A Team Player

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!