Great Link for Parents and Coaches

http://www.ganonbakerbasketball.com/blog/lesson-for-grass-root-coaches-tell-the-truth/

Validation

I am sitting in the first row behind the bus driver and the Lady Eagles are on our way home from an incredible road trip to Florida. I am grateful for wireless internet access on the bus. We are inching closer to the Alabama border and I am looking forward to getting home and sleeping in my own bed...although the beds at the Lake Wales Holiday Inn Express were very comfortable (especially once Katelyn fell asleep and cuddled up next me).

Reality set in about 15 minutes ago.

We were at a rest area and I was daydreaming out the window while the ladies were inside. I was thinking about an 8 minute segment in the second half of today's game where I thought we played very poorly defensively. I was thinking about which set of drills we should perform on Monday in practice to be more toward the ball when we are one pass away so that we can deter the dribble drive. I felt that we got away from that late in today's game and there was some slippage and we fouled and put Webber on the Free Throw line. We were up 40 points at the time and I thought we played to the scoreboard instead of doing what we do. I was thinking about how if the game had been close, those fouls and easy drives could have been costly.

As I was thinking about this, my assistant Kat climbed up the steps, got my attention, put ourther hand for a high five and said, "Coach, we are 3-0 and beat an established NAIA program by 38 on their home floor today." It was almost as if she read my mind and knew it needed redirected. Indeed she was right. I hadn't really stopped to think about it. We had a great weekend. It is a really outstanding accomplishment to be a first year program and win our first three games. Granted, this wasn't the toughest stretch of our schedule, but beating ANY team in our first year should be celebrated.

Kat was right. All of the hard work that our ladies have put in to this point and all of the investments our University has put into Women's Basketball seem validated to some degree after this weekend. Our recruiting, conditioning, offensive, and defensive philosophies were all on display in a very naked fashion this weekend for the world to see...and at least for the moment they worked. God has seen fit to bless our players with outcomes that match their input. As Emily Galloway put it in our post game prayer, "We are grateful to You (God) and give You all of the glory".

I will never forget the excitement in the voice of Dr. Billy Hilyer, Faulkner University President, when he called me moments after our inaugural game to congratulate me and our players for the win. I hope that Dr. Hilyer, Vice President Joey Wiginton, Brent Barker and our athletic administration and support staff, my coaching staff, our Lady Eagle families, and most importantly the 15 players that decided to come together at Faulkner and buy in to the vision of a championship program will look back on this historical weekend at Faulkner with fond memories and a tremendous sense of pride.

I know I will.

Blessings,

Coach S

Update on the Lady Eagles

There are alot of exciting things happening with the team. The bad news is that we are fighting some nagging injuries with some key players. The good news is that we won our scrimmage last Friday anyways by the score of 99-54 over Enterprise State Community College.

In the scrimmage, we had 8 players score between 8 and 18 points. We were led by Freshman MC Bell with 18. As a team, we were 30/35 from the FT line. Our two point guards, Vittoria Poole and Sonja Vuong, had 21 points and 14 assists between them. It was a good start.

Next up is a scrimmage on Saturday night at 8 PM against some Intramural Men's players, then an official scrimmage next Thursday at Tuskegee University at 6:30 PM.

Stay up with us on Facebook! Type in Faulkner Womens Basketball in your search and there you go!!

Blessings,

Coach S

Inching toward, but miles away.

Two practices down and alot has been accomplished. That is the good news. The bad news is that every day I think of a hundred more things that need to be accomplished. Fortunately we have a great work ethic and good internal leadership to help us get better every day. I appreciate the effort our ladies are putting into every possession and every practice drill so far. Let's keep it going!

Christmas in September

Today is the first day of practice and I find myself not able to sleep. Indeed, for me personally today is better than Christmas. I absolutely enjoy my family time and watching the joy of my children in opening their gifts. However, I would rather practice than do just about anything else. So when Day One comes along, it is very special.

Everything is ahead of schedule right now in terms of how plans have taken shape. I think the coachability of my team is excellent and the talent level is much higher than I anticipated in year one. That makes it even more exciting to start tomorrow. It will be the beginning of the journey. Conditioning is behind us. Gut Week was conquered and is behind us. We really came together this last weekend at our team retreat and that is behind us. It is now time to focus on fundamentals, offense, defense, transition, shooting, skill development, all of the things that coaches really enjoy.

Continue to pray for the development of our team and that today is the first practice toward a championship program at Faulkner University.

Blessings,

Coach S

Gut Week Update

So far we are making it through ok. There are 4 sessions down. We have 3 more sessions left. Tomorrow is "Hump Day". It is called that because it is Wednesday and falls in the middle of the week. Once you make it past Wednesday it is all down hill. That is the truth for our team during Gut Week as well.

The four sessions we have had were:

Monday AM - 2 hour session that include stretching, Indian Mile, Vertimax, Ab work, Sprints on the floor, closeouts/one on one full court defense, and a changing direction drill (did you know that if a player plays all 40 minutes of a college game they will change directions on the floor close to 700 times?)

Monday PM - A 1.9 mile jog in dowtown jog that started at the Cramton Bowl and ended on the top of the stairs of the Capitol Building. That last 1/2 mile up Dexter Avenue is a beast but it is full of rich history including civil rights marches and the home of Dexter Ave Baptist Church (where MLK Jr. was Pastor). Our kids did a great job and decided that they want to conquer the capitol city and be the best program in the river region.

Tuesday AM - A 2 hour session that included stretching, Indian Mile, Ab work, 2 ball full court ballhandling, and a great fast break drill that we used to run at Westbury Christian that really helped us defensively.

Tuesday PM - We took some time and dusted and wiped down every seat in the upper level of the gym. These seats were used and put in hastily and they were very dusty. We wanted to take some pride in the appearance of our facility so we cleaned up the seats, swept, and hand wiped down the aisle steps and front row flooring. This should make it more comfortable for our fans and for the general student population and faculty wo have had to sit on dusty seats for the last week of chapel.

Tomorrow is Hump Day. A 2 hour morning session and then the grand daddy of them all..."Touch Em All" at the Cramton Bowl. I have been told it seats 30,000...that may be a preachers count. Still...not easy at all.

Our last session will be 6-7:30 am on Thursday. Then we will leave that evening for a retreat in Childersburg, AL.

What a great week so far!!

God Bless,

Coach S

Gut Week...It's What's For Breakfast

Gut Week...it's whats for breakfast. That is my new tagline for next week's early morning conditioning sessions.



It is fun to se how hard our girls are working and they step up to every challenge we give them. This morning they did 2 sets of 8 reps of 120 yard intervals (sprint 20 yds then jog 10, repeat) throw in some abs and pushups...then top it off with 8 100 yd dashes. This of course was after dynamic stretching and a 1.2 mile Indian run (not politically correct for which I apologize). An Indian run is where the team jogs in a single file line and the last person sprints to the front while everyone is still jogging. Once they get to the front, then they call for the next person to go, and so on. The point is that our players our really working hard and putting themselves in a sacrificial state with their effort. I cannot confirm the origin of the name Indian Run. They are investing in each other and encouraging each other even when it gets hard to do so. I don't know if we will win a game this year but there isn't a group that I would rather compete with than this first group.



The History of Gut Week.



I believe it was my second year at Westbury Christian and I was an assistant coach under Greg Glenn with the boy's team and we were coming off a year where we had lost in the state championship game and had a sour taste in our mouths. My assistant coaching counterpart was Casey Farris. Casey is a Faulkner graduate and was a student assistant here when he was in school. He is now the Elementary Principal at WCS and is doing a great job coaching in a different manner. I will always maintain that he is one of the best coaches I have ever been a around. He was always thinking ahead about his primary responsibility which was strength and conditioning. With our head coach's blessing, Casey decided to impart two major changes to the boy's basketball program. The first was that he was taking our State Runner-Up plaque and he was nailing it up above the mirror in the weight room so that every time our guys lifted, they were reminded of that bitter loss. Last I checked, the plaque was still there. I think everyone was afraid to touch it as it may be jinxed. The second major change was Gut Week.

Gut Week is the title for the week of conditioning that precedes the first day of practice. By it very name, you can tell what it is designed to do...see who has the "guts" to make it through and succeed. Those who finish every aspect of Gut Week walk away from it with an exclusive t-shirt and the pride in knowing that they were a more mentally well-conditioned team than any possible future opponent. That is it's origin and we have stolen the concept and brought it to Montgomery. It is the beginnings of a legend that will become an annual rite of passage for the players in our program to be allowed in to practice. People who win championships have to be "Uncommon". They have to be willing to sacrfice in ways that ordinary people don't. The greatest part of that is in knowing that you earned your championship or that you overachieved if the talent was not there to win. In either of those scenarios, the end result is satisfying and there are no regrets.

Thanks to Coach Glenn and Coach Farris for the Gut Week concept. I thank you. Our players hate you....but they will thank you later.

Blessings,

Coach S

I Cor 9:27

Give Me Jesus

Here is a youtube link to a great song that I discovered recently. You can click on the title to connect to it or use the link below. It is a very simple song, but the most powerful songs usually are...enjoy

Blessings,

Coach S



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnfOMvYd1oE

Deep Breath

I am excited about this weekend for a myriad of reasons.

The first is that it is Labor Day which ironically means we don't work.

I have given our players the weekend off which started after their classes let out yesterday. I did a couple of class checks to make sure no one left early and I am happy to report that we were in class in the first two rows like we were supposed to be.

