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
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Great Link
I am not a wikipedia fan, per se. However, this is a good link that took me to a site that brought back memories of the Sports Psychology class that I took when I started my doctorate. It takes one through the stages of team development. You can click on the title or copy and paste the link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forming-storming-norming-performing
Blessings,
Coach
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forming-storming-norming-performing
Blessings,
Coach
Sunday, June 06, 2010
This Day in Basketball History
It has been a very basketball nostalgia-filled day today.
I have been watching the NBA Finals for the last little while and I have also been online reading articles about the greatest Coach in sports history, John Wooden. I enjoyed the comments that were made at halftime about Coach Wooden from his two most prolific players, Kareem Abdul-Jabber and Bill Walton.
When someone has success in a given field, there are usually many who like to take shots at them to bring them down to size. I know that I am not extremely old in a coaching sense having coached for about 17 or 18 years, but in all my years of being a fan, player (debatable), and coaching, I have never heard anyone say one mildly irreverant comment about Coach Wooden. He had the affect on his players that all well meaning coaches wish to have...a positive one. The word most synonomous with Coach Wooden is "Teacher". His servant leadership style was akin to the "Great Teacher", Jesus Christ.
Today has been a neat day in another regard for me. I have had a chance to experience two of the great basketball gyms in all of college athletics. This weekend I had the great opportunity to work with Coach Sylvia Hatchell at the University of North Carolina Girl's Elite camp. Coach Hatchell is a wonderful woman that I look up to because of both her success on the floor and her heart for her player's off the floor. It was reassuring for me that she and her staff are taking such good care of former Westbury Christian Lady Wildcat, Waltia Rolle (who has grown and inch in the last year to 6-6 1/2). In this morning's final session, I had the opportunity to coach a basket and officiate a game at the Dean Smith Center. It is as huge as it looks on TV. There is carolina blue everywhere you turn. The banners and the retired jersey's of all the greats are hanging from the ceiling. A very impressive building.
On my way out of Chapel Hill after camp was over at noon, I decided to make the 10 mile (or so) trip to Durham and try to catch a glimpse of Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke. I walked in the front door and looked around and it turned out there was a camp for older gentlemen who I believe are Business Executives. I went in and sat down and watched and snapped a few photos on the disposable camera I bought for the weekend. It was a very different gym that was much smaller and intimate than the Smith Center. The gothic stone architecture mirrored that of the other buildings on campus. These arenas are both very impressive and very different. They represent the dichotomy between large universities and smaller private schools. They have in common, however, a rich tradition in basketball excellence and leadership with first-class programs. I was evidently lucky as the lady running the gift shop told me that there were a few people that were kicked out of Cameron because they didn't have the right credentials. I was certainly an uninvited guest and my apologies to the University for imposing. As a basketball purist and junkie, it was neat to experience these things. I feel very fortunate. I think it is always important to be curious about the history and traditions in one's family, work, and faith.
This weekend was the best one I have had since I began as Head Women's Coach at Faulkner because I feel that I developed multiple substantive player and coach recruiting contacts. Recruiting and checking up on Waltia were my primary objectives for the trip. A side benefit of the trip was the humbling thought that there was a point in time when each of those Universities chose to begin basketball programs on their campuses, much like we are doing in women's basketball next year. A coach and a few players had to get things started. I liked...er, loved the championship banners. However, the retired jerseys in the rafters gave me an overwhelming sense of respect for of all of the unique coach's and players that gave their heart and soul to the programs over the years. North Carolina Men's Basketball has had a team for exactly 100 years. I wonder what the gym at Faulkner is going to look like in 100 years. What names will be hanging from the ceiling? Will our program be as successful at developing successful young ladies as Coach Wooden, Coach K, and Coach Hatchell have been at developing young leaders?
It is fun to think about the possibilities...
Blessings,
Coach
"What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player."
--Coach John Wooden
I have been watching the NBA Finals for the last little while and I have also been online reading articles about the greatest Coach in sports history, John Wooden. I enjoyed the comments that were made at halftime about Coach Wooden from his two most prolific players, Kareem Abdul-Jabber and Bill Walton.
