, field goals attempted, field goal percentage, assists, rebounds, turnovers, steals, blocks, free throws attempted, free throws made, and free throw percentage. A coach should be able to review the stat sheet after a game and understand why a team won or lost.

Here is where the quote becomes pertinent. After the Golden Eagles play, I might look at the stat sheet and note that we have 32 turnovers (ouch!), a shooting percentage of 32% (You gotta be kidding!), 10 less rebounds (A REAL THORN IN MY SIDE), 2 steals (Where is the defense?), or 8 assists (Did anybody pass the ball?). Most of these statistics would result in the loss of a game. Yet, when I glance at the bottom of the sheet where the score is posted, the Golden Eagles have won. How?

The problem with the stat sheet is that it doesn't have a column marked intangibles. This is where the Golden Eagles play. They play in the intangible column. How can a statistician note heart, determination, will, and belief in team? Where is the stat that dictates never giving up? Where is the line which provides the medium which describes this team: Finding a way to win?

If I were just looking at the neat columns of the stat sheet, I would not believe we were 15-4. I would believe we were a .500 team. It would be that simple. Yet because I know these young ladies, know their work ethic, their desire to be good, their love for one another, their willingness to be coached, and their absolute belief in togetherness, I understand why they are winning.

Statistics can be deceiving but what is real is what cannot be written on a sheet. It can only be felt through the heart. This team is all about heart.

TRIPPING on Trips

2009-01-19T16:27:00.004-05:00

Some days are more challenging than others. Last Wednesday was such a day. I was not overjoyed to begin the trip to Seton Hill University knowing that we were going to be driving the vans through snow. This always means that my shoulders, neck, and trapezius muscles are going to be tighter than usual and my eyes will be more fatigued from the constraint strain of watching the road.

Like a dutiful coach, I made myself get mentally ready for the trip knowing that dreading the trip always makes it longer. About 2 1/2 hours into the drive, we stopped at a gas station to purchase windshield wiper fluid which is when I noticed I had managed to leave my purse in the office. The purse contained the cash for the trip, my credit cards, and my driver's license. When I mentioned this to the players, they immediately offered to assist by digging into their pant pockets to retrieve any money they might have. After pooling all their money together, we had about $8.00. My question is: How come they always have money for shoes?

Since we had no money, the players pulled their stocking hats over their heads, pointed their index fingers and thumbs into make-believe guns and told the guy behind the counter that we outnumbered him and could take him by force. I thought this was extremely funny, but I'm not so certain the cashier was as entertained as I was. Instead of holding up the store, we used Coach Fitzgerald's debit card to get us enough cash to make it to Seton Hill.

The drive is only supposed to take 4 hours which is what it took us when we returned home. Unfortunately, I was in the lead. Now why my assistants would let me lead when my sense of direction only includes front, back, left, and right I don't know. Imagine allowing somebody to lead who can get lost leaving a parking lot. (I've managed to do this twice.) Anyhow, six miles from the exit to Seton Hill, I exited onto the turnpike which does not have an exit for 15 miles. We were looking at a 30 minute detour until I talked to the nice man in the turnpike tollbooth. This nice man provided us with a "shortcut." The shortcut was on a winding hilly road that lengthened our trip another hour.

Imagine two vans full of players who are starving, afraid, tired, and wanting desperately to extend their legs. They should have been complaining, but they didn't. Perhaps it was my anger and fatigue that made them react the way they did, but they responded to the adversity they faced with laughter. They made me laugh by reminding of all the platitudes I often provide them: "Be flexible and adaptable." "Get over it." "Suck it up Coach." "You can do it." "The only person who is always right is the person who says, I can't." Then they provided me with a positive circle with each one of them giving me a word of encouragement. Soon I was I actually enjoying time with the team. They had managed to turn a difficult situation into fun.

We often tell the players that they get to choose how they react to every situation. They cannot always control what happens, but they can control their reactions. When I forgot this lesson, they had the fortitude to remind me of what I had so often told them. They created a time of sharing and laughter rather than allowing a long detour to sour their moods.

There are many strengths of a team which are not recognized in statistical columns: role players who love their roles, positive attitudes, belief in team first, good team chemistry, and players who learn to make the best of each situation. The time in the van reminded me of why this team is 12-4. It is not reflected in most of the statistical columns, but it is reflected in their strength of character and their commitment to one another.

To them I say: IHOAGE!

Words from Coach Fitz......I thought the "shortcut" was beautiful. The snow covered hills, the towering pines, and the quaint little farm houses were calling my name. I hope to pack up my snow shoes and/or cross country skis and return to that area again some day!

Belief in Self Changes the Outcome of Games

2009-01-13T16:12:00.003-05:00

I have seen the Golden Eagles develop over the course of the season from a team which struggled against opponents who were inferior to winning against good teams. What is the difference? I'd like to say coaching, but the truth is the talent has always been there. What has not been there has been the belief in self.

It reminds me of a few years ago when we were able to win 29 games while only losing five games. About half way through the season, one of the Eagles, Laura Kinsler, came up to me after a game we had won and told me that we were good. I answered that I knew we were good, but she was truly amazed at our talent level. She was having a hard time getting herself to come to the realization that we were a very good team. The team changed after that realization. It became a team who knew they were going to win a game long before the opponents knew. They knew they had the talent, the heart, and the intelligence to become one of the best teams in the nation.

While this Golden Eagle team is still lingering in the stages of realization, they are becoming more aware of their talents. More players are looking to score and using their offensive skills. Last night in our victory against West Liberty, we were able to get 27 points from our substitutes. Not only did they score, but they keep the momentum in our favor, played solid defense, and showed heart and determination.

Early in the season, we didn't have scoring options. In fact, we didn't have much of an offense. We forced shots, turned the ball over every other possession, gave the ball up when we had open shot, and overall just didn't appear to have talent. Luckily, the team and the coaches didn't give up but continued to work and continued to believe.