The second reason I am excited is that we finished our first phase of conditioning on a high note. We ended up doing 56 40-yard dashes in 7 seconds or less. Our players did a great job encouraging each other and staying mentally tough. I am already thinking ahead to the next phase of conditioning with eager anticipation and a bar that has been raised to a higher level of excellence.

The most important reason is that this holiday comes at a great time to just stop and take a deep breath. It helps slow the whirlwind of new players, new program, new assistants, new home, new schools for kids, new culture and new churches. It gives a moment to pause for reflection and then for planning the next segment of recruiting and pre-practice conditioning.

This deep breath will allow me to catch up with my wife and kids, to spend some much desired time with them even if it is just watching movies or taking naps on an adjacent couch, floor, or chair...just to be with them.

This deep breath will also allow us to focus on narrowing our search for a church home that is a good fit for us. The good news about Montgomery is that there are alot of church options. The bad news is that there are alot of church options.

This deep breath will allow my assistants to get away from the demands of being around me for any length of time and hearing me say, "What do you think about...(fill in blank)?" They need some rest and alone time.

This deep breath will allow the majority of our players to go home for a long weekend and be pampered by their mommas and spoiled by their daddies, to reload on supplies, and to reflect on what they have accomplished so far.

Jesus, in the midst of the demands of life, always found a way to get away and rejuvenate through prayer and time away. I hope that we all have a great respite and the battery is recharged next Tuesday.

Blessings,

Coach S





Deep Breath


Written By - Ty Waller


I take a deep breath to pause my sacred life and to regain a sense of peace in my life.

I take deep breaths to feel alive and accepted, but sometimes my breath is cut short.

My sense of peace gets lost, and I don't know if I can regain it again.

I inhale hatred and issues and I exhale peace and tranquility as some people try to cut my peace short, but I continue my deep breath.

I take deep breath after deep breath after deep breath, but it doesn't seem to work.

I can't regain my peace and tranquility wondering what's going on, because I'm still breathing in hatred and issues, but nothing is coming out.

It seems like I'm getting madder by the second wondering why I'm subconsciously bottling up my emotions one by one, as they keep going through my mind.

My mind is thinking peace and tranquility but it stops at the heart. So maybe my heart is trying to tell my mind something and my mind won't listen?

But what could it be? I think my heart wants me to come to this realization that my emotions need to be set free.

Because all this time I have been thinking that I was breathing out peace and tranquility, but I was really breathing out nothing.

Why? Because I was bottling it up inside and maybe with one last deep breath I can set it all free but it will be the longest breath of my life.

I inhale a sense of purity, peace and tranquility. I exhale a cosmic Farris wheel of emotions all at once, and it felt like it was draining me.

I was happy, sad, mad and furious at the same time and for a moment I went blind seeing nothing but darkness. But then I came into the light and a few seconds later I fell unto the ground still exhaling the devils curse.

So therefore, the last thing I remember is peace, love and tranquility.

Coach...you're late.

On Friday I walked into the gym to see my players doing some static stretching on their own. I heard one of my players say, "Coach, you're late!" I looked around and all of my players were accounted for and waiting for me to arrive to begin. My heart rate raced as I have a tremendous fear of letting down the team by not being ready for a workout or practice. Then I looked at my watch and it said 5:47 am. I set my watch ahead so I am not late to anything. So the time was actually 5:42 or 5:43. That means that I was really 17 or 18 minutes early for our 6 AM workout. The great thing was that our players were really early and they were ready to start...so we started.

It was just like every other day we have had so far this fall. I have been charting it and we have been starting an average of 12 minutes early every morning. That is a credit to our players who have made it a priority to be early. In our first team meeting in program history our players were all sitting in their seats 25 minutes early. I called our AD, who was our first speaker, and told him we were ready to start and his only response was, "Wow, OK, I am on my way."

That is exactly why these young ladies were recruited to this first team. I felt that they would establish all of the traditions that we wanted started and handle the little things among themselves so that I could concentrate on coaching.

We are off to a great start...and they are going to have to be earlier on Monday to beat me there!

Blessings,

Coach S

"Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." Matthew 24:44 (ESV)

New School

Our girls, Marisa and Kylie, have just transferred to Prattville Christian School. Click on the title link above to go to an article about the spiritual development of their football program....just awesome! God is Good!

Blessings,

Coach S

Finding Balance

My family attended Landmark Church of Christ in Montgomery this morning with 10 members of my team. The preacher, Buddy Bell, had a great message about balance in life. I think alot can be learned for a team and it's individuals from the following point he made in that sermon:

Balance requires three elements;
1. A reference point - where am I right now? honest evaluation of status quo.
2. A clear objective - where do I see myself at a fixed point in the future?
3. Constant correction - How am I going to navigate the distance in between

Great stuff! Thanks, Buddy

Blessings,

Coach S

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Magical Eagle Powers

There is something special about this team. Everyone is now enrolled and locked in. 15 young ladies that chose to become Lady Eagles on the first ever team here at Faulkner University. As I write, I am in my office that overlooks the gym. It is 5:17 am and I am waiting to see the ladies and encourage the ones who show up at 6am for a voluntary workout. They are going to jog a one mile course mapped out by Graduate Assistant, Amanda Pence. Then they will do some ab work and the gym will be open for them to shoot some shots. It is voluntary, but I have a feeling everyone will be there.

I have felt very good about the basketball talent coming in with our first recruiting class, but I have felt even better about the calibur of human being in this class. On Monday night, we had our first team meeting scheduled at 8 PM. Everyone was putting their notebooks together, in their seat, and waiting on me to begin at 7:40 PM. There is a spirit about our young ladies that suggests that they are ready to go. I initially intended to wait and give them a little bit of time to settle in before beginning workouts, but they are ready so I must be ready and that is why we have the voluntary work out this morning.

In our meeting we discussed all of those things that coaches talk about when they want to set the tone. We discussed our philosophy and some of our academic expectations like sitting in the front row in class and the lower level of the gym for chapels. We laid the foundation for our meeting this next Sunday night on the standards that our players wish to establish and hold each other accountable for. However, the thing that motivated me the most was sharing a verse that I believe God put in front of me before the meeting specifically for the team. It is Romans 15:5-7.

I was sitting in my office the afternoon before the meeting reading out of a devotional book for female athletes called, In Him. It is written by a good coaching friend, Vicki Benson. Coach Benson coached at a school in Austin, Texas called Hyde Park Baptist. We played them in a Bi-District game two years ago and struck a friendship. She is now at Georgetown High School as an assistant coach in one of the traditional girl's basketball powerhouses in Texas. Her devotional focused on Unity. I was trying to find something that could help convey my desire that they glorify God in everything they do as valuable pieces in our basketball puzzle. I am going to close the blog with this section scripture and you can put together the value of this passage for a brand new collection of eclectic personalities as they start the process of becoming a team.

Blessings,

Coach


"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."

Romans 15:5-7 (NIV)

Future Lady Eagle?

I had a great workout tonight. Probably because it was at the 8th grade level. My daughter Kylie is committing herself to making the Middle School team this year and I am committed to helping her get there. My rule of thumb with my kids is that I am not going to push them into anything, but if they say "Dad let's go the gym, or workout, or to the golf course", I drop everything and take them.

Tonight was Kylie and I's first workout. We started in the fitness center at our apartment complex with some walk, jog, ab work, and very low weight bench press (so we don't crack her little twigs in half!).

Regardless of the player, whether it is my child or not, it is always fun to coach someone who is self-motivated and makes working out a "want to" and not a "got to".

My prayer is that our players at Faulkner are "want to" players and not "got to" players. They were recruited because I determined that they loved the game and had a great work ethic...I hope I was right? We will know soon now that our freshmen are on campus and our transfers will be here this weekend.

I am excited about our first meeting on Monday night.

Maybe one day Kylie will get to be in that meeting?

Blessings,

Coach S

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men"
Colossians 3:23

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

The Path

Coach Kat and I along with the rest our coaches and Faulkner and some local friends of the University had the great opportunity to visit with Brad McCoy for a luncheon today. For those of you who don't know him, Brad is the father of Colt McCoy who is the prolific quarterback from the University of Texas who hurt himself in the national championship game this last season against the Tide.

Admittedly, most of his speech was a commercial for the group he now works with, Flippen. However, he did have a great comment about coaching and parenting that I think is very relevant. He said that good teachers and parents "prepare their kids for the path, not the path for their kids".

This is a great point. Many parents and coaches try to manipulate the road that their kids are on to make the journey easier and painless. This tends to cripple their children when they are faced with true adversity. The preparation in a kids life needs to be relational in terms of how to prepare their minds and bodies for a bumpy path. They need to be taught persistence and resilience to navigate whatever trails are in front of them.

This is a great lesson in coaching. I have always tried to prepare my teams in special situations so they are not surprised by anything and have poise in the face of adversity. I need to be better at doing this with my children for the adversity they will have in their life.

Blessings,

Coach S

Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."

Wetumpka?

It has been a full time job moving into a new apartment. I remember hating the moving process when it was just Darla and I as an energetic, young, married couple. It is excruciating now that there are 6 of us and two are at an age where for every two things you put away, one ends back out on the living room floor. I am eternally grateful for the guys from Westbury Christian School who helped us load the big moving truck and the guys from University Church of Christ who helped us unload it.

I am in the process of changing our address with the myriad of entities that it is necessary to change it with. I got a great email this morning from my good friend, Chris Barbee. Chris is with alumni relations at my alma mater, Grand Valley State University. His comment when he replied to my address change request was, "I can honestly say that I have never met anyone from Wetumpka, Alabama". He now has that claim to fame as we moved to the great town of Wetumpka. Don't ask me how to properly pronounce it, because I don't know.