When someone has success in a given field, there are usually many who like to take shots at them to bring them down to size. I know that I am not extremely old in a coaching sense having coached for about 17 or 18 years, but in all my years of being a fan, player (debatable), and coaching, I have never heard anyone say one mildly irreverant comment about Coach Wooden. He had the affect on his players that all well meaning coaches wish to have...a positive one. The word most synonomous with Coach Wooden is "Teacher". His servant leadership style was akin to the "Great Teacher", Jesus Christ.
Today has been a neat day in another regard for me. I have had a chance to experience two of the great basketball gyms in all of college athletics. This weekend I had the great opportunity to work with Coach Sylvia Hatchell at the University of North Carolina Girl's Elite camp. Coach Hatchell is a wonderful woman that I look up to because of both her success on the floor and her heart for her player's off the floor. It was reassuring for me that she and her staff are taking such good care of former Westbury Christian Lady Wildcat, Waltia Rolle (who has grown and inch in the last year to 6-6 1/2). In this morning's final session, I had the opportunity to coach a basket and officiate a game at the Dean Smith Center. It is as huge as it looks on TV. There is carolina blue everywhere you turn. The banners and the retired jersey's of all the greats are hanging from the ceiling. A very impressive building.
On my way out of Chapel Hill after camp was over at noon, I decided to make the 10 mile (or so) trip to Durham and try to catch a glimpse of Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke. I walked in the front door and looked around and it turned out there was a camp for older gentlemen who I believe are Business Executives. I went in and sat down and watched and snapped a few photos on the disposable camera I bought for the weekend. It was a very different gym that was much smaller and intimate than the Smith Center. The gothic stone architecture mirrored that of the other buildings on campus. These arenas are both very impressive and very different. They represent the dichotomy between large universities and smaller private schools. They have in common, however, a rich tradition in basketball excellence and leadership with first-class programs. I was evidently lucky as the lady running the gift shop told me that there were a few people that were kicked out of Cameron because they didn't have the right credentials. I was certainly an uninvited guest and my apologies to the University for imposing. As a basketball purist and junkie, it was neat to experience these things. I feel very fortunate. I think it is always important to be curious about the history and traditions in one's family, work, and faith.
This weekend was the best one I have had since I began as Head Women's Coach at Faulkner because I feel that I developed multiple substantive player and coach recruiting contacts. Recruiting and checking up on Waltia were my primary objectives for the trip. A side benefit of the trip was the humbling thought that there was a point in time when each of those Universities chose to begin basketball programs on their campuses, much like we are doing in women's basketball next year. A coach and a few players had to get things started. I liked...er, loved the championship banners. However, the retired jerseys in the rafters gave me an overwhelming sense of respect for of all of the unique coach's and players that gave their heart and soul to the programs over the years. North Carolina Men's Basketball has had a team for exactly 100 years. I wonder what the gym at Faulkner is going to look like in 100 years. What names will be hanging from the ceiling? Will our program be as successful at developing successful young ladies as Coach Wooden, Coach K, and Coach Hatchell have been at developing young leaders?
It is fun to think about the possibilities...
Blessings,
Coach
"What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player."
--Coach John Wooden
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Forgiveness
A quick parallel to the grace of God...A soft pat during the lineup card exchange from Detroit Tiger pitcher Armando Gallaraga to the back of umpire Jim Joyce.
Soak in the magnitude of that act.
Joyce admitted to making a monumental error in ruining a perfect game on the last out. Perfect games come along roughly every 200,000 games played. As early as the next day, he was outwardly forgiven by the person damaged the most. I praise God for the example that Gallaraga showed to all of us in the business of athletics. God expects us to be competitive, but not at the expense of our character.
Blessings,
Coach
Soak in the magnitude of that act.
Joyce admitted to making a monumental error in ruining a perfect game on the last out. Perfect games come along roughly every 200,000 games played. As early as the next day, he was outwardly forgiven by the person damaged the most. I praise God for the example that Gallaraga showed to all of us in the business of athletics. God expects us to be competitive, but not at the expense of our character.
