http://www.michaelfonville.com/#home
If you need any kind of creative computer generated work done...check out Michael Fonville at the link attached. Michael works for Westbury Christian School and freelances in computer creative design. He worked on the professional portfolio that I used for my interview at Faulkner University. Turns out I am working at Faulkner University. It was no conicidence. Everyone I have now gotten to know that was on the committee later pointed to that portfolio as something they were very impressed by.
Friday, August 05, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Lady Eagle Summer Update
Hello again!
It has been a while and there is alot ot report about the Lady Eagles. The last I blogged, we were in a conference battle for a playoff spot. It turned out that we had to win our last two games against Mobile at home and AUM on the road. Our players made it happen and we ended up the #3 seed out of our division.
As excited as we were to make the conference tournament, we also drew a very tough and senior-laden team from Southern Poly Tech in Marietta, GA. They were #20 in the country at that point. We battled them for 45 minutes as it took them overtime to finally defeat us 59-48. They went on to win the SSAC championship.
After the season, we had our post season player meetings and I am happy to report that ALL of our players are returning next season in some capacity. We are also starting a Junior Varsity team to give more kids a chance to play beyond high school. Sarah Hughes, who was a volunteer assistant last season will be on staff next season to be the Head Coach.
On the recruiting trail, God sent us four players that should help us get better this season; Nyla Johnson from Madison Academy, Christina Hayes from Shelton State, Holli Brooks from Chickamauga GA, and Meredith Botes from Briarwood Christian in Birmingham. Our JV team is also coming together with players from Prattville, Wetumpka, Birmingham, Atlanta, and more...
Our schedule is coming together and it should be much tougher than last season. We have road games at Lee, Shorter, Freed Hardeman, Trevecca Nazarene, and Talledega early in the season to go along with our Exhibition at Alabama State University. The conference will be very tough next season. All of our division teams are returning the majority of their key players and they have recruited talented kids to go with them. It should be a very exciting season in 2011-12.
Camps went very well this summer, with the highlight being our last camp (Basketball University) where we had 34 campers in our first year who all got better and competed hard.
Our coaches are on the July recruiting trails as we think ahead about our 2012 class. We have submitted scholarship offers to three kids so far and hope that they all commit very soon so we can start coaching them and recruiting 2013's. The 2013 class will be a key class if we want to perpetuate our winning ways as we will graduate several players that play alot. Coach Kat and Hughes are in Murfreesboro, TN as we speak watching a tournament and I am heading to Houston this weekend and New Orleans next weekend to watch kids play. We are very pleased with the product we are selling right now and are trying to stretch to get players that nobody thinks we should get!
I will try to do a better job keeping up with the blog in the future and I appreciate your support of Faulkner Womens Basketball!
God Bless,
Coach Sutton
It has been a while and there is alot ot report about the Lady Eagles. The last I blogged, we were in a conference battle for a playoff spot. It turned out that we had to win our last two games against Mobile at home and AUM on the road. Our players made it happen and we ended up the #3 seed out of our division.
As excited as we were to make the conference tournament, we also drew a very tough and senior-laden team from Southern Poly Tech in Marietta, GA. They were #20 in the country at that point. We battled them for 45 minutes as it took them overtime to finally defeat us 59-48. They went on to win the SSAC championship.
After the season, we had our post season player meetings and I am happy to report that ALL of our players are returning next season in some capacity. We are also starting a Junior Varsity team to give more kids a chance to play beyond high school. Sarah Hughes, who was a volunteer assistant last season will be on staff next season to be the Head Coach.
On the recruiting trail, God sent us four players that should help us get better this season; Nyla Johnson from Madison Academy, Christina Hayes from Shelton State, Holli Brooks from Chickamauga GA, and Meredith Botes from Briarwood Christian in Birmingham. Our JV team is also coming together with players from Prattville, Wetumpka, Birmingham, Atlanta, and more...
Our schedule is coming together and it should be much tougher than last season. We have road games at Lee, Shorter, Freed Hardeman, Trevecca Nazarene, and Talledega early in the season to go along with our Exhibition at Alabama State University. The conference will be very tough next season. All of our division teams are returning the majority of their key players and they have recruited talented kids to go with them. It should be a very exciting season in 2011-12.
Camps went very well this summer, with the highlight being our last camp (Basketball University) where we had 34 campers in our first year who all got better and competed hard.