There is alot to like about Wetumpka. It is a small town of just a few thousand people, but it has a Walmart and all the fast food places necessary for a life on the go (except Krystal). It is nestle in the hills and rivers north of Montgomery and the people seem very friendly and open to new neighbors. My two favorite things about the town are that the high school nickname is still the Indians. That tells me that they don't buy into alot of the political correctness that abounds in our society. I also like the schools and everyone has been friendly to us that we have met in town and at the church. Marisa and Kylie are now enrolled in school and they start next Monday.

My first impression of Wetumpka and Elmore County was also memorable. The day after we moved in I ran out to get a new dryer electrical cord at the local Russell Do-It Center (aka hardware store). When I got to the light to turn, the sheriff pulled up next to me. He waved. I waved. He rolled his window down and I did. We had a conversation right there at the red light about him growing up in Wichita Falls, Texas, our just moving in, the fishing being great, my tail light needing replaced, the town being a great place to raise kids, and a hearty welcome. I love that! Needless to say, the police in Houston have a different demeanor.

I grew up in a very similar small town and I guess Wetumpka makes me regress to a very good childhood.

Well...gotta go for now... I need to pick up a football schedule and check on season tickets. My Friday nights are scheduled for the next 12 weeks!!!

Blessings,

Coach S

What's The Latest

I just returned to Montgomery from New Orleans. I had the opportunity to watch AAU teams play at the Battle On The Bayou AAU National Tournament. It was good to reconnect with old friends from Texas. It was great to see several of my former Westbury Christian girls playing and having a great summer. I had the opportunity to watch some of the top kids on my list and add some new ones to the list. I am looking at 2011 kids that I think can help push our program forward when they arrive. It is very convenient to be able to go to a site and see several players in one place, rather than during the high school season where you have to travel great distances just to see one potential player that may or may not be up to standard.

Coach Kat is on the way. As I write, she is traveling across Louisiana and should be in Montgomery tonight. We will get her unloaded tomorrow and give her a week to get settled in and then go to work starting August 2. I am looking forward to having her, she will bring great energy and work ethic to the Assistant Coach position.

I am flying out Sunday to Houston. We are packing up our stuff and coming with the whole crew this time. We have settled on Wetumpka for the next year. We look forward to becoming a part of that great community.

Until next time...

Blessings,

Coach

Forgiveness

I don't know if you had a chance to watch the ESPY award show on ESPN the other night. There were some great comedy bits. My favorite was the bit with Will Ferrell as Jeff Vuvuzela. Classic comedy.

The best part of the show, however, was the Arthur Ashe award for courage that was given to the family of Ed Thomas.

There is a link if you click on the title for Aaron Thomas' speech at the ESPY's. He challenged the athletes, musicians, and other famous folks in the crowd to use their celebrity for good and do the right things. It was very inspiring.

Here is a link to a great video about the whole story...

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5205716

Take the time to watch it and reflect on the power of forgiveness. Would we be as strong in forgiving those who have wronged us in such a profound way?

Blessings,

Coach S

Matthew 5:44 "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

Back At It

It has been a while since I blogged. In the meantime my daughter, Marisa, and I have been to China and back to visit Pandas, Asian acrobats, the Great Wall, several great restaurants and sites, and most importantly my big brother Mark and his family. It was great to see him and his wife Elizabeth and their two year old son YangYang. It was a blessing to be able to go and there are way too many stories to tell about in a short blog.

It's back on the recruiting trail now as I sit in my hotel room in Murfreesboro, TN. I am at an NCAA sanctioned tournament called the Battle of the Boro. I have seen several good players and look forward to seeing a few more in the next day and a half.

The countdown is on to the first day of the first semester...here we go!

Blessings,

Coach S

Cloud of Witnesses

I had the great opportunity to provide the devotional at Coach Sanderson's basketball camp today. The verses that he is focusing on this year are Hebrews 12:1-2. My talk was geared on the phrase, "since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses". As I was thinking about the devo the last couple of days, I thought about great (and not so great) sporting moments that I have witnessed in my lifetime. The best are probably USA's semifinal hockey win against the Soviets in 1980, later called the "Miracle on Ice" thanks to commentator Al Michaels call of the game in the final seconds when he stated. "Do you believe in miracles!?!" Another was my brother Mark's high school team in Hamilton Michigan winning an unlikely state championship in 1984. Then, this last season's overtime win in the state championship game for my Westbury Christian Lady Wildcats ranks right up there as well. Some memories of moments that were not so great are Bill Buckners error in the 1986 series against the Mets, Chris Webber's gut wrenching timeout call in the National Championship game against North Carolina (there is even a sports bar in Chapel Hill called "Time Out". That was excruciating to watch as a childhood Wolverine fan. Most recently, I feel poorly for Ricardo Clark in making an errant pass on Saturday that led to the early goal against Ghana in the World Cup knockout round. We were never truly able to recover our energy in the first half.

There are also, "I remember when..." moments in our lives where we witnessed history and can remember where we were at that time. I can remember being a third grader at piano lessons when Ronald Reagan was shot. I can remember being in the computer lab teaching a Health class at Westbury Christian when the planes flew through the twin towers on 9/11/2001. For my devo, I used the big moment for my daughter, Kylie, when she made her first basket in a game at Westbury Christian. That was definitely a moment to remember. We talked a little bit about all of the witnesses in Hebrews 11 that gave credibility to Hebrews 12.

I challenged the campers and coaches (and mostly myself) to make camp today an "I remember when..." moment. That they would make positive choices today that would affect their lives positively years from now. So that when they get older, their "cloud of witnesses" will think of them favorably and they will have credibility when they speak of Christ and His gospel. I love the use of the word "cloud". It implies that they are completely engulfed and surrounded by the witnesses of the great things accomplished in the past.

As we start the women' basketball program at Faulkner, it is important that we create great traditions and memories that turn into a legacy that we can be proud of so that our "cloud of witnesses" perceives us favorably. If we are perceived favorably, we can have a greater influence for Him and glorify His name!

Blessings,

Coach

Heb 12:1-2

Donovan, Isner, and the Hurricanes

The last couple of days have been monumental sports days for fans of our generation.

I believe that Landon Donovan's late game heroic goal could have changed the plight of American soccer for good. I think the state of the game of soccer was in trouble in America if our team would have been sent home after yet another tie. His goal put us in the "bracket of hope" at the World Cup and I actually look forward to the next match. Had we had another tie (which in my opinion is a very frustrating result to any competitive game), I would not have cared about soccer for another 4 years. That goal gives us a hero, hope, and one more reason to care for America's sporting step-child.

If you don't follow tennis, I understand. But the war of attrition that became the match at the biggest tournament of the year, Wimbledon, was absolutely mind boggling. American John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut in a fifth set. The score of the fifth set was 70-68. Most major tournaments have gone to a tiebreaker even in the 5th set. That matched proved the drama that I think should change that rule back to eliminating them in the major tournaments. The fifth set lasted 8 hours which is 1 1/2 hours longer than any completed match in the history of the sport. The total time of the match was over 11 hours. Next time you put in an exhausting 11 hour day, imagine having to do that while swinging a racket and charging the net thousands of times. Exhausting! I love tennis and still play as much as possible and played in leagues before I left Houston. I always fell apart in the third set of matches because I was not in great shape. Once I hit the second hour of play, I was spent. I cannot imagine the level of physical and mental toughness it takes to play for 11 hours. Isner lost his match this morning in three easy straight sets 6-3,6-0,6-2. I don't think anyone can blame him for running out of gas. Historical! Tip of the cap to Isner, I am glad it was an American.

The lessons learned are seizing opportunities like Donovan and mental toughness like Isner's. Another impressive group that I experienced yesterday was the Flomaton Lady Hurricanes.

Flomaton is a small town in Alabama of about 1500 on the Florida panhandle border about 45 minutes from Pensacola. They are coached by Leroy Steele and Jarrod Green. Coach Steele cold-called me a couple of weeks ago about coming down to do a one day satellite camp at their high school with his girls. I have a heart for a coach that cares enough about his kids to put in the time and effort to calling some college coaches to bring them in to help get their team better. I agreed to do a 2-5 PM camp yesterday in exchange for their time over dinner so we could talk about that area from a recruiting standpoint and so we could talk x's and o's. I was extremely impressed with the talent and coachability of the kids. I have alot of respect for kids that will take their afternoons over the summer and make it a priority to get off their backsides and get into a gym to get better for the sake of their own health and their team's goals. I have become a fan of their program and will be watching their results this season for sure. I consider the coaches new found friends. I was reminded about the commitment it takes to be a championship calibur program by the Lady Hurricanes. Thanks Ladies!

Blessings,

Reed

Commitment

Father's Day was this past Sunday. I was fortunate to be able to see my kids for the first time in a month. It was great to be around them. I love hearing Kylie's passion when she talks about her friends and the things she is involved with. I loved being able to comfort Brady in the middle of the night when he woke up with a bad dream. I absolutely love how affectionate Katelyn is. I think she said "I love you daddy" and gave me hugs about 50 times in a 24 hour period of time. I love that Marisa got to come back with me to Montgomery. I did some research for her arrival. I watched Twilight and New Moon. You might find it hard to believe but neither of those films would be my first choice at the RedBox. I look forward to diving in to our relationship and studying her while I have the next 3 weeks with her.