Blessings,
Coach
Thursday, June 03, 2010
You Make A Grown Man Cry
"You make a grown man cry" are some of the lyrics to a song called "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones. It also describes my day yesterday. As it turns out, I had a kidney stone that was between 3 and 4 mm. That doesn't sound very big on paper, but it was enough to put me on my knees.
I am eternally grateful to my wife for hundreds of reasons, but the biggest reason is making me go to the Pri-Med Center yesterday when I did. Without giving out all of the uncomfortable details, I noticed some pressure and that things weren't normal when I woke up at 7 am yesterday morning. The pain and symptoms were that of my wife's when she had a kidney stone a year or two ago. I called her and she said "Go to Pri-Med NOW! Don't wait! Get there as soon as you can!" So I went out the door, jumped in my truck and burned down Atlanta Highway to the clinic. The major, excruciating pain set in about the moment I walked through the door of the clinic. I was reeling in pain.
I absolutely thank the nurses at the clinic for understanding the pain, except for the one who tried to comfort me by saying, "The pain is only about a third as bad as giving birth a child". I said, "Thanks". Jim Sanderson, our Men's Coach at Faulkner and my savior with rides and picking up prescriptions, wasn't as subdued and said "You know how to comfort a man don't you? Just kick him when he's down!" I think I am going to enjoy working with him.
It is amazing how something that small can throw everything out of whack. The bodies that we have that were created by God are very resilient, but something as small as 3 mm in diameter can literally make a grown man cry and remind us of the fragility of the human body.
Everything is ok now as the stone must have passed in the middle of the night when I was sleeping. I am up and feel good and will continue with my plans to go to North Carolina this afternoon for some recruiting and working at UNC's Elite Camp.
Shoutouts to Darla for convincing me to go to Pri-Med, and to Coach Sanderson for breaking up his day (even though he had a recruit on campus) to help me get to the different places I needed to go and serving my needs ahead of his own.
Servant Leadership.
Blessings,
Coach
"I haven't got time for the pain"
--Carly Simon
I am eternally grateful to my wife for hundreds of reasons, but the biggest reason is making me go to the Pri-Med Center yesterday when I did. Without giving out all of the uncomfortable details, I noticed some pressure and that things weren't normal when I woke up at 7 am yesterday morning. The pain and symptoms were that of my wife's when she had a kidney stone a year or two ago. I called her and she said "Go to Pri-Med NOW! Don't wait! Get there as soon as you can!" So I went out the door, jumped in my truck and burned down Atlanta Highway to the clinic. The major, excruciating pain set in about the moment I walked through the door of the clinic. I was reeling in pain.
I absolutely thank the nurses at the clinic for understanding the pain, except for the one who tried to comfort me by saying, "The pain is only about a third as bad as giving birth a child". I said, "Thanks". Jim Sanderson, our Men's Coach at Faulkner and my savior with rides and picking up prescriptions, wasn't as subdued and said "You know how to comfort a man don't you? Just kick him when he's down!" I think I am going to enjoy working with him.
It is amazing how something that small can throw everything out of whack. The bodies that we have that were created by God are very resilient, but something as small as 3 mm in diameter can literally make a grown man cry and remind us of the fragility of the human body.
Everything is ok now as the stone must have passed in the middle of the night when I was sleeping. I am up and feel good and will continue with my plans to go to North Carolina this afternoon for some recruiting and working at UNC's Elite Camp.
Shoutouts to Darla for convincing me to go to Pri-Med, and to Coach Sanderson for breaking up his day (even though he had a recruit on campus) to help me get to the different places I needed to go and serving my needs ahead of his own.
Servant Leadership.
Blessings,
Coach
"I haven't got time for the pain"
--Carly Simon
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Becoming A Team
While retyping my notes that I took from the recent clinic that I attended with Coach Don Meyer there was one segment that stood out to me that would be beneficial in starting a team. It was his four concepts in developing a team.
