CoachcAmycaM

• My book has closed on another season of basketball. Like the many other years before it, it was great! I really think I made some headway on fundamental milestones this year. We did everything better. We played better offense and definitely played better defense. We went with a man this year and it worked for us. The kids did a fabulous job with the transition from zones to man. Usually it's hard but I was very blessed to not have lazy kids. I had the hard-working and hard-nosed girls. The ones who have had to work for everything their whole lives. They played with pure passion and heart. They never complained and always asked if they could do it again. They worked tirelessly on the fundamentals:passing, shooting and dribbling. Once in a while, their youthfulness would run away with them and they would lose the ball but as the season wore on their mistakes became less and less.
• There is nothing more rewarding than to stand there and say one-word commands and to see it being played out before your very eyes. It's amazing. To see excitement because they get to play their favorite game, and for them to treat it exactly the way it was intended to be: a game. They always left their anger and frustrations on the court. The minute we passed through the locker room doors, real life happened again: friends and family. I often tried to test them and say "Man, we would have won if...or I can't believe you all didn't do this" everytime (I was so proud I could have cried) they all would look at me and say "Next time, we'll fix it tomorrow at practice" or "Coach, it's over. Just add it to your notes." Hahaha I didn't have a choice I just laughed and said okay. Then, as sure as the sunrise, they would ask "What didn't we do yesterday? How come we lost? What did we forget? What should we do different?" So we would practice everything. At the end, they would always say "Not anymore!"
• I didn't deserve those kids but I was blessed with them. This season will always be my favorite. They weren't varsity but, in my opinion, they outworked them and they had more heart. I will be very sad next season because with that kind of ethic, I know I will not see most of them. However, I will be very proud and confident knowing they are ready for that next step.
• So November 2010..."Jaa mata ne"