The focus of this post, however, is my dad.

I listen to KSBJ when I am at work in my office. I am grateful that I have a job that doesn't require me to be in there all the time. When I am in there, I get online and listen to KSBJ which is the christian radio station out of Houston. I think it gives me comfort to listen to that station while my family is still living in that area. On that radio station today they were involved in their annual share-a-thon. The share-a-thon is a fund raising effort to take care of needs but also the dreams of the station. They made a statement that kids have a tendency to be givers if their parents are givers. I think the same can be said about other attributes as well. The one that is on my heart right now is commitment.

My dad worked that same desk job in claims and customer service for 40 years. I can remember he had opportunities to move up in the company but he recognized his strengths and the extra stress it would put on him so he stayed committed to his position. I can remember him coming home tired at times and frustrated at times, but I can never remember him truly saying a bad word about his company. He lived commitment. I can also remember another situation when I was about 5th or 6th grade when dad and I picked up one of my brothers at the school after a long basketball road trip. My bro got in the car a proceeded to complain about his lack of playing time and starting bad-mouthing the coach a little bit. I will never forget my dad turning to him in a calm voice saying, "I don't ever want to hear you say another bad word about your coach...You deal with it." He wanted my brother to be committed in good times and bad.

I hear more and more stories about a lack of commitment in society. Just today I was involved with two.

Marisa and I were eating lunch at Faulkner. A young camper's mom came up to Coach Sanderson who was at our table and said, "I am taking my daughter home, she is sore and tired". Coach Sanderson said, "that's funny, she was just in the gym dancing last session". Mom told him that her daughter just needed some rest. Coach was frustrated that with one phone call, this kid's mom dropped everything and catered to her whim. I think if I would have called my dad to come pick me up he would have said, "I'll come get you when camp is over.

The second was from an AAU coach who has spent a couple of years with a kid in his program and spent countless hours away from his family getting her better at no charge to her to the point where she is a top guard in the state that she plays in. The coach has another player who is getting alot of recruiting attention right now. The first kid and her parents called the coach and said they are leaving to another team because their kid has been ignored and mistreated by the coach. They are crippling their child for life. One might suggest that it is just summer basketball. I would suggest that a child is a parent's most captive audience regardless of how small or large the decision is. If being a princess instead of a queen is mistreatment then they are probably right, she is being mistreated. The coach was unbelievably committed the development of the kid and the kid bolts...unbelievable.

I am grateful to my dad now for alot of things. I didn't appreciate him at the time. Hebrews 12 suggests that no discipline is pleasant at the time, but we have developed a friendship as I have gotten older that is priceless. I am grateful that I will be able to pass commitment on to my kids and players, and I believe that they will have a competitive advantage over the kids who are enabled and not committed.


Thanks Dad

Blessings,

Reed

Tine Davis

I am blessed to be able to be employed in a position that I would not call work. Very few people get to do that. Yes there are tough days as a coach when things don't go well. Anytime you are trying to lead a myriad of different personalities there are challenges.

I can't think of anything I would rather being doing than being a full time coach because I literally wake up ready to go every morning. There has not been a day since I arrived at Faulkner that I came dragging into work. The opportunity to coach for a living is awesome. There are days that I feel a little bit guilty, because I have always had to do other things along with coaching like teaching or being an assistant pricipal. In the early years I had to work at Radio Shack, Walgreens, and a pizza place to be able to do what I really want to do...coach. I used the analogy with a friend yesterday that in years past I have had to make the cake so that I could sample the frosting. Right now it is all frosting and it is very sweet.

Today was a good day because Men's basketball coach, Jim Sanderson, and I got to spend some time with our President, Dr. Hilyer. We got to talk to him about ways we felt we could improve our facility, Tine Davis Gymnasium. In particular, we were talking about sanding and refinishing the gym floor and repainting some of the floor level walls. After visiting the gym this afternoon, Dr. Hilyer broke down and told us to move forward with the plans. You could see how excited he was about talking about anything that improves campus, but there is an obvious counterweight called money. He has the tough job of balancing wants and needs. I am grateful for the trust he has put in Coach Sanderson and I to make the gym great.

Tine Davis Gymnasium is a great place. It has a great spirit about it and a great home court feel to it. There is a great balance between old and new. I think if everything were new, it would be impersonal. I like the traditional eagle paintings on the walls and the older wooden chairback seating, although there may be a need to replace the seating soon as well. The new surface on floor will brighten it up and really enhance the most trafficked building on campus. We have chapel in here every day so everyone on campus will benefit from the improvements. I hope the young ladies in our program appreciate the opportunity to play in such a wonderful building. I know that I feel blessed to be able to "work" in it.

Blessings,

Coach

The Love Chapter

In my personal time, I have been reading through the Corinthian letters. My last blog was derived from I Cor 12. Tonight I read from I Cor 13 for about the millionth time. Not really...that was hyperbole. I have read it alot and it is very meaningful. It is a very special verse that I used to have memorized thanks to a song by my favorite Christian rock band as a teenager, Petra, who wrote a song utilizing this chapter as the lyrics on their Beyond Belief album.

It will always have a special place in my heart as I know it is my wife's favorite passage. That page in her Bible seems to be a little more crinkled than all of the other pages. It was our (her) selection for a scripture reading at our wedding....probably thousands of other weddings, too.

As I read through it today, I thought about my role as a father with Father's Day coming up. Starting in verse 4, I decided to replace the word "love" with the words "a Godly father". I also substituted the word "it" with the word "he". So it goes something like this if you use the New International Version, "A Godly father is patient, a Godly father is kind, He does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud. he is not rude, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered. He keeps no record of wrongs...etc..." You can read it for yourself.

God's word obviously shares that we shouldn't add or take away from what was inspired by the writers. That is not my intent. My intent is to personalize it for me and challenge my own life to be more loving.

From a basketball standpoint, I would argue that you could also replace "love" with "A good coach" or "a team player" or "a great manager", then replace it with "he" or "she" depending on the gender. I think if you stop and read it through it a couple of times while utilizing whatever role in your life you want to improve, it will inspire and motivate.

Blessings,

Coach

I Cor 13

The Wheelhouse

When I was playing tennis as a kid, I had a coach who taught me that I always needed to hit the ball in my "wheelhouse". The wheelhouse is the place where I felt most consistent and comfortable hitting the ball. My coach would holler at me if I tried to hit the ball too early or too late instead of moving my feet to get in a position to hit it while it was in my wheelhouse, which was when the racket and my arm were fully extended out in front of my body. This is a phrase that I believe he picked up from the baseball world. Baseball people have been saying it for years and they suggest that a hitter's wheelhouse is that "sweet spot" directly over the plate that is at the right height and distance so that when a batter swings it makes them extend their arms to get maximum force on the ball. In physics, it is where kinetic energy meets potential energy for optimum force. The phrase "wheelhouse" could have originated as a nautical term to describe the heart of the vessel where the boat is steered most manageably.

We all have "wheelhouses" in our daily lives. One may have a wheelhouse at play, at work, and in their spiritual walk. Our wheelhouse is our personal strengths, or more specifically our God-given spiritual gift.

How much time do we spend trying to strengthen weaknesses, rather than developing those specific few things that God gave us to do well? We pray for improvement or read books on things that have little bearing on our specific purpose in life. Referring back to physics, work input in that situation does not equal work output no matter how much kinetic energy one puts into it. How much more efficient would it be to put our potential energy into the things of the Holy Spirit. So many times I have seen when there is spiritual alignment with spiritual gifts that the work output is much greater than the work input which goes against the laws of physics (probably called miracles). When we turn over control of our wheelhouse to the God that created them, He blesses us. Seems easy to say...but it is hard to do.

So how do you know what your spiritual gifts are. There are a couple of ways that you can figure it out. The first is by having an awareness of the things that you naturally do well or have the aptitude for. The second is to have an awareness of areas where you seem to get compliments (I personally have gotten compliments on devos and speeches I have given but never leading songs, therefore, I try to speak whenever I can and lead songs as little as I can). Another way is to ask others what they feel your strengths are and have an open mind. There are probably more ways, but the last way I will share is to take an evaluative assessment like the one linked to the title of my blog. Just click on "The Wheelhouse" title above and it will link you to a site where you can take a test and print out the results.

Let me know where your strentgths are. Mine are in teaching and exhortation. Shout out to former Assistant Coach Kelly Edmiston for sending me the link. She was an encourager for me to be inquisitive about my own gifts and the gifts of our players last year. The fun part is trying to predict the gifts of friends and see if the assessment shows it to be true.

Of course the best hitters can expand their wheelhouse and make adjustments to curve balls that come at them, but that is a different topic for a different day. I encourage you to click on the title above and follow the prompts to begin identifying your spiritual gifts. I encourage my players to begin thinking about how their gifts will best be utilized within the framework of our team.

Blessings,

Coach

I Cor 12:1-11

Rojo Gato

...That's what Abilene Christian's announcer Grant Boone called her, "rojo gato", or "red cat" in Spanish. She is a red-head and her first name is Kat. Kat Kundmueller is the first assistant women's basketball coach in Faulkner University history.

I believe unequivocally that God answer's prayer. The Bible and history books have proven that. My personal life is a case study in answered prayer at every turn of my career.

I thought I had picked the perfect assistant back in January. I talked to her and she was interested. She had a solid playing career at a high-major university and was highly recommended. Time passed, however, and things stalled in our conversations. I don't think it was anyones fault, circumstances just slowed things down. I decided to focus on recruiting players first and then concentrate on an assistant. Once we got our 15th commitment from Linzee Kerce (whom we signed last night at Camp Ney-a-Ti in Guntersville, AL), I turned my focus toward hiring the right assistant.