It was actually after a defeat against the University of the Cumberlands, that we began to feel better about ourselves. It was a game that we lost by one point but that we began to let the game flow through us. The day after that game, I was not upset but bursting with enthusiasm. I was thrilled we had a breakthrough and we were finally to the point where we attacking within the offense. In fact, we were so thrilled with their efforts we took our players out to half court the next practice and had them sign the center circle with permanent markers.

The last time we had a team sign the court, it was the 2006 team which ended with the best record a UC team has ever posted at 31-3. We had them sign both end lines, a gesture which was meant to assert that we owned the court. It worked as we won the East Regional Tournament that season on our home floor.

While this Golden Eagle team is not the same kind of team as the 2006 team, it is a team with talent, good team chemistry, positive leadership, and a determination to learn. It is a team whose future is only limited by their belief system. Confidence is the difference between a team who ought to be good and a team who is good.

Cardiac Kids on the Court

2009-01-06T10:58:00.004-05:00

If you are the kind of person who likes Symphony Sunday, a leisurely walk on a sunny afternoon, lemonade on the deck, or a nap while watching television, this Golden Eagle team is not for you. If, however, you love hanging meat on your tent post in bear country, you are the first to volunteer for para sailing, you walk your dog in a blizzard, and you rock climb without safety ropes, then you need to come watch the Golden Eagles play.

This team loves the drama of the last three minutes of play. They like making the coaches sweat, develop rabid heart beats, loose hair, gain wrinkles, and utter curse words which are not part of our normal vocabulary. Is this some sort of coaches' karma for a bad deed in the past? I'm not certain but I am aware that life on the Golden Eagle sideline is not for the faint of heart.

In the 12 games that we have played, 11 of them have been close in the last five minutes of play. Amazingly, in my 20 years of coaching, I've never experienced this phenomena. Usually, the game is won or lost long before the five minute mark. In fact, I've only coached perhaps 6 or 7 overtime games in my entire career. I have a feeling, though, that we might play a few overtime games this season.

It doesn't matter what the score is or how many points ahead or behind we are, the game is not over until the buzzer sounds. The fact that we don't quit is a positive sign of a team who wants to win. Last night against West Virginia State University, we managed to allow an eight point lead evaporate in the second half. We kept our heads, though, and kept fighting not allowing ourselves to surrender to a momentum swing.

Just to provide you a taste of action in the game, allow me to give you the last five minutes of the contest. With 5:22 remaining, the score is tied 63-63. For a long minute and a half, the score remains tied until Jihan Williams scores a lay-up giving the Eagles a 65-63 advantage. Jihan is fouled with 3:12 remaining during a shot attempt, misses her first free throw but nails her second one to provide a 66-63 edge. With a great stop defensively, the Eagles come back with a three point shot by Ali Tobias to increase the lead to 69-63 with 2:19 remaining. At this point, as a fan, you might believe there is a short amount of breathing room. NOT! The Yellow Jackets hit a three pointer by a player who has only made three treys all season to bring the score to 66-69 with 2:04 to play. WVSU comes back to score a jump shot a mere 20 seconds later to bring the game to 69-68. (Breathe.) With 1:20 left, Jihan is fouled again and misses the front end of her free throw but makes her second attempt to provide the Eagles with a short lead of 70-68. The lead is broken with 51 seconds remaining by a jumper from the Jackets. (There are a lot of time outs and drama I am leaving out, but I think you are getting the gist of it.) Veronica Carman, who at this point in the game is 2 for 10, drives to the basket with 29 seconds remaining to hit a jumper giving us the edge. We end the game by Lindsey Kentner missing her first free throw attempt but hitting her second, giving us a 73-70 victory. WHEW!

Did I mention that if your ticker is not in the best of shape that you should remain at home? And if for some reason, you cannot make it to the contest that you shouldn't listen to it on the radio? BUT if you are a daredevil, loving adventure, bring your red bull, take your adrenaline pill, and be prepared for lots of drama!

See you there!

Sometimes A Loss Is A Win

2009-01-01T12:05:00.005-05:00

I would not say the Golden Eagles have played great basketball this season. We have won seven games and lost three close games, but we haven't played with confidence, passion, determination, or desire. We have been on the court and put in our minutes, but we have yet to play with the reckless abandon which creates the sense of fun and adventure a game should have. We've played uptight, worried, frightened, and intimidated.

Yet, all this time we've felt a sense of something more--something greater than what has transpired. It is like a thought which gets lost on the tip of the brain, sitting there just out of grasp. The thought is so close but just out of reach of culminating into words. This has been the essence of the Eagles--talented, strong, intelligent, and well-versed in the game--yet playing without the belief in ourselves. So close to being great yet so far.

As a coach, it is has been frustrating to recognize the abilities of the players only to see them not utilize their strengths on the court. Of course, the more I have become frustrated and pushed them, the worse they have become. Yet as a coach, it is difficult for me to stand by without trying to make things better. It is as if I'm standing in front of a door with a ring of keys, and I know one of those keys opens the door. Do I quit after trying six keys? Seven? Ten? I'm not the kind of person who quits, so I keep pushing and they keep pushing.

Then it happened. Finally. In the game against the University of the Cumberlands which we lost 67-68, we began to play--to let loose, to allow the flow of the game to come through us. It didn't happen until the second half, but it happened. It was beautiful watching the Golden Eagles allow themselves to play--to make mistakes, to try without fear of failure, to put themselves on the line, to play to win instead of playing not to lose.

It was the first time we had fun--the real fun of competing where we were all together as one, beating with one heart, playing as if we were one body all connected. It was a turning point--the place where we felt deflated after the game, being so close to playing well and winning, yet feeling good about the level of play. After the game, I was full of joy, happy, flowing with kind words and hugs. I knew we had changed and evolved even if the scoreboard didn't reflect our victory.

When we came back together to practice the next day, it was a new team--a different team. The talent was shining through them; they were connected now in a way they had not been in the past. Perhaps we will lose a game or two in the future, but it will be different. It will be with a unit of players, confident and playing as one defeated only by a team who was better that day--not beating ourselves.