Our coaches are on the July recruiting trails as we think ahead about our 2012 class. We have submitted scholarship offers to three kids so far and hope that they all commit very soon so we can start coaching them and recruiting 2013's. The 2013 class will be a key class if we want to perpetuate our winning ways as we will graduate several players that play alot. Coach Kat and Hughes are in Murfreesboro, TN as we speak watching a tournament and I am heading to Houston this weekend and New Orleans next weekend to watch kids play. We are very pleased with the product we are selling right now and are trying to stretch to get players that nobody thinks we should get!
I will try to do a better job keeping up with the blog in the future and I appreciate your support of Faulkner Womens Basketball!
God Bless,
Coach Sutton
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Pink Zone
I don’t know who it is for you and your family, but for me it was my grandmother, Hazel Campbell. We all know and love people dearly that are affected by some type of cancer. I would be willing to guess that you also have someone close to you that is affected specifically with the type of cancer that plagued my grandma, breast cancer. .
Women’s basketball coaches all over the country from the top coaches like Gino Auriemma of UConn and Pat Summitt of Tennessee to coaches at the smallest rural high schools in America are banding together to try to make at least a small difference in awareness and research for breast cancer. The idea is to take a week out of the season and call it the “Pink Zone” where one game on your schedule is dedicated to honoring breast cancer survivors and raising money for breast cancer research, in particular the Kay Yow Cancer Research fund. Kay Yow was a legendary coach at North Carolina State that lost her personal battle with the disease, but leaves a legacy of inspiration to coaches everywhere to continue the fight toward victory over breast cancer.
Therefore, we have declared this coming Saturday’s women’s basketball game in Tine Davis Gymnasium at 2 pm against Belhaven University to be a Pink Zone game. Here is what that means…
1. We would like for everyone that attends the game to wear something pink to honor all breast cancer survivors. Our players will have some pink shoelaces, socks, and warm-up shirts. Our coaches will be wearing pink shirts as well.
2. We are not charging any admission for Saturday’s game. We are going to have a donation station for people to make a donation to the Kay Yow Cancer Research fund. Every penny that is donated will go directly to that fund. Please consider making a donation. If you cannot make it to the game, feel free to make a donation by bringing it by the athletic office. If you are writing a check, make it out to Faulkner with “Pink Zone” on the memo line.
3. We would like to honor all of our breast cancer survivors on the floor at halftime of the women’s game…whether it is 1 or 100, we want to give them our support with a standing ovation at halftime.
4. I would like to receive a reply email with anyone who may have a loved one that is battling this disease right now or has lost their battle (like my grandma) and please share a little bit about their story….when they found out, where they are in their treatments, etc… Our team has a white board in our team room and we are going to fill it with those names so that we can keep those warriors in our prayers and draw inspiration from those champions.
We are very excited about Saturday and appeal to you for your support. Not only is it a Pink Zone game, but they are very meaningful women’s and men’s games. Belhaven is the first place team in our women’s division and our team is in a battle to qualify for the conference tournament. Also, our men’s team is playing well and they are honoring the National Championship team’s 10 year anniversary! It will be a great afternoon…Please consider joining us!!!.
Blessings,
Coach Sutton
http://www.kayyow.com/
WBCA(Women’s Basketball Coaches Association)Pink Zone History
The WBCA began the WBCA Pink Zone in 2007 as an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in women's basketball, on campuses and in communities. The late Kay Yow, former North Carolina State University head women's basketball coach, served as the catalyst for the initiative after her third reoccurrence of breast cancer in 2006.
In 2007, more than 120 schools unified for this effort and helped make the inaugural year a success. In 2008, over 1,200 teams and organizations participated, reaching over 830,000 fans and raising over $930,000 for breast cancer awareness and research. The 2009 campaign raised over $1.3 million, reached over 912,000 fans, unified more than 1,600 participating teams and organizations, and saw 56+ schools break attendance records at their event. In 2010, over 1,800 participants came together to surpass $1,045,000 in donations and reached more than 922,000 fans across the nation. Over 22 schools broke attendance records through their participation.
Overall, the WBCA Pink Zone has raised nearly $3.3 Million, has reached almost 2.7 Million fans, and has unified over 4,700 participants in only four years.
The WBCA's charity of choice is the Kay Yow Cancer FundTM, in partnership with The V Foundation. The WBCA strongly encourages all donations from WBCA Pink Zone games to be given to the Fund. The late Kay Yow, the Fund's namesake and former N.C. State head women's basketball coach, served as a catalyst for starting the WBCA Pink Zone. After three bouts with breast cancer, Yow passed away in January 2009.