So I texted the one that "I" wanted and we went back and forth and she just wasn't as excited about coming out for an interview as I would have liked. I was a little frustrated at first, but realized that might have been God's way of slowly closing a door. In the meantime, I had been calling around to some othe Christian high school and college women's basketball coaches. The first call I made was to Mark Campbell of Union University. His team has won the last two NAIA national championships and he runs the model small college program. He did not know of anyone off hand, but he gave me great advice. He told me that basketball background was virtually irrelevant for him as far as assistants go. They don't have to be perfect, but they have to be Godly women who will commit to working hard at mentoring the young ladies in the program. He also mentioned that they have to be someone he knew his wife would be comfortable with. I thought that was great advice so I start praying for God to send me that person.

As I called around to high school and college coaches, there was one name that came up a couple of times as a young lady fresh off a great college playing career who was very spiritually minded, a competitor, and had the intangibles to be an outstanding coach. So I called Kat. She played high school ball at Euless Trinity in Texas before transferring to play for Coach John Anderson at Fort Worth Christian her junior and senior years. Fort Worth Christian is a private school powerhouse rival that my team at Westbury Christian had to play in the state semi's this year to advance. When Kat was playing, it was not a rivalry...they just beat us. They had a great team full of outstanding college level talent. Kat just graduated from Abilene Christian University. She was a prolific point guard for Coach Shawna Lavender that was 2nd in the country in assists last year in NCAA Division II. She was also number 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (my favorite stat). More than her playing statistics, however, was the recurring theme of her natural gift of leadership, her eagerness to learn, and her heart for service. These attributes are extremely evident after a couple of phone conversations, some emails, and a campus visit with Kat. I am confident that she was "God's" choice for our program. I had to get out of the way and let Him choose.

I am very excited about how the team has taken shape and I sense the Holy Spirit's blessings on our University and the basketball programs. I will sum it up with Kat's thoughts in a text she sent me last night when she returned home to Texas. She texted some thoughts about our potential motto (or mission statement) for next year. She wrote, "Our hearts and our eyes are focused on Christ so our destination is clear; we give everything every time for our team, our God, and His glory".

If we heed the thoughts that were in her heart as she sent that text, we are assured of success regardless of the numbers left on the scoreboard at the end of a game.

Welcome, Coach Kat!

Coach

Barnabas

One of the great things about starting a program from scratch is the opportunity as the bus driver to only allow the right people on the bus as it leaves the station.

I have had the great opportunity to have an assistant coaching candidate on campus the last couple of days that I am really excited about. She is very spiritually minded, was a great college player, came highly recommended, and is an overachieving hard worker. These are great qualities to have as we begin the journey. I hope to have an announcement about that soon? It's up to her.

We are also adding another student-athlete to the roster tomorrow. It is Linzee Kerce. She is a 5'11" post player who played her high school ball at Madison Academy and then played a year of Junior College ball before deciding to make the move here because she was far enough along with her academic credits that she didn't need another year of JUCO. I am really excited about Linz. I think she will bring a great deal of intensity to practices and is a great encourager. She has a great spirit about her. It has been tough to nail her down to get a signing. I called her a couple of weeks ago after her commitment and said "let's get this done next week", and she said, "I can't, I am going on a mission trip to Ghana". I told her to call when she returned. She did. I texted her and said, "Let's get it done this weekend", and she said, "I am working a church camp this weekend". That is the ideal recruit. A student, an athlete, and a servant with a heart for Christ. I am pumped about Linz. I am headed up to church camp tomorrow to eat some hot dogs, listen to a devotional, meet some Godly people, and sign a servant of Christ to be a part of our program. Continue to pray for our program to be blessed.

Faulkner Women's Basketball is getting better everyday and tomorrow will be no different. We are signing a modern day Barnabas. What a blessing!

Coach

Great Link

I am not a wikipedia fan, per se. However, this is a good link that took me to a site that brought back memories of the Sports Psychology class that I took when I started my doctorate. It takes one through the stages of team development. You can click on the title or copy and paste the link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forming-storming-norming-performing

Blessings,

Coach

This Day in Basketball History

It has been a very basketball nostalgia-filled day today.

I have been watching the NBA Finals for the last little while and I have also been online reading articles about the greatest Coach in sports history, John Wooden. I enjoyed the comments that were made at halftime about Coach Wooden from his two most prolific players, Kareem Abdul-Jabber and Bill Walton.

When someone has success in a given field, there are usually many who like to take shots at them to bring them down to size. I know that I am not extremely old in a coaching sense having coached for about 17 or 18 years, but in all my years of being a fan, player (debatable), and coaching, I have never heard anyone say one mildly irreverant comment about Coach Wooden. He had the affect on his players that all well meaning coaches wish to have...a positive one. The word most synonomous with Coach Wooden is "Teacher". His servant leadership style was akin to the "Great Teacher", Jesus Christ.

Today has been a neat day in another regard for me. I have had a chance to experience two of the great basketball gyms in all of college athletics. This weekend I had the great opportunity to work with Coach Sylvia Hatchell at the University of North Carolina Girl's Elite camp. Coach Hatchell is a wonderful woman that I look up to because of both her success on the floor and her heart for her player's off the floor. It was reassuring for me that she and her staff are taking such good care of former Westbury Christian Lady Wildcat, Waltia Rolle (who has grown and inch in the last year to 6-6 1/2). In this morning's final session, I had the opportunity to coach a basket and officiate a game at the Dean Smith Center. It is as huge as it looks on TV. There is carolina blue everywhere you turn. The banners and the retired jersey's of all the greats are hanging from the ceiling. A very impressive building.

On my way out of Chapel Hill after camp was over at noon, I decided to make the 10 mile (or so) trip to Durham and try to catch a glimpse of Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke. I walked in the front door and looked around and it turned out there was a camp for older gentlemen who I believe are Business Executives. I went in and sat down and watched and snapped a few photos on the disposable camera I bought for the weekend. It was a very different gym that was much smaller and intimate than the Smith Center. The gothic stone architecture mirrored that of the other buildings on campus. These arenas are both very impressive and very different. They represent the dichotomy between large universities and smaller private schools. They have in common, however, a rich tradition in basketball excellence and leadership with first-class programs. I was evidently lucky as the lady running the gift shop told me that there were a few people that were kicked out of Cameron because they didn't have the right credentials. I was certainly an uninvited guest and my apologies to the University for imposing. As a basketball purist and junkie, it was neat to experience these things. I feel very fortunate. I think it is always important to be curious about the history and traditions in one's family, work, and faith.

This weekend was the best one I have had since I began as Head Women's Coach at Faulkner because I feel that I developed multiple substantive player and coach recruiting contacts. Recruiting and checking up on Waltia were my primary objectives for the trip. A side benefit of the trip was the humbling thought that there was a point in time when each of those Universities chose to begin basketball programs on their campuses, much like we are doing in women's basketball next year. A coach and a few players had to get things started. I liked...er, loved the championship banners. However, the retired jerseys in the rafters gave me an overwhelming sense of respect for of all of the unique coach's and players that gave their heart and soul to the programs over the years. North Carolina Men's Basketball has had a team for exactly 100 years. I wonder what the gym at Faulkner is going to look like in 100 years. What names will be hanging from the ceiling? Will our program be as successful at developing successful young ladies as Coach Wooden, Coach K, and Coach Hatchell have been at developing young leaders?

It is fun to think about the possibilities...

Blessings,

Coach

"What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player."
--Coach John Wooden

Forgiveness

A quick parallel to the grace of God...A soft pat during the lineup card exchange from Detroit Tiger pitcher Armando Gallaraga to the back of umpire Jim Joyce.

Soak in the magnitude of that act.

Joyce admitted to making a monumental error in ruining a perfect game on the last out. Perfect games come along roughly every 200,000 games played. As early as the next day, he was outwardly forgiven by the person damaged the most. I praise God for the example that Gallaraga showed to all of us in the business of athletics. God expects us to be competitive, but not at the expense of our character.

Blessings,

Coach

You Make A Grown Man Cry

"You make a grown man cry" are some of the lyrics to a song called "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones. It also describes my day yesterday. As it turns out, I had a kidney stone that was between 3 and 4 mm. That doesn't sound very big on paper, but it was enough to put me on my knees.

I am eternally grateful to my wife for hundreds of reasons, but the biggest reason is making me go to the Pri-Med Center yesterday when I did. Without giving out all of the uncomfortable details, I noticed some pressure and that things weren't normal when I woke up at 7 am yesterday morning. The pain and symptoms were that of my wife's when she had a kidney stone a year or two ago. I called her and she said "Go to Pri-Med NOW! Don't wait! Get there as soon as you can!" So I went out the door, jumped in my truck and burned down Atlanta Highway to the clinic. The major, excruciating pain set in about the moment I walked through the door of the clinic. I was reeling in pain.

I absolutely thank the nurses at the clinic for understanding the pain, except for the one who tried to comfort me by saying, "The pain is only about a third as bad as giving birth a child". I said, "Thanks". Jim Sanderson, our Men's Coach at Faulkner and my savior with rides and picking up prescriptions, wasn't as subdued and said "You know how to comfort a man don't you? Just kick him when he's down!" I think I am going to enjoy working with him.

It is amazing how something that small can throw everything out of whack. The bodies that we have that were created by God are very resilient, but something as small as 3 mm in diameter can literally make a grown man cry and remind us of the fragility of the human body.

