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!