The first one is SHARED OWNERSHIP. There is a monumental difference in renting a home and buying one, or renting a car and buying one. One takes care of, nurtures, and makes deposits into things they own. One has a tendency to use and abuse things that they rent. The same can be said of the attitude of the players on a team. They must "buy" in, not "rent" in to the program.
The second one is SHARED SUFFERING. If you want to be fit, it requires working out and working out is uncomfortable. If it was comfortable, then the obesity rates in America would drop. Shared suffering is the concept behind basic training in the military. Yes, it is to get people in shape, but it also makes them work together and develop bonds with each other that are still strong when tough times hit (and they inevitably will).
The third is INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY. Players need to be accountable and need to be held accoutable. I love how Coach K writes in his book, "The Gold Standard", that when Jason Kidd joined the team, Kidd made a huge deal out of making sure that everyone on that team was ALWAYS on time. This was out of respect for the coaches and teammates, but it is just the right thing to do. Jim Nantz, in his book "Always By My Side", mentions that in journalism the standard of behavior was that "to be early was to be on time". My friend and Olympic Gold-Medalist sprinter, Mike Marsh, always shares the advice to people he meets that the most important part of being successful is "showing up"...always being relied upon to be there, regardless.
The last is COLLECTIVE PRIDE. This is about being more proud of team success than individual performance. My dad never used to ask me how I played when I was a kid until after he asked how the team did...even in the individual sport of tennis. I would get home and he would say, "Did you guys win?", I would say, "Yep", He would say, "How did everybody do?", and I would share some highlights, and THEN he would say, "How'd you play?", and I would tell him my successes and failures. When I would play great and win my match but the team would lose overall, he would be disappointed. When I would play poorly and the team won he would say, "That's great!". The sweatshirt that he wore to all of my games, matches, and tournaments said, "Hamilton Hawkeyes", it didn't say "Reed Sutton". He was a company man. He worked in the same company for 40 years, through good times and bad and success and failure and parties and funerals, he gave it is all for his company. That's pride.
I am excited about developing our team in each of these four areas. I hope they are ready to meet these challenges face-to-face and conquer them.
Blessings,
Coach
"...whatever you do, do all for the glory of God" (I Cor 10:31 NIV)
The first one is SHARED OWNERSHIP. There is a monumental difference in renting a home and buying one, or renting a car and buying one. One takes care of, nurtures, and makes deposits into things they own. One has a tendency to use and abuse things that they rent. The same can be said of the attitude of the players on a team. They must "buy" in, not "rent" in to the program.
The second one is SHARED SUFFERING. If you want to be fit, it requires working out and working out is uncomfortable. If it was comfortable, then the obesity rates in America would drop. Shared suffering is the concept behind basic training in the military. Yes, it is to get people in shape, but it also makes them work together and develop bonds with each other that are still strong when tough times hit (and they inevitably will).
The third is INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY. Players need to be accountable and need to be held accoutable. I love how Coach K writes in his book, "The Gold Standard", that when Jason Kidd joined the team, Kidd made a huge deal out of making sure that everyone on that team was ALWAYS on time. This was out of respect for the coaches and teammates, but it is just the right thing to do. Jim Nantz, in his book "Always By My Side", mentions that in journalism the standard of behavior was that "to be early was to be on time". My friend and Olympic Gold-Medalist sprinter, Mike Marsh, always shares the advice to people he meets that the most important part of being successful is "showing up"...always being relied upon to be there, regardless.
The last is COLLECTIVE PRIDE. This is about being more proud of team success than individual performance. My dad never used to ask me how I played when I was a kid until after he asked how the team did...even in the individual sport of tennis. I would get home and he would say, "Did you guys win?", I would say, "Yep", He would say, "How did everybody do?", and I would share some highlights, and THEN he would say, "How'd you play?", and I would tell him my successes and failures. When I would play great and win my match but the team would lose overall, he would be disappointed. When I would play poorly and the team won he would say, "That's great!". The sweatshirt that he wore to all of my games, matches, and tournaments said, "Hamilton Hawkeyes", it didn't say "Reed Sutton". He was a company man. He worked in the same company for 40 years, through good times and bad and success and failure and parties and funerals, he gave it is all for his company. That's pride.