Everything is ok now as the stone must have passed in the middle of the night when I was sleeping. I am up and feel good and will continue with my plans to go to North Carolina this afternoon for some recruiting and working at UNC's Elite Camp.

Shoutouts to Darla for convincing me to go to Pri-Med, and to Coach Sanderson for breaking up his day (even though he had a recruit on campus) to help me get to the different places I needed to go and serving my needs ahead of his own.

Servant Leadership.

Blessings,

Coach

"I haven't got time for the pain"
--Carly Simon

Becoming A Team

While retyping my notes that I took from the recent clinic that I attended with Coach Don Meyer there was one segment that stood out to me that would be beneficial in starting a team. It was his four concepts in developing a team.

The first one is SHARED OWNERSHIP. There is a monumental difference in renting a home and buying one, or renting a car and buying one. One takes care of, nurtures, and makes deposits into things they own. One has a tendency to use and abuse things that they rent. The same can be said of the attitude of the players on a team. They must "buy" in, not "rent" in to the program.

The second one is SHARED SUFFERING. If you want to be fit, it requires working out and working out is uncomfortable. If it was comfortable, then the obesity rates in America would drop. Shared suffering is the concept behind basic training in the military. Yes, it is to get people in shape, but it also makes them work together and develop bonds with each other that are still strong when tough times hit (and they inevitably will).

The third is INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY. Players need to be accountable and need to be held accoutable. I love how Coach K writes in his book, "The Gold Standard", that when Jason Kidd joined the team, Kidd made a huge deal out of making sure that everyone on that team was ALWAYS on time. This was out of respect for the coaches and teammates, but it is just the right thing to do. Jim Nantz, in his book "Always By My Side", mentions that in journalism the standard of behavior was that "to be early was to be on time". My friend and Olympic Gold-Medalist sprinter, Mike Marsh, always shares the advice to people he meets that the most important part of being successful is "showing up"...always being relied upon to be there, regardless.

The last is COLLECTIVE PRIDE. This is about being more proud of team success than individual performance. My dad never used to ask me how I played when I was a kid until after he asked how the team did...even in the individual sport of tennis. I would get home and he would say, "Did you guys win?", I would say, "Yep", He would say, "How did everybody do?", and I would share some highlights, and THEN he would say, "How'd you play?", and I would tell him my successes and failures. When I would play great and win my match but the team would lose overall, he would be disappointed. When I would play poorly and the team won he would say, "That's great!". The sweatshirt that he wore to all of my games, matches, and tournaments said, "Hamilton Hawkeyes", it didn't say "Reed Sutton". He was a company man. He worked in the same company for 40 years, through good times and bad and success and failure and parties and funerals, he gave it is all for his company. That's pride.

I am excited about developing our team in each of these four areas. I hope they are ready to meet these challenges face-to-face and conquer them.

Blessings,

Coach

"...whatever you do, do all for the glory of God" (I Cor 10:31 NIV)

Thanks!

Most of us can remember someone from our family or neighborhood that sacrificed themself to maintain our freedom. If you can't think of someone readily, click on the title "Thanks!" and read some of the stories of our greatest heroes.

Enjoy a great holiday with family. I am looking forward to time with friends on the golf course...but I certainly plan to stop and think about the War Veteran's that allowed me the opportunity to do so in safety, and to say a prayer for our current warriors that are here and abroad keeping us safe.

Thanks!

Blessings,

Coach S

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died, rather we should thank God that such men lived"
-- General George Patton

In The Beginning

"You know that the beginning is the most important part of any work, especially in the case of a young and tender thing; for that is the time at which the character is being formed and the desired impression is more readily taken...Shall we just carelessly allow our children to hear any casual tales which may be devised by casual persons, and to receive into their minds ideas for the most part the very opposite of those which we should wish them to have when they grow up?

We cannot...Anything received into the mind at that age is likely to become indelible and unalterable; and therefore it is most important that the tales which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts...

Then will our youth dwell in a land of health, amid fair sights and sounds, and receive the good in everything; and beauty, the effluence of fair works, shall flow into the eye and ear, like a health-giving breeze from a purer region, and insensibly draw the soul from the earliest years into likeness and sympathy with the beauty of reason.

There can be no nobler training than that."

That is one of my favorite literary passages. It is from Plato's Republic. It stimulates the heart of a teacher to be cautious and put alot of thought into the way that they begin the training of their students(in my case, the training of the team). It also challenges the parent not to expose their children to poor teaching. I wonder if Plato would be happy with the direction of the educational system in America right now in terms of the teaching that American children are receiving?

We are about to get things started in the fall at Faulkner and I am excited about that and I am putting a great deal of thought about the scope and sequence of the training of our team from the start. As I was communicating with our players by email recently, I posed the question, "What does it mean to you to be a part of the first team ever at Faulkner?" It seems they are thinking about it as seriously as I am.

Here are some quotes...

"To me it means alot, starting a tradition that will later be used, and building the foundation of what Faulkner Women's Basketball is all about...it is pretty exciting."

"It is an honor to be able to be on the first team at Faulkner..."

"I consider it a great honor to be playing on the first women's basketball team here at Faulkner. It is a big deal to be able to say that I am a part of history at this school..."

"Every time I think of the opportunity I get really excited..."

"...It is an honor to represent the first team at Faulkner. It is a time to set records. It is bringing something to the school that has been missing and making a statement. I am excited to be able to do this and be a part of a team that is going to be great."

There are more quotes, but you get the idea. We are taking seriously the opportunity to get off to a great start. Get your season tickets!

Coach

"You start me up, you start me up... you never stop!"
--Rolling Stones

Drew Anderson

I can't explain it but I have a tendency toward local loyalties. I have lived in four states in my life and my sports loyalties always quickly become directed toward the local teams. I grew up in Holland, Michigan so I grew up a Hope College and Michigan Wolverine fan as well as the Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings. Then, I lived in East Tennessee for a year and went to a Tennessee/Alabama football game and started getting fascinated with UT Football. After a move to Houston, I turned my allegiances to the Astros, Rockets, and Texans. So I arrived in Montgomery and find myself sitting in the stands eating a slice of pizza and drinking a coke at a Biscuits baseball game.

The Montgomery Biscuits are the Double-A baseball affiliate of the first place Tampa Bay Devil Rays of the Major Leagues. I came to a game a couple of weeks ago with my son, Brady, and my dad, Dad. I took notice of one of the players and how he carried himself. His name is Drew Anderson and he was the second baseman at the time. He is an underdog kind of guy. He is 5 foot nothing but has good hands and speed. The thing that impressed me about him was how he interacted with his coach after he got thrown out at third trying to take an extra base on a base hit by a teammate. Manager Billy Gardner was the third base coach and was expressing some displeasure at the youngster. David looked him in the eye and every thing about his body language said, "Yes Sir, I am eagerly learning from you and appreciate your coaching". He was nodding his headed positively and showed no disrespect. He is what I would call at this point a "throwback".

I was reading the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper while eating lunch at the Captain D's across from campus today and there was an article written by Stacy Long on the sports page in a section called the "Biscuits Crumbs". "Crumbs" is basically the inside clubhouse scoop on the players and coaches and will highlight some on the field things, but also some off the field stuff. It turns out that my man Drew was converted today to the outfield from second base because of either a call-up or injury or both, I didn't pay close attention as to why. He was a professional ball player that was told he was switching positions today. I am not sure how I would react to that if I were in the same circumstance. I did play close attention to Drew's quoted response. He said, "Isn't that cool...I'm just moving around".

Anderson is a difference maker. His attitude is incredible. Coach wants me in a different position? Ok let's do it...it will be fun. I don't know what happened behind closed doors and I don't want to know because I am now a fan of Drew Anderson's. I literally came to the park tonight and sit here right now because I wanted to see more of his team first attitude.

So because of DA, I got a ticket and came to the park, as I sat down to my pizza slice and coke, I looked over to the dugout and who is the first guy out of the dugout to start warming up? You take a guess.

Blessings,

Coach

"Your example is the not the main thing in influencing others...it is the ONLY thing."

Proud Coach

I am very proud of Westbury Christian senior-to-be Amber Orrange who is going to USA Basketball U18 Trials. It was an absolute honor to coach her for the last two years. She is a tremendous young lady with a huge heart, great student, and a very special basketball talent. I am extremely proud of her.

My prayers are with Amber that she can be a great ambassador of her school, her family, our country, and most importantly of the Most High God! Good luck to Amber Orrange and her "ponytail of doom" in Colorado Springs! My advice to Coach Rizzotti is to put the ball in Amber's hands as much as possible.

Coach

"God Bless America, land that I love"

Coach Larry

Coach Jyusef Larry, whom I have mentioned in a previous blog, is a dear friend and a great coach who was just hired as the Head Girl's Basketball Coach at Spring Branch Memorial High School in Houston, TX. He sent me the email below that I have posted as today's blog entry. I thought his words were spot on for personal and playing development.

"Coach Sutton,

Just figured I would drop you a note and pass something on to you that I read this morning.


I wanted to share something I just read as a follow up on (Coach Larry's)last week’s blog, Brand You 2.0. Hip hop superstar 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) is having a majority of his tattoos removed in an attempt to help land more movie roles and give off a more professional appearance.

He is making a distinct change to his brand’s image to achieve an even higher level of success. He is reinventing himself, which in my opinion, is a brilliant move on his part. He has conquered the music industry (sold millions of albums). He has conquered the business world (sold his stock in Vitamin Water for $400+ million). Now he is going to conquer Hollywood!