All Fun and Sun in the Bahamas? NOT!

2008-12-26T14:54:00.003-05:00

When we entered the plane on the way back from the Bahamas, a gentleman sitting on the plane asked where we were from. When we responded that we were a basketball team from the University of Charleston, he sarcastically replied, "So that is how the University of Charleston spends its money--sending their teams to the Bahamas." When I informed him that every penny of the money we spent was due to our fundraising efforts, he immediately changed his tune, "Wow. You must have spent a lot of hours doing car washes."

While we didn't do car washes, we did spend many hours "hustling" for the money. Many people have inquired why we want to take the team to the Bahamas or other exotic locales. As educators we want to provide opportunities for our players to learn about the world. We had three players who had never ridden on a plane; four who had never been on a boat; and several who had never been out of the country. They received new experiences and learned that the world is bigger than our gym. They got to put their feet and faces in the ocean and see the wondrous colors of the fish and life beneath the water. Hopefully, we have opened up their minds to new opportunities and ways of thinking.

I personally like to plan a trip every other year because it assists us in recruiting. It may just be the edge we need to convince some great young talent to choose the University of Charleston over another institution. In the challenging world of recruiting, we need every advantage we can get.

Finally, there is a misconception that we simply go to the Bahamas to get a tan. Any person who has spent a few hours with me knows that this is not about to occur. Our first and foremost concern is playing basketball and using the experience to get better.

During our stay there, the players had a basketball quiz, scouted our opponents both on tape and live, dissected our team on tape, played two games, practiced two times, and had a team meeting to dissolve differences. On the days we played games, there was not any time spent on the beach, in the pool, or in the sun. Those days were entirely spent on business.

We did allow ourselves one day after the games were completed to enjoy the sun, the beach, and the ocean. Even though this was a "fun" day; it still served a purpose--team bonding. There is nothing more critical to the success of a team than to have players enjoy being around one another. If players like one another, then they are more apt to play better together. A trip like this one where there are no friends other than teammates, the team has to learn to be together and have fun with one another. I have taken teams on several excursions and on every one of them, we came back with a greater sense of unity.

It is my belief that not only do we become a better team from a trip like this one, but we also become better people. What more could a coach ask for?

Three in a Row!

2008-12-11T11:54:00.002-05:00

After a somewhat slow and tedious start, the Golden Eagles are gaining ground. We have won the last three games in a row. With six games on the road and two starters from last season sidelined early due to injuries, a 5-2 record is not too shabby. Although from this coach's viewpoint, we could have been 7-0. We've beaten ourselves more than the opponent has beaten us. We are fortunate to be in this position which means if we limit our mistakes and continue to learn the game, we can become a very good team. It beats the flipside which is knowing we are not good enough to win the games which we have lost.

We still have players wrestling with their roles on the team trying to figure out what it is that they can do and what they believe the coaching staff wants them to do. This is often difficult as players perceive themselves differently than who they are. Some players believe they are running the offense when they penetrate and pitch without ball reversal or screening action. While this may be effective at times, it is the timing of the act which is critical. There are times when the coaching staff thinks it is a great idea to catch and shoot the first pass then there are times when this is not such a grand idea. Teaching the players the difference is the difficult part.

Our last game against Edinboro, we were able to develop a 20 point lead early in the game only to see us make error after error which the opponents used to their advantage. When we were up by 12 points with 5:00 minutes remaining, we would like for our team to take good shots such as uncontested shots by a great shooter, lay-ups, and 1-on-1 shots in the paint. We don't want to shoot the ball early unless we have one of those options. We'd rather work the ball, set several screens, get the defense moving from ballside to helpside, use the clock, and look for a great shot. Unfortunately, we did not choose to do those things.

Our players took shots which we had been asking them to do early in the game or perhaps even encouraging them to work on during practice. However, the timing these shots resulted in easy baskets for Edinboro. A bad shot is like a turnover. It is difficult to transition to defense when teammates are not prepared for the shot. Fortunately, we were able to do enough smart things to win the game this time. It is during next game that we must not allow ourselves to make the same errors.

When players become smarter, the game gets easier. When they understand what the coaching staff wants they no longer have to second guess their shots or actions. This is a tedious process and right when the coaching staff believes we have players where they need to be, they graduate and leave us to start at the beginning again with newcomers. At least with the current team, we have several sophomores who are playing and gaining tremendous experience. This knowledge should make them phoenomenal players by the end of the season.

We depart for the Bahamas on Monday for a two game tournament against some great opponents. Hopefully, we will have good news about our experiences both on and off the court.

I hope all of you enjoy family and friends over the holidays.

Recovering From a Loss

2008-12-01T13:10:00.002-05:00

We were blitzed, hammered, chewed up and spit out by West Virginia Wesleyan on Tuesday at home in Eddie King where we should play our best basketball. We didn't. In fact, it would be generous of me to say that we played team basketball at all. What we did was a lot of one-on-five offense and take-care-of-my-player-only defense. Neither was very successful.

So how did we get from Tuesday when we were horrible beyond repair to Saturday where we defeated Shepherd at their place? Good question. Was Shepherd a bad team? No. Not at all. In the matter of a few days, we had made the decision to play team ball.

After our devastating loss to WVW, we had a video session on Wednesday with the entire team. We had them pull out a sheet of paper from their notebooks and create several columns. The headers for the columns were as follows: number of passes, number of post seals, number of picks-on-ball, number of dribble hand-offs, number of combination screens, and number of good shots. We then watched each offensive possession we had and filled in the correct numbers which was not difficult since we averaged 1-2 passes and 0 in the other columns. Then we watched WVW on offense where they averaged 6-7 passes, took great shots and had several screens each possession.

It was easy to see why we could not score. It wasn't difficult to defend us since we didn't run an offense. It is easy to play defense when a defender never has to move from ballside to helpside or when they never have to fight through a screen.

