Halloween Read

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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?

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!