One of the most significant ingredients to success is your ability to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

Your comfort zone is your enemy. It makes you soft. It leads to complacency.

You have to constantly and consistently step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. There is no reward for always playing it safe. The player who can push themselves further once the situation gets uncomfortable is the one who will win. That is what makes Kobe so lethal. He thrives in adversity.

In addition to helping players get stronger, quicker, and in great shape, it is my job to push players out of their comfort zone on a regular basis. It is my job to help them increase their tolerance for discomfort (mental and physical). I want them to train hard so the game becomes easy.

I tell my players of the time during our workouts, “Temporary discomfort leads to permanent improvement.”

I also tell them, “You can have the pain of discipline or the pain of regret… take your choice.”

Both of those quotes exemplify the same point – if you are willing to step out of your comfort zone now… you will reap the benefits ten times over in the future. But you have to have the courage to sacrifice your immediate personal contentment.

When you are lifting weights, do you stop as soon as there is a slight “burn”… or do you push through and do a few more reps?

When you are running sprints, do you stop as soon as you are a little “winded”… or do you suck it up and run a few more?

When you are working on your ball handling, do you spend extra time on your off hand even though you make more mistakes? Or do you just keep doing the drills you are already good at?

When you are getting up shots, are you a “casual shooter” or do you run through every rep at game speed? Do you come off of imaginary screens and make hard cuts… or do you simply do spot shooting?

The answers to these questions will determine how successful you will be next season.

Remember, you have to deserve success. And to do that you have to leave your comfort zone now.


Jyusef Larry, MBA
Memorial High School
Head Girl's Basketball Coach
www.MrCoachLarry.com"

Blessings,

Coach S

Difference Maker

I thought it was a great observation when I was told by a coaching friend that he believed that God places reading material in front of you as you need it or slightly before you need it. He claimed this is true of both Scripture and casual reading material. I have seen that to be true for me so far over the summer.

The first step was just to read more. Since I arrived in Montgomery I had found myself watching alot of RedBox movies. I guess it was to try to shut my mind down for a couple of hours from thinking about basketball or from thinking about how much I missed my family back in Houston. About three weeks ago I got to the point where I was starting to watch movies just for the sake of watching them. They weren't even any good. Then I would look at my watch and get mad at myself for wasting 2 and a half hours of my life.

So I started reading. I am on my fourth book in those three weeks. I started with "The Long Snapper" by Jeffrey Marx, then I got "Beyond Basketball" by Coach K, then I read "The Gold Standard" by Coach K. The last of those three books is one that I felt that God put in front of me as I am building a team. It takes you behind the coaching scenes and into personal conversations and team meetings of the 2008 Gold-Medal winning USA Olympic Basketball Team. In the book, Coach K discusses roles, leadership, team standards, and a myriad of other topics related to building a championship team. I look forward to utilizing some of the ideas with my new team.

However, the idea that is on my heart today comes from a book that I am currently reading called, "Difference Maker" by John Maxwell. He talks in the book about a person's attitude. He suggests that many people believe it is the most important element in success. Maxwell disagrees. He believes that being competent is the most important element, but that a great attitude is the difference maker between great and average. I think this is an important point for our team this year. I think I have developed a roster full of kids with a great attitude. I think that they are all competent to varying degrees. We are going to need to continue to improve our competence this summer and next fall to improve our chances of being successful. The great thing about improved competence is that it also leads to improved confidence. Then with improved confidence the positive attitude increases. You can see the cycle, but it all goes back to the idea that we need to work hard to get better. That is where it starts.

Biblically speaking, God put the words of Jesus in my heart from Luke 9:23 when Jesus says"...If anyone would come after me, he must DENY HIMSELF, and take up his cross daily and follow me." So I ask, deny myself from what? Fun? Types of food? Recreation? Time on the computer? RedBox movies? It requires self-evaluation to figure it out and probably more study into my tendencies toward sin. I need to be willing to take an honest look at my life and work hard to get better in the areas that GOD would have me be successful. I suspect that He is not going to check my winning percentage at His holy gates.

Coach

"The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work"
-Vince Lombardi

Very Impressive Person

I just returned to my room from my awesome weekend in Houston. Only a couple of thoughts because it is past bed time!

First, I was excited to return to an email from Linzee Kerce who committed to join our team. Linzee will be a sophomore next year. She is a 5'11" post player from Huntsville. She played at Southern Union Community College last year after playing at Madison Academy in High School for good friend and Faulkner grad, Brian Privett. Linzee is a very hard worker, a great student, and is committed in her walk with Christ. The Faulkner Women's Basketball trifecta.

Last, I just wanted to pass along a poem of which I have not researched the author and I changed to the feminine, but it was given to a group of coaches at a small clinic that I went to this weekend featuring Coach Don Meyer. Coach Meyer is a big influence on my coaching career, and is the winningest basketball coach in college history. He is an ESPY award winner whose speech is a must see for award speeches. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoOkHawZKa4 His life story will be out in a book written by Buster Olney in September. Check him out at www.coachmeyer.com. I think it is a great poem for our players to read.

VERY IMPRESSIVE PERSON
She greets everyone with a smile
And a hearty handshake;
And makes you fell she means it
When she says she is glad to meet you.
And she makes you glad to meet her.

She walks with a sprightly step
And speaks with a laugh in her voice.
She listens with interest
And speaks with conviction,
And makes you feel you have known her all your life.

She doesn't seem to try to impress,
Yet she's most impressive.
She never tries pressing to pursuade,
Yet you always come away convinced.
She's the kind of girl we enjoy being around
Because she is what we all secretly would like to be;
Someone who enjoys being herself.

Blessings,

Coach

"I have decided to let my life be my argument"
-Albert Schweitzer

Mr. Heisman

I have had the great pleasure of getting to know Charlie Ward over the last three years. Coach Ward has the football coach at Westbury Christian School for the last two years as a head coach and he was an assistant for a year before that. I had met Coach Ward when I worked a camp that he ran at our school when he was an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets. Shortly after that summer camp when Coach Jeff Van Gundy and his staff was let go as coaches of the Rockets, he took a job on campus at WCS. Charlie is one of the most humble and Godly men that I know. He only speaks when spoken to and every word that comes out of his mouth is thoughtful, spiritual, and encouraging. His humility was present when he moved into his office at Westbury Christian (which is a make-shift office built in the cafegymnatorium). As I was walking by, I asked him if he needed help unpacking. He said no and that he didn't have much stuff to unpack. I asked him where he was placing his Davy O'Brien and Heisman trophies and he just looked at me out of the corner of his eyes as if to say, "I don't really talk about those things much". His glance suggested that those are not things he specifically wants to display or be known for. Mr. Heisman was Mr. Humble.

This morning I had the opportunity to attend a breakfast at an Outback Steakhouse in Sugarland, TX. It was a Men's devotional breakfast. It was great to see all of my buddies from Westbury at the breakfast. I was blessed to be surrounded by strong Christian men at WCS that had fun with each other, but held each other accountable. A great lesson for teams...fun, but accountable. I got to sit next to two men I recently became friends with. One man's name was Shane and I met him for the first time this morning. The other man's name is Ben Edmiston. I got to know Ben this last basketball season. He is the husband of one of my Westbury assistant coaches, Kelly Edmiston. Kelly was a critical key to our championship success this last season because she has a degree in social work/ministry from Abilene Christian University and half of my team was certifiably crazy and unpredictable. Without her spiritual guidance and mentoring with our girls, we would not have been able to keep things together. She has made me realize that the number one quality that I want in the assistant coach that I will hire at Faulkner is not necessarily a basketball mind or playing pedigree, but a heart for serving Christ using basketball as a tool to develop servant leaders. I really enjoyed seeing Ben. He is a Barnabas... very smart and always encouraging. He is most impressive because of the patience he shows in being married to such a high maintenance chick like Kelly! Just kidding, Kel. Anyway, the speaker of the hour was Coach Ward.

Coach shared some keys to navigating through life that I thought were really good and worth documenting. They all start with the letter P. They are the Process (and patience), Purpose, Potential, Prioritization, and Proceeding without Procrastination. These are great thoughts that he backed up with scripture as usual. The thing that he mentioned that caught my attention more than anything else that he said, however, was that he took his walk with Christ seriously when he was on the national stage as a college football quarterback on a national championship team and as an NBA player and coach. He said that he wanted everyone that he came in contact with to see him more as a Christian than an athlete. He has lived that message out over his career and he continues to "walk the walk" The lesson for our players next season is that we need to keep the first things first and stay focused on Christ. Satan will try to use basketball, boyfriends, academics, and social situations to distract us from our one purpose in life...the glorification of God through our deeds. We can't let Satan win. We will be held up as role models and be watched very carefuly on and off the court. What we do must match closely with who we say we are. Lesson learned from Mr. Heisman.

Blessings on a great weekend and have a great Lord's Day tomorrow,

Coach

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us..."
2 Cor 5:20

How About Them Apples?

Admittedly, at times I have felt a little rushed in putting our team together because I am ready to get off the road and lock in with our players to get them ready physically, mentally, and relationally for next season. However, one of the things I have grown to enjoy already in recruiting is signing day.