While we didn't break down our defense like we did our offense, we did have some serious discussions about lack of effort and lack of talking on defense. Then we allowed the players to tell the coaching staff what they needed from us. How could we make practices better? How could we better prepare them for games? The players felt they needed more five-on-five in practice. As a coaching staff, we agreed to make certain we would allow them more opportunity to play in specified five-on-five settings.

Finally, the players pull out another sheet of paper from their notebooks. We asked them to write down all the ways they could personally help the team become better. Then we had them write down their personal goals in terms of what points, rebounds, or assists they could average according to the playing time they received.

It was awesome to see how they responded to the WVW loss and how they came back after watching themselves on videtape. It gives me hope they will continue to learn and grow and that they have the desire to become the best they can be.

Speaking English on the Court

2008-11-22T13:31:00.005-05:00

Perhaps it is just me but I thought I had been speaking the English language since birth. Afterall I was born in the United States (if Texas is still considered one of the fifty) and I have lived exclusively as a U.S. citizen for my entire life. So it is surprising to me when my players cannot discern what language I am speaking. Of course there are a few generations between us, but I was not aware of a new language being taught in our school systems.

There are some definite words which seem to change from my lips to their ears. For example, I tell them that we don't want to shoot the first shot but the first best shot. I think that language is fairly straight forward. The language barrier seems to be on the word "best". Apparently the defintion of best has changed since I was in school. When I was doing my spelling words back in elementary school, best meant the most desirable, favorable, or profitable. In their elementary spelling books, best apparently meant first opportunity.

Then, there is the misconception about who gets to shoot. I absolutely beg some of them to shoot the ball, telling them over and over again that I want them to shoot. These individuals do not want to shoot. We have one young player, Ali Tobias, who we recruited because she knew how to find a shot in high school even when her opponents knew she would be shooting the ball. She was so smart that she oftentimes had opponents doing donuts on the court as she changed speed and direction going down the floor. For a year, I have been begging her to do more on offense. Then the other night, she began playing just as I had always hoped she would. When I asked her what had changed, she responded that I had finally given her the green light. Apparently, I had been using the wrong vocabulary words again.

If I could just get the vocabulary words right, I'm certain we could begin playing better. Perhaps we need to publish a Golden Eagle dictionary with my words and definitions. If we could all agree on the meanings of words, life on the court would be much easier.

Confidence on the Court

2008-11-18T16:45:00.004-05:00

On opening weekend, the Golden Eagles showed a few of our strengths but mostly displayed our weaknesses. Although the good was offered in smaller portions, we can still capitalize on what the team is doing well and work on improving the play which was inferior. Jihan Williams and Veronica Carman were good. They competed. They rebounded. They played defense and they scored. Of course, they have three seasons behind them and are confident in their abilities.

Veronica and Jihan were good enough to lead us past East Stroudsburg 74-60, but they could not prevail against Shippensburg by themselves. Two players in the confident zone are not enough. We need a team full of players who believe in their abilities.

This is typical of the Golden Eagles early in the year. The team often struggles with what the coaching staff wants versus playing on instinct and intuition. It is a product of my coaching. Because I teach so much, it can create paralysis by analysis where the players are frozen, stuck in limbo and afraid to move. When we get beyond this and we always do, we get in sync and become a tougher unit.

Watching Veronica and Jihan improve over the years, I know our system works. Veronica was a defensive specialist early in her career and didn't look to score. This season in our opening games, she scored 19 and 20 points on lay-ups, three point shots, and jumpers. WOW! Jihan is another player who has come a long way in her three seasons. She can now penetrate left or right, post up in the low block or hit the outside shot. When she started her freshmen year, she could not go left at all.

I wish I could take credit for all their improvements, but the truth is that both of these young women wanted to become better and spent many hours outside of team practices improving their games. We have many other athletes who have worked hard in the off season and preseason. They will eventually start playing better and looking for their scoring opportunities.

Without Katy Arick and Jennifer DeMeyer, two seasoned veterans, in the line-up, some of our younger players must step up and become more aggressive offensively. I know they have the talent, but they must know they have the talent. We have several players who can contribute to the scoring column adn in order for us to be successful, they must do so.

Confidence is an illusive thing. It cannot be given to a player. She must find it and own it herself. Currently, we have two players playing with confidence. When the rest of the Eagles strengthen their belief systems, we will begin to win more games.

Tough Times Require Tough Minds

2008-11-12T10:21:00.003-05:00

A quote I read several years ago which I love is, "Tough times never last but tough players do." I love this quote because it is about mental toughness--about the quintessential characteristic of great players. Great players get through adversity seeing the opportunity of growth which exists before them. They don't succumb to injuries or illness or bad shooting days or fatigue. They get over them, under them, through them or beyond them.

I am discussing this today because we have had one player quit and three on the injury list. The player who quit could have been an awesome player. Two of the players sidelined with injuries were starters last season and the other one received significant playing time.

As a team we could allow this to get in the way of our goals. We could quit now, make excuses, and limp throughout the year as if we had all the wrong breaks. OR we could make the decision to get better. It is really quite that simple. If we are tough-minded, the current situation will not deter us; it will invigorate us to rise to new levels.

If the Golden Eagles choose to see this as an opportunity rather than a crisis, we are heading in the right direction. We don't always get to choose the situation we are in, but we always get to choose how we react to the situation. Our reaction creates our mindset and our mindset determines our success rate. I believe we have a several players who are mentally tough. The question is: "Can their mental toughness carry us through the next few weeks?"

I think if they honor their hearts and believe in their talents as much as the coaching staff does we will not only survive but flourish.

Flat Ball Practice

2008-11-08T10:37:00.002-05:00

I have a coaching friend who believes practicing offense with a flat ball is the best thing he has ever done. After spending a week working on our offenses with a flat ball, I must agree with him.

The flat ball makes our players play together; they have no other choice. It is impossible to score with a flat ball without making passes. Playing with the flat ball makes the offense slow down and see the defense; it teaches players to make the extra pass; and they must absolutely headhunt to screen and use their screens. It is one of the best tools available to create team offense.