Women’s basketball coaches all over the country from the top coaches like Gino Auriemma of UConn and Pat Summitt of Tennessee to coaches at the smallest rural high schools in America are banding together to try to make at least a small difference in awareness and research for breast cancer. The idea is to take a week out of the season and call it the “Pink Zone” where one game on your schedule is dedicated to honoring breast cancer survivors and raising money for breast cancer research, in particular the Kay Yow Cancer Research fund. Kay Yow was a legendary coach at North Carolina State that lost her personal battle with the disease, but leaves a legacy of inspiration to coaches everywhere to continue the fight toward victory over breast cancer.
Therefore, we have declared this coming Saturday’s women’s basketball game in Tine Davis Gymnasium at 2 pm against Belhaven University to be a Pink Zone game. Here is what that means…
1. We would like for everyone that attends the game to wear something pink to honor all breast cancer survivors. Our players will have some pink shoelaces, socks, and warm-up shirts. Our coaches will be wearing pink shirts as well.
2. We are not charging any admission for Saturday’s game. We are going to have a donation station for people to make a donation to the Kay Yow Cancer Research fund. Every penny that is donated will go directly to that fund. Please consider making a donation. If you cannot make it to the game, feel free to make a donation by bringing it by the athletic office. If you are writing a check, make it out to Faulkner with “Pink Zone” on the memo line.
3. We would like to honor all of our breast cancer survivors on the floor at halftime of the women’s game…whether it is 1 or 100, we want to give them our support with a standing ovation at halftime.
4. I would like to receive a reply email with anyone who may have a loved one that is battling this disease right now or has lost their battle (like my grandma) and please share a little bit about their story….when they found out, where they are in their treatments, etc… Our team has a white board in our team room and we are going to fill it with those names so that we can keep those warriors in our prayers and draw inspiration from those champions.
We are very excited about Saturday and appeal to you for your support. Not only is it a Pink Zone game, but they are very meaningful women’s and men’s games. Belhaven is the first place team in our women’s division and our team is in a battle to qualify for the conference tournament. Also, our men’s team is playing well and they are honoring the National Championship team’s 10 year anniversary! It will be a great afternoon…Please consider joining us!!!.
Blessings,
Coach Sutton
http://www.kayyow.com/
WBCA(Women’s Basketball Coaches Association)Pink Zone History
The WBCA began the WBCA Pink Zone in 2007 as an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in women's basketball, on campuses and in communities. The late Kay Yow, former North Carolina State University head women's basketball coach, served as the catalyst for the initiative after her third reoccurrence of breast cancer in 2006.
In 2007, more than 120 schools unified for this effort and helped make the inaugural year a success. In 2008, over 1,200 teams and organizations participated, reaching over 830,000 fans and raising over $930,000 for breast cancer awareness and research. The 2009 campaign raised over $1.3 million, reached over 912,000 fans, unified more than 1,600 participating teams and organizations, and saw 56+ schools break attendance records at their event. In 2010, over 1,800 participants came together to surpass $1,045,000 in donations and reached more than 922,000 fans across the nation. Over 22 schools broke attendance records through their participation.
Overall, the WBCA Pink Zone has raised nearly $3.3 Million, has reached almost 2.7 Million fans, and has unified over 4,700 participants in only four years.
The WBCA's charity of choice is the Kay Yow Cancer FundTM, in partnership with The V Foundation. The WBCA strongly encourages all donations from WBCA Pink Zone games to be given to the Fund. The late Kay Yow, the Fund's namesake and former N.C. State head women's basketball coach, served as a catalyst for starting the WBCA Pink Zone. After three bouts with breast cancer, Yow passed away in January 2009.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Great Link for Parents and Coaches
http://www.ganonbakerbasketball.com/blog/lesson-for-grass-root-coaches-tell-the-truth/
Saturday, November 06, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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!
Monday, September 27, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
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
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
Thursday, September 16, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
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
Blessings,
Coach S
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnfOMvYd1oE
Friday, September 03, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
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)
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)
Thursday, August 26, 2010
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
Blessings,
Coach S
Sunday, August 22, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
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)
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)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, August 06, 2010
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."
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."
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
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
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
Friday, July 23, 2010
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
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
Saturday, July 17, 2010
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"
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"
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
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
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
Monday, June 28, 2010
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
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
Friday, June 25, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
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
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
Friday, June 18, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
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
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
Monday, June 14, 2010
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
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
Saturday, June 12, 2010
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
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
Thursday, June 10, 2010
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
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
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