I had the tremendous honor of signing Rebekah Marsh today to come play at Faulkner. Rebekah is a 6 foot tall post/forward who can defend well, is smart (having spent some time coaching), and can step out and shoot. I think she will help us on the floor, she is talented. However, I think she will help us in many more areas of our program as we build it because she is a mother hen. She has the unique ability to think about others more than herself. She communicates well and has developed a relationship with me in a short period of time to where I really respect her thoughts about basketball. She has a tremendous work ethic. Rebekah called me the other day and asked, "Coach how much rest time is there between 40 yard dashes when I run 50 of them?" You see, when she was on her visit we went out to dinner with another recruit, Sonja Vuong, who played for me at Westbury Christian. Sonja and I were talking about conditioning and I asked her what the toughest day was as Lady Wildcat and Sonja said the day we finished with 50 40's. Rebekah picked up on that on her own and got with her trainers to raise herself to that level in May so that she will be more than ready come October when practice starts. That is an incredible attitude!

Rebekah has to have the qualities of a mother hen because she is the oldest of 8 kids. I am sure that she has had to dedicate her life to helping raise her brothers and sisters because that is what is practical for running the Marsh home. I am excited about Rebekah joining our team.

I have had a great relationship with almost all of the parents of the players I have coached. Even if we disagreed about things (mostly playing time...which I don't ever talk about directly with parents), I have earned their respect and they have earned mine for the sacrifices that they make in trying to provide the best education and opportunity for their kids. I remember when I was an assistant boys coach at Westbury there was a player that I really wanted to come to the school, but our Head Coach at the time Greg Glenn noticed that the parents were a little loopy and had overblown expectations for their kid who would have been a role player for our team that year. I remember that Greg said he would not add the player to our roster because, "The apple does not fall far from the tree". In other words, if the parents were not to be trusted, then their child's attitude would turn south. I think about this phrase all the time when I think about the example I am setting for my children.

So now when I recruit young ladies for my team, I try recruit their parents as well. That is what makes Rebekah so special. I had the opportunity to visit with her parents at their home about a month ago and fell in love with their family. There is a spirit of joy in their home that is unparalled and I am jealous of that for my family. They are amazing people, both of whom are deaf, but have not let that stop them from living life to its fullest especially as they sacrifice for their 8 children. I know that if the apple doesn't fall far from the tree with the Rebekah, the tree is a redwood at the Marsh home.

Building a team has to start with relationships and I believe that Rebekah is going to be a relationship builder on our team that unifies and keeps her teammates pointed in the right direction. I am grateful that she is now a Lady Eagle.

Coach S

"...just like a tree that's planted by the water, I shall not be moved" - hymn

Anticipation

I remember a commercial when I was a kid for Heinz ketchup. They turned the bottle upside down and the substance was so thick that it took a while for it to come out to be enjoyed with french fries, a hot dog, or another of America's gourmet delicacies. The song lyrics were, "Anticipation...is makin me wait". Thanks to Google, I found out that it was performed by J. Mascis and the Fog.

When I was a kid, I would always get really excited before big events to where I couldn't sleep. Before we would go to a Detroit Tigers game or Cedar Point amusement park, I was very restless. Last night was one of those nights in preparation for today. I went to bed early knowing that I was to get up at 4 am for a drive to Birmingham to catch a flight to Houston. I woke up at 1 AM and never got back to sleep. I even watched C-Span to try to get back to sleep and ended up getting engrossed in the coverage of House committee hearings with the CEO's of BP and Transoceanic who were getting grilled over the oil spill (speaking of anticipation, you would think they could have thought anticipated some worst case scenario's there to protect their 26 Billion dollar business). I was too excited about this weekend.

I eagerly anticipate the weekend for several reasons. I get to hug my family and catch up with the happenings of my kids. I will attend the graduation ceremony at Westbury Christian where I have 13 of my players and managers from this last season walking across the stage. I don't want to understate how important those things are to me, but it is going to be a great basketball weekend. Today at 3 PM I will attend a mini-clinic with Coach Don Meyer who is the winningest coach in college basketball history. He is doing a private clinic for the coaches at WCS and friends. I enjoy the learning that takes place when he speaks, but I enjoy seeing my former boss Coach Greg Glenn (I was Greg's assistant boy's coach for 6 years) get to spend time with his mentor even more. Greg played for Coach Meyer at Lipscomb on their National Championship team. Greg has had such an impact on me as a coach and a person that I know I have been influenced by Coach Meyer's teaching.

On Friday afternoon, I get to go to the home of Rebekah Marsh and sign her to a letter-of-intent to come play for me at Faulkner (more on Rebekah in a future blog).

On Saturday morning, I get to attend a breakfast with my coaching colleagues where my friend Charlie Ward is speaking. Every time he opens his mouth, which is not often, there is Godly wisdom spewed forth. Friday Night is Westbury's graduation where Coach Meyer will again speak.

On Sunday, I will attend church and Bible class at Westbury Church of Christ where I will again be surrounded by people that have encouraged and challenged me along the way.

Of course, I will be visiting with a few AAU coaches and High School coaches to try to find the best candidates to add to my team from 2011 graduates. I am especially excited to see Coach Jyusef Larry, who despite being a Harding grad is a dear friend who is getting his first head girl's coaching job at Memorial High School in Houston. He was a fellow varsity assistant with the boy's team at Westbury with me and he was my JV assistant coach. I am really proud of him and I am looking forward to seeing his influence not only on the kids he will coach, but also within wider basketball circles in the city of Houston. I am also trying to meet the parents of Faulkner signee Katie Pavlik for the first time. It will be great to meet the folks that developed such a great daughter.

What a weekend of basketball and relationship building to look forward to. I am living the dream as they say and will grow in many ways this weekend. I look forward to lasking volumes of questions to all of the coaching influences in my life that I will see this weekend. I am going to ask their personal advice for me on starting a program and I will certainly share this mother lode of blog material in the coming weeks.

Be blessed in your life today and anticipate the awesome opportunities God gives us each day to grow!

Coach

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord;
to sing praises to your name, O Most High."
Psalm 92:1

Ni Hao

Ni hao

My daughter, Marisa, and I are taking a trip this summer to Shanghai to see my brother, Mark, and his family (wife Elizabeth and son Evan aka "Big Panda"). I am trying to learn simple phrases in Mandarin Chinese so that I can at least be considered kind and courteous to the Chinese people. The first phrase I learned was Ni Hao, which is simply "Hello".

As a coach, I consider myself a teacher. Teachers give assignments so that students learn new things. Then teachers give tests so they assess what has been learned.

I set up an appointment with one of my players for 12:15 pm today to come by my office. Spenser Cantrell is a charming young lady and a very good basketball player who had an outstanding high school career at Mt. Dora Bible in Florida. She is taking a summer class on the Pentateuch to get a head start for next school year. I asked her to stop by my office so we could look at her syllabus and she could update me on her progress. I am happy to report that she earned a 94 on her first test. What stood out to me was the volume of work that she was doing in this course. Her professor has obviously given her several assignments! Then he has scheduled tests to assess learning. I am sure they will assess their tests in preparation for their final exam.


I am about to email my first official assignment to my players. I am going to send them a roster with email addresses and cell phone numbers of all of their teammates and suggest that they connect with each one of them by email, text, phone call, or facebook by the end of June.

They need to get connected! They need to say "Ni Hao" to their teammates.

In the next year they will live with each other, travel with each other, sweat with each other, hug each other, fight each other, compete against each other, compete with each other, bleed for each other, and learn to love and respect each other. I don't want to waste time without using this summer to help them build positive relationships with each other. Even though they are scattered about the country, they can use technology for its designed purpose. If we are going to develop a championship atmosphere, we need to start by getting connected.

Baibai (good bye in Mandarin--i think),

Coach S

"..so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others"
Romans 12:5

Let's Get It Re-Started

I am inspired. I received an email this morning from a very good friend and fellow coach, Russell Carr. He is the Athletic Director and Boy's Basketball Coach at Westbury Christian School where I worked for 8 1/2 years. On the email from Russell was a link to his new blog. On his blog site was a post about my wonderful family. Coach wrote about them as he noticed that they helped him learn a life lesson about happiness. I enjoyed receiving it the email and reading about the lessons that Russell is learning in his life.

I also have another dear coaching friend that has a blog. Steve Hawley from Westbury Christian is a teacher, author, and friend. He is the best at being alert in every day life to the little things that make a difference and then applying that to a Biblical principle. I read Coach Hawley's blog almost every day.

This got me thinking about my blog. I didn't know that it would even still exist. In 2005 and 2006 I was a PE/Health teacher and basketball/tennis coach at Westbury Christian School. I utilized a blog in my Health classes as one of many teaching methods that kids were interested in. So after being inspired by Coach Carr's blog, I punched in the url for my old blog and voila! It still exists. So I have decided to delete most of my old blogs (I kept a couple of my favorites) and start anew. It was alot of fun looking back and being reminded of all of those lessons and moments. A blog is a great place to reflect on life and then review it later.

This is a great opportunity to chronicle my new adventure in life, team building. I am the new Head Women's Basketball Coach at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. I consider it a great honor to have been entrusted with the task of starting the program from scratch. We will play our first game November 4, 2010 against Warner University in Florida.

My goal is to begin blogging again about the journey of building a team from its inception. I will attempt to chronicle the lessons (good and bad) that I learn along the way. I will try to give and receive insight about team building concepts such as leadership, character, collective identity, community service, and education. I will share stories about the players on the team and their triumphs and struggles. I will post articles and links that people send to me that I think reinforce good team building practices. I will be as transparent as possible on the journey that we are starting as we build toward having the model women's basketball program...a program the glorifies God.

I look forward to your contributions. I hope you enjoy.