I am now a convert. I don't know if there is a flat ball club which I could join but I would definitely be a member and pay my dues.

I don't believe the players have as much fun as the coaching staff during flat ball drills because they have to work so much harder. They especially don't enjoy full court flat ball drills which are really difficult. Most teams (including the Golden Eagles) dribble the ball on fast break opportunities. When players are required to pass and move all the way down the floor; it requires attention, concentration, and continual movement without the ball. Most players enjoy spectating as their teammate dribbles down the court. When they have to work to hit gaps to get open, they come to appreciate the hard work of their point guards.

After a week of practicing with the flat ball, I have seen incredible results. Our shooters are getting open, our posts are getting the ball in the low block in one-on-one situations, and our penetrating offensive players are able to get to the rim more often. With continual work with the flat ball, we will learn to play as a unit. I know that it is tougher to defend a unit than it is to defend one or two outstanding players.

This is something we must continue to build--the concept of team basketball both on the offensive and defensive ends of the court. When we can buy into team, our good players will appear to be great. We will be able to showcase players like Jihan Williams, Veronica Carman, Lindsey Kentner, Ali Tobias, Caress Williams, Tarenna Dixon, Lisanne Comeau, Jennifer DeMeyer, and Katy Arick. These are all players who can score when in the right situation. It allows all of them to be the player to stop. If we can create a team where the defense must defend every player on the court as well as every substitute then we can win the big games.

Learning The Hard Way

2008-11-04T11:09:00.006-05:00

Saturday, during a scrimmage, we had an opportunity to understand how important it is to run an offense, to adhere to the rules of our offense and to play together as a team. We were drummed, beaten, punked, and totally run off the court the first twenty minutes. OUCH!

As we were playing, the coaching staff was continually attempting to provide the necessary instruction to the team; however, sometimes hearing is simply not enough. Doing is the best way to learn. When we could not score--could not, in fact, "buy" a basket--the players were humbled and ready to learn from their failure. Failure is never a bad thing except when one ignores the lessons. In the case of the Golden Eagles, they are prepared to do what it takes to turn this failure upside down and create the success they so much desire.

After the first twenty minutes, we erased the scoreboard to start the second half. While we did not execute our offense any better, we did fumble our way through the game enough to change the outcome - the scoreboard showed the Golden Eagles on top. We played a little bit better defense, boxed out, found some fast break baskets, and began to share the ball on offense.

The best part about the scrimmage was that we didn't quit. We could have chosen to give up, to allow the other team to continue their massacre but we didn't. We fought. We hustled. We scrambled. We continued to make mistakes but we didn't give in to our errors. We continued to battle. This is what we want from a team--a team who doesn't give up in the face of adversity--who finds a way to fight even when the outlook doesn't look too promising.

Both Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci said that 90% of their solutions were incorrect. 90%!! In history, we do not know these two individuals for their failures but for the innumerable and incredible discoveries they made. If the Golden Eagles can learn the most important lesson from this scrimmage which is to use their mistakes as stepping stones, then they can also be known for what they create on the court.

Halloween Read

2008-10-31T13:16:00.003-04:00

Today, the Golden Eagles read to the students at Ruffner Elementary. We have been doing the Halloween read for the past seven years. Every year our players receive as much joy as the elementary students do during this community activity.

We spend approximately 45 minutes reading to the students. The Ruffner students and the Golden Eagles share stories, smiles, and laughs. We love the curiosity of the young mind.

Here is some of what transpired:

Student Y asked Katy Arick and Lisanne Comeau if they knew his aunt who played for Capital High School. Katy asked, "Well, what is your aunt's name?"

Student Y thought a moment before responding, "Auntie."

When the teacher asked what her real name was, Y said, "Auntie is her real name."

When one class was asked by Katy and Lisanne what they were going to be for Halloween, most of the girls responded that they wanted to be princesses or Tinker Bells. Student G said, "I'm going to be a devil 'cause that is what my dad calls me."

The teacher responded, "Well, your dad is just kidding with you, right?"

Student G said, "No, he really thinks I'm the devil. He tells me that all the time." This got the entire class smiling.

Julianne Smith had the opportunity to read to a class where one of the young girls gave her a card of Jason Williams explaining that he was her uncle and that she was going to be a basketball player too. Later on in the class, she had several students who wanted attention and started telling her about their broken legs. Apparently one little boy's brother had three broken legs at once.

Lindsey Kentner signed autographs in her classroom because they all believed she was famous. When she attempted to leave, she had to spend several minutes sharing hugs with the youngsters before they would allow her to depart.

When Caress Williams and Tarenna Dixon asked the kids if they got lots of candy for Halloween, they were told yes. When they asked if the kids would share, all of them said yes except for one young girl in the back who emphatically shouted, "No way." Apparently, she had earned that candy and was not going to share with anybody.

One of the students asked Tarenna if she was actually wearing house shoes to school. When Tarenna realized she was caught, she informed them that they were Michael Jordan house shoes. The students all agreed, then, that wearing those house shoes to school was okay.

It was a great day for both the students at Ruffner and the Golden Eagles.

The Intangibles

2008-10-29T09:18:00.006-04:00

Last Saturday we had a scrimmage. Per NCAA rules I cannot disclose who we scrimmaged or any particular stats; I can, however, discuss the qualities of the team which I liked and those which I disliked.

It became immediately apparent that the Golden Eagles have not yet learned how to discern the difference between the first shot and the first best shot. We teach our players to take good shots which are defined by high percentage shots. A high percentage shot would be a lay-up, a one-on-one shot in the post, or an uncontested shot which a player can make 50% of the time. We have a better opportunity to win if we take good shots on every offensive possession.

It is often difficult in the early part of our season to run a solid offense because we run a motion offense which requires the players to think and read the defense. It is much easier to run a patterned offense where players run to a spot. When we ask them to actually watch their defender rather than the ball, it requires concentration and effort. The rules of the offense define the parameters of the offense but not the actual plays. The players have to make choices on their own each time we have an offensive possession. It is a slow learning process which means that early in the year we tend to look sloppy on offense.

Defensively, we need 100% of the players to learn the concept of team defense. We still have a few who are concerned about whether or not the player they are matched up with scores. We must erase that belief system and replace it with one which emphasizes helping teammates, rotating to the open player, and contesting every shot. If an opponent is able to penetrate to the basket without defenders rotating to stop her, then we are going to allow high percentage shots. It is tough to win ball games this way.

The things I loved about the scrimmages were not actual offensive or defensive qualities; they were more intangible characteristics which are essential to winning and tougher to teach than offense or defense. This team has unity--the desire for the team to win even if it means that one of them is not going to be the star or even receive playing time. They are willing to cheer for their teammates and assist them in whatever way is possible. They have leaders who care and who are willing to step up and do or say what is necessary in the leadership role. They have tremendous work ethic and determination--a willingness to do whatever is necessary to get better.

I believe the success of this team is going to be determined by the maintenance of the intangibles. We will continue to work on our technical and tactical weaknesses, but our true strength is going to come from our togetherness. Embracing WE, Including me!

Embracing We, Including Me

2008-10-24T10:40:00.003-04:00

Every year we have a team motto which is a phrase that the coaches believe the team needs to embrace so that we can achieve maximum success. This season our motto is "Embracing We, Including Me." The most challenging aspect of coaching is getting the entire team to buy into our definition of team. With the emphasis of the media and many others put on who scores, it is oftentimes difficult to get players to believe that EVERY aspect of the game is critical.

There are many aspects which a team needs to embrace including rebounding, screening, taking the charge, defending, making the extra pass, being a solid substitute, calling plays, being a great teammate, leading on the floor, and supporting teammates from the bench. Unfortunately, these aspects are often not reported in the statistics and do not get recognition from the media or fans. HOWEVER, without these aspects being fulfilled, a team cannot win.

It is our job as coaches to educate the players of the importance of each individual role on a team so that that role is embraced and accepted with enthusiasm. When an individual believes her role is not important enough, the entire team fails. It only takes one dissatisfied player to start a stampede and trample the goals of a team.

We often tell our players that if one member succeeds, we all succeed. If one member fails, we all fail. We attempt to get them to buy into team by rewarding the team for one player's success and punishing the team if one player fails to follow the team's standards. While it appears unfair for all members of a team to run sprints because one player doesn't go to class, our stance is that the team is weakened if that same player fails her class and becomes ineligible. If players don't buy into the unity theme, we encourage them to participate in an individual sport where their success or failure does not effect teammates.

This team has shown their acceptance of the concept of "Embracing WE" over and over again. A few weeks ago, I was prepared to punish the entire team for the failure of one individual. Before running the team, I asked if there was any single player who was prepared to run for the team rather than having the entire team run. Every single player raised her hand. WOW!

When a team can embrace the concept of we, they empower one another. How much easier is it to perform on the court when a team member believes that every one of her teammates wants her to be successful? We also want every team member to understand how important it is that she embraces herself--that she has confidence in her abilities and feels secure about her talents whatever those talents may be. When individuals can feel good about their contribution to the team whether or not any outsider understands that contribution, and every player is prepared to go the distance for her teammates, a true team is born. That team has the opportunity to win championships.

THE JUNIORS

2008-10-21T12:23:00.002-04:00

The Golden Eagles have a small junior class but a very powerful one. Katy Arick, a 6'0 power forward, can drain the three pointer from downtown, post in the low block, and a shoot a jump shot. On her high school team, she played every position on the court from point guard to post which gives her an advantage in understanding the game and where players should be on the court. When she plays the perimeter, she knows where the inside players should be and how to get them the ball. When she is in the paint, she knows what the guards are looking for and can get herself open.

Our other junior, Caress Williams, is from New Jersey. After having a phenomenal junior college career, she arrives with confidence in her scoring ability. She can nail the three pointer and once she gets hot, she is like a lightening bug lighting up the court where ever she moves. Although her shot is a little unorthodox, she makes many more of them than she misses. Her quickness on the dribble and amazing ball handling skills allows her to blow by defenders for the penetration and pitch. Her speed and defensive anticipation will make her a valuable defender as well.

Both of these young ladies have the physical talent to assist the Golden Eagles in their quest for excellence; however, it is not their talent which makes them valuable but their hearts. Katy will be the first one to dive for a loose ball whether the ball is going toward the bleachers or the scorer's table. Caress has shown heart again and again as she has battled through injuries. She will go for as long as her legs will hold her. She is a testament to the old adage that the mind is stronger than the body.

As a coach, I understand the necessity of having talented players. After all, coaches are only as good as the talent on the floor. Yet, I also know that athletic talent alone will not win basketball games. Yes, it is true talent can win many games but talent without heart will not win championships. A true talent by my definiton is a player who is coachable, who is willing to put in extra time, who plays from the heart, who is a team player, and who has integrity. By this definition, both Caress and Katy are the real deal. I look forward to watching them play and grow as the season continues.

Two-a-Days are FUN!

2008-10-17T12:55:00.005-04:00

With the beginning of official basketball practices comes the opportunity for the Golden Eagles to get better. We want to make certain we know our motion offense, zone offenses, set plays, sideline out-of-bounds plays, out-of-bounds plays, end of game situations, offensive fundamentals, defensive fundamentals, and all our defenses. In order to do this we must practice and practice some more. So in the first few weeks of practice we have two-a-days which are a little wearing on the mind and body but they are a necessity in order to be prepared.

We are fortunate to have fall break right at the beginning of our first few days of practice which means that we get to have three full days of double practices. Once fall break is over and school is back in regular sessions, we will have a couple of 6:45 a.m. practices a week in addition to our regular two hour practice in the afternoon.

While the players legs might get a little bit fatigued, the real problem is how tired their brains become. Since we require our athletes to think the entire practice, their minds are whirling at a hundred miles an hour. For the returners, this is not such a big issue. They are on auto-pilot with their bodies taking over using muscle memory to glide through practices. They are allowed to simply play because they have done each skill set hundreds and hundreds of times. The newcomers are not so lucky. With each new thing introduced, their brains are working hard to remember and to encode. Newcomers to the program often complain of brain fatigue telling us that they never had to bring their brains to practice in high school.