I am excited about developing our team in each of these four areas. I hope they are ready to meet these challenges face-to-face and conquer them.
Blessings,
Coach
"...whatever you do, do all for the glory of God" (I Cor 10:31 NIV)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Thanks!
Most of us can remember someone from our family or neighborhood that sacrificed themself to maintain our freedom. If you can't think of someone readily, click on the title "Thanks!" and read some of the stories of our greatest heroes.
Enjoy a great holiday with family. I am looking forward to time with friends on the golf course...but I certainly plan to stop and think about the War Veteran's that allowed me the opportunity to do so in safety, and to say a prayer for our current warriors that are here and abroad keeping us safe.
Thanks!
Blessings,
Coach S
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died, rather we should thank God that such men lived"
-- General George Patton
Enjoy a great holiday with family. I am looking forward to time with friends on the golf course...but I certainly plan to stop and think about the War Veteran's that allowed me the opportunity to do so in safety, and to say a prayer for our current warriors that are here and abroad keeping us safe.
Thanks!
Blessings,
Coach S
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died, rather we should thank God that such men lived"
-- General George Patton
Friday, May 28, 2010
In The Beginning
"You know that the beginning is the most important part of any work, especially in the case of a young and tender thing; for that is the time at which the character is being formed and the desired impression is more readily taken...Shall we just carelessly allow our children to hear any casual tales which may be devised by casual persons, and to receive into their minds ideas for the most part the very opposite of those which we should wish them to have when they grow up?
We cannot...Anything received into the mind at that age is likely to become indelible and unalterable; and therefore it is most important that the tales which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts...
Then will our youth dwell in a land of health, amid fair sights and sounds, and receive the good in everything; and beauty, the effluence of fair works, shall flow into the eye and ear, like a health-giving breeze from a purer region, and insensibly draw the soul from the earliest years into likeness and sympathy with the beauty of reason.
There can be no nobler training than that."
That is one of my favorite literary passages. It is from Plato's Republic. It stimulates the heart of a teacher to be cautious and put alot of thought into the way that they begin the training of their students(in my case, the training of the team). It also challenges the parent not to expose their children to poor teaching. I wonder if Plato would be happy with the direction of the educational system in America right now in terms of the teaching that American children are receiving?
We are about to get things started in the fall at Faulkner and I am excited about that and I am putting a great deal of thought about the scope and sequence of the training of our team from the start. As I was communicating with our players by email recently, I posed the question, "What does it mean to you to be a part of the first team ever at Faulkner?" It seems they are thinking about it as seriously as I am.
Here are some quotes...
"To me it means alot, starting a tradition that will later be used, and building the foundation of what Faulkner Women's Basketball is all about...it is pretty exciting."
"It is an honor to be able to be on the first team at Faulkner..."
"I consider it a great honor to be playing on the first women's basketball team here at Faulkner. It is a big deal to be able to say that I am a part of history at this school..."
"Every time I think of the opportunity I get really excited..."
"...It is an honor to represent the first team at Faulkner. It is a time to set records. It is bringing something to the school that has been missing and making a statement. I am excited to be able to do this and be a part of a team that is going to be great."
There are more quotes, but you get the idea. We are taking seriously the opportunity to get off to a great start. Get your season tickets!
Coach
"You start me up, you start me up... you never stop!"
--Rolling Stones
We cannot...Anything received into the mind at that age is likely to become indelible and unalterable; and therefore it is most important that the tales which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts...
Then will our youth dwell in a land of health, amid fair sights and sounds, and receive the good in everything; and beauty, the effluence of fair works, shall flow into the eye and ear, like a health-giving breeze from a purer region, and insensibly draw the soul from the earliest years into likeness and sympathy with the beauty of reason.
There can be no nobler training than that."
That is one of my favorite literary passages. It is from Plato's Republic. It stimulates the heart of a teacher to be cautious and put alot of thought into the way that they begin the training of their students(in my case, the training of the team). It also challenges the parent not to expose their children to poor teaching. I wonder if Plato would be happy with the direction of the educational system in America right now in terms of the teaching that American children are receiving?