The coaching staff adds to the brain stress by being incredibly demanding. We have learned over the years that players will not change a behavior unless there is a consequence. Simply telling players how to change is not enough. The stress of having to remember or do a frozen push-up or run sprints sometimes puts the players in paralysis. They want to react but are so afraid they just freeze. The great news is that after a few short weeks of practice, muscle memory begins to take place and the players replace the paralysis with confidence. So while two-a-day practices are demanding, they do serve a powerful purpose--giving the players an opportunity to become the best they can.

Creating Leaders

2008-10-14T10:27:00.012-04:00

Having a great leader on the court is a necessity if a team is going to be successful. The leader has to be the one who can bring the team together when adversity hits. The leader must be a calming factor on the court--the one teammates look to for information and for direction. In order for teammates to listen to a team member, that member has to be respected. She doesn't need to be feared which is vastly different than respected, but she absolutely must have the attention of her peers.

There is no doubt this is a difficult position for a young person. She has to have the self confidence to tell her friends what is not acceptable. She has to stand up to them even if it means they become angry with her. She has to do this in such a way as to not appear snobbish or full of ego.

A leader has to be a leader 24 hours a day on and off the court. Her behavior is always examined by others. There is no time out for a leader. In order for others to follow, she must set an impeccable example giving 100% every day whether she feels good or not. She doesn't necessarily have to be the best player but she must be the most focused, the one willing to go the extra mile, and the one who gives it her all even when nobody is watching.

No doubt being a leader is a tough assignment which is why the coaching staff has to work developing leadership qualities. Over the years, we have tried different avenues of approach. We have met with the leaders on a weekly basis going through a leadership manual together. We have met with them individually discussing the character and integrity of leaders. We have had them attend leadership workshops. This year we have decided on a different avenue of teaching. It is a more action-oriented approach.

We begin the first day of conditioning by calling out the leaders (Veronica Carman, Jen DeMeyer, Jihan Williams, and Katy Arick) in front of their peers. We then proceeded to make them do some planks (a stationary push-up position) and boats (an abdominal exercise where you make the body in a v-position) for one minute time periods. This was some serious pain but we made it extra fun by doing the exercises in the rain on a track which means the surface was rough, wet and slightly uncomfortable. We made certain that every player could hear why they were being reprimanded which was for some basketballs left out in the locker room. We explained that leadership had to be taken seriously and as leaders they were responsible for the behavior of the team.

If we had stopped there, the lesson probably wouldn't have been taken very seriously. We continued for the next three days with other small but valuable lessons creating challenging exercises for the leaders. Amazingly, the leaders began to become more vocal. They began to take their responsibilities as leaders with more clarity. The team began to listen to them and to honor what they had to say.

We have continued to offer some "advice" for our leaders the past six and a half weeks. We have witnessed incredible growth from our young ladies. Last week I heard from Veronica Carman an amazing summary of what it meant to be a leader. When she was giving her book report, she said that being a leader was not a privilege but a responsibility--that leadership didn't mean doing less work but more work. She talked about how important it was to gain respect and that respect was not given; it was earned.

As I listened to her, I felt chill bumps racing along my spine. Somebody on the team was ready to lead. It meant that we were not going to flounder in times of stress, we were going to come together.

To our leaders and to their continued growth, I say "IHHOAGE!"

****Some of the readers have asked what IHHOAGE means. I would love to tell you but then I would have to silence you.

Earning Practice Gear

2008-10-10T09:19:00.006-04:00

As a youngster, I grew up with the concept of earning whatever I desired. My parents made certain I understood the value of working for an allowance. Both of my parents were educators and knew that children who understood the value of work also valued themselves. The children who were always given something for nothing expected more of the same. Those were the same children who didn't find themselves worthy and saw challenges as impossible to overcome.

In order for our Golden Eagles to find a deeper self value, we have instituted a policy which makes them earn their practice gear. We want them to believe wearing their practice gear is an honor and a privelege. When they put on their shorts and practice jersey every day, they should feel a sense of pride in how hard they worked to earn them. It is this same sense of pride that we want them to display as they step onto the court for a game.

To earn their practice gear, they must accumulate 600 points. It is not an easy 600 points. By achieving each preseason challenge, they can receive 20 points. These are challenges designed to push them to a place where their lungs are bursting and their muscles are quivering from exhaustion. There are five challenges which means they can earn up to 100 points. If they don't get their challenge on the first attempt, they have to continue doing the challenge until they make it but they don't receive any points toward their practice gear.

They receive 10 points every time they make all the sprints on a conditioning day. If they make the time 14 out of 15 sprints, it does not count. They must make every one of them. They earn 10 points for increasing each lift in the weight room. Again, this is very difficult, but what we have discovered is how much harder they have been willing to push themselves and their teammates in the weight room. Another 10 points is awarded when their team wins during our Friday game days. It makes game days really competitive. Last Friday I was so inspired by how hard they competed that I awarded the winners 20 points and the losers 10 points.

There is a 50 point deduction for each time they are disciplined. Arriving late, even by one minute, to a practice they lose 50 hard earned points. They can lose points for not going to class, "forgetting" to complete injury rehabilitation, etc. Honestly, this is so tough a measure that I almost feel bad for them when they must be disciplined (ALMOST).

There will be a couple of players who will begin the first day of practice without practice gear. They will wear their polka dot or plaid shorts and old practice jerseys until they reach 600. In order to make certain all players are motivated to earn their gear and not stand out as a "unique" member of the team, I have given them a two week time period in which they can complete earning their gear. At the end of that time period, their teammates will be forced to run sprints every day until all players are wearing the maroon and gold of the Eagles.

When each member earns her practice gear, she will feel good about her efforts. She will feel worthy and will value her shorts and jersey. She will wear them with pride and will walk tall when she enters the court. She will know when she departs the program that she is capable of working hard and she will feel she can accomplish anything if she just puts her mind to it.

Book Reports

2008-10-07T15:03:00.004-04:00

Most coaches get their ideas from listening to other coaches, attending clinics and watching videotapes. I am not the exception to this rule. A couple of years ago when I was attending a coaching clinic, I had the opportunity to listen to Gail Goestenkors, the head coach at the University of Texas, speak. One of the things she said which caught my attention was that she required her players to read books and to then report back to their teammates. I thought this was a great idea.

Since I love to read, it was easy to find books out of my library to assign to the players. I tried to match the book with the player. I didn't want to randomly assign a book which would have no meaning. I wanted them to gain knowledge which they could then transpose to the court. While some of the books were about basketball players or teams, most of them had more to do with personal improvement in some area. Some books were about increasing self esteem. Others were about leadership and a couple were a little more complicated involving quantum physics.

Unfortunately, the books I assigned had no cliff notes available so the players actually have to read the book. Once they have completed the reading, they are responsible for getting in front of the team and giving a short book report on what they have learned.

Some of you might ask what this has to do with playing the sport of basketball. If you have that question in mind, my first response is that athletics is a part of the educational process. As a coach, it is our job to assist our players in learning life skills. While winning is important (okay, very important to me), it is not the true reason athletics is included in the school systems. The real reason has more to do with what the students learn by being part of a team. Our student-athletes should be learning about setting goals, leadership, discipline, increasing self-esteem, working with others, taking care of their health, overcoming adversity, winning with humility, losing with dignity, and how to persevere through tough times.

Having our student-athletes read and engage with their teammates on what they have learned is a step in the educational process. They are learning how to share what is important to them and how to stand up in front of their peers. They are learning to become better people and therefore to become better players.

How Do I Know This Team Is Special?

2008-10-02T15:08:00.006-04:00

Today as I sat up in my Eagle Nest at the top of Eddie King Gymnasium, I heard basketballs bouncing. As I often do, I opened up my door to see who was in the gym. Sometimes it is just students playing a game of "horse" or our custodians taking a break. At other times, it is a male basketball player working on his skills. BUT most of the time, it is one of our Golden Eagles working on becoming the best she can be. As I opened my door today, I saw four of our players working diligently on their skills. They weren't goofing around or just in the gym for show. No. No. They were there to make certain their dreams were not just mere mist in their minds but a reality in the making.

We have often had players work on their skills over the years, but I have never seen the dedication of such a large number of players. It is as if they can feel something special in the air. It is a feeling of being one--of a large number of people all on the same page, all wanting the same goal, all buying into what it takes to become a champion.

I do not know where the season will lead us. Alas, I cannot predict the future. What I do know is that these young women are special. They have already made my year fun. When I go into the gym and I am met with equal passion for the sport I love, I get giddy. My stomach quivers and butterflies roam throughout my body. I am on a high enjoying every second coaching these young women. They want to win. They want to become the best they can. They want to be coached and to evolve. This is what every coach dreams of--being on a court with players who are eager, ready and willing.

I can push them and they will not break. I can punish them for something so minuscule it shouldn't matter, yet they take it as if it were the most important lesson in the world. I can run them until their lungs are on fire, until their legs will not hold them up, until they feel their lunch escaping up through their esophagus, yet they will not crumble. I can talk about mental toughness and they hang on every word. I can ask the leaders to become better and they do not balk at my requests. I can tell them they need to spend extra time in the gym working on their ball handling and they come back better the next day.

How do I know this team is special? Isn't it obvious? They want it and are willing to do whatever it takes to be champions.

To all of them I say: IHHOAGE!

The Newcomers

2008-09-30T12:36:00.007-04:00

As a coaching staff, we are always eager to view the product of our recruiting efforts. It is actually very frightening to spend hours driving, watching games, evaluating talent, talking on the phone, and hosting campus visits to eventually sign a player on paper who we still truly don't know. Some coaches refer to recruiting like Forrest Gump's statement about opening a box of chocolates. You truly don't know what you get until you open the box or in our case until you get the recruits on campus.

This year we were thrilled when we "opened" our recruiting package. The first visible sign from our recruits was heart. Oh, how the coaching staff loves heart. On the first day of school when we began our challenges, we had a young lady, Caress Williams, who had just signed with us three weeks before school started. She did not have the opportunity to receive our workout packages over the summer, so she just had to gut it out. And gut it out she did! When we did our challenges, we thought about giving her a break and having her do a little less than the rest of the team, but Caress believed in achieving everything her teammates did. The most awesome part was watching her muscles quiver from exhaustion yet pushing through her pain to make the challenges. We knew then she was a winner.

Our next recruit, Julianne Smith, a 6'0" transfer athlete, brings with her a determination which is absolutely incredible. She is so passionate about bringing her best to the table that she spends extra time every day training. We often pass her going to the fitness center or see her in the gym working on her shooting skills. When we asked her to change her foot work on her shot, she changed it within 24 hours. Her determination to succeed is contagious.

The freshmen class brings with it three young players who love the sport of basketball. Lisanne, a Canadian, is one of the few student-athletes we've ever coached who understands how to work on her own with full intensity in game speed placing herself in pressure scenarios. Quite frankly, her focus in individual workouts is amazing. Our other two freshmen, Lakin Horner and Dania Crump, have one thing in common: they are walk-ons. What makes them special is that they do everything every other player does without receiving any scholarship dollars. Most walk-ons quit within the first two weeks of our preseason when they understand how difficult it is. Not only have these two survived the preseason, they have continued to push themselves to higher levels of strength and conditioning.

Our newcomers have surprised us in many ways. When we have uncovered their layers, we have been pleased with what we have discovered. They have brought with them the intangibles that the coaching staff believes are what separates the good from the great: heart, passion, work ethic, determination, and love for the game. When we "opened" this box of recruits, we were thrilled with what we got!

To all the newcomers: IHHOAGE!