We are about to get things started in the fall at Faulkner and I am excited about that and I am putting a great deal of thought about the scope and sequence of the training of our team from the start. As I was communicating with our players by email recently, I posed the question, "What does it mean to you to be a part of the first team ever at Faulkner?" It seems they are thinking about it as seriously as I am.
Here are some quotes...
"To me it means alot, starting a tradition that will later be used, and building the foundation of what Faulkner Women's Basketball is all about...it is pretty exciting."
"It is an honor to be able to be on the first team at Faulkner..."
"I consider it a great honor to be playing on the first women's basketball team here at Faulkner. It is a big deal to be able to say that I am a part of history at this school..."
"Every time I think of the opportunity I get really excited..."
"...It is an honor to represent the first team at Faulkner. It is a time to set records. It is bringing something to the school that has been missing and making a statement. I am excited to be able to do this and be a part of a team that is going to be great."
There are more quotes, but you get the idea. We are taking seriously the opportunity to get off to a great start. Get your season tickets!
Coach
"You start me up, you start me up... you never stop!"
--Rolling Stones
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Drew Anderson
I can't explain it but I have a tendency toward local loyalties. I have lived in four states in my life and my sports loyalties always quickly become directed toward the local teams. I grew up in Holland, Michigan so I grew up a Hope College and Michigan Wolverine fan as well as the Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings. Then, I lived in East Tennessee for a year and went to a Tennessee/Alabama football game and started getting fascinated with UT Football. After a move to Houston, I turned my allegiances to the Astros, Rockets, and Texans. So I arrived in Montgomery and find myself sitting in the stands eating a slice of pizza and drinking a coke at a Biscuits baseball game.
The Montgomery Biscuits are the Double-A baseball affiliate of the first place Tampa Bay Devil Rays of the Major Leagues. I came to a game a couple of weeks ago with my son, Brady, and my dad, Dad. I took notice of one of the players and how he carried himself. His name is Drew Anderson and he was the second baseman at the time. He is an underdog kind of guy. He is 5 foot nothing but has good hands and speed. The thing that impressed me about him was how he interacted with his coach after he got thrown out at third trying to take an extra base on a base hit by a teammate. Manager Billy Gardner was the third base coach and was expressing some displeasure at the youngster. David looked him in the eye and every thing about his body language said, "Yes Sir, I am eagerly learning from you and appreciate your coaching". He was nodding his headed positively and showed no disrespect. He is what I would call at this point a "throwback".
I was reading the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper while eating lunch at the Captain D's across from campus today and there was an article written by Stacy Long on the sports page in a section called the "Biscuits Crumbs". "Crumbs" is basically the inside clubhouse scoop on the players and coaches and will highlight some on the field things, but also some off the field stuff. It turns out that my man Drew was converted today to the outfield from second base because of either a call-up or injury or both, I didn't pay close attention as to why. He was a professional ball player that was told he was switching positions today. I am not sure how I would react to that if I were in the same circumstance. I did play close attention to Drew's quoted response. He said, "Isn't that cool...I'm just moving around".
Anderson is a difference maker. His attitude is incredible. Coach wants me in a different position? Ok let's do it...it will be fun. I don't know what happened behind closed doors and I don't want to know because I am now a fan of Drew Anderson's. I literally came to the park tonight and sit here right now because I wanted to see more of his team first attitude.
So because of DA, I got a ticket and came to the park, as I sat down to my pizza slice and coke, I looked over to the dugout and who is the first guy out of the dugout to start warming up? You take a guess.
Blessings,
Coach
"Your example is the not the main thing in influencing others...it is the ONLY thing."
The Montgomery Biscuits are the Double-A baseball affiliate of the first place Tampa Bay Devil Rays of the Major Leagues. I came to a game a couple of weeks ago with my son, Brady, and my dad, Dad. I took notice of one of the players and how he carried himself. His name is Drew Anderson and he was the second baseman at the time. He is an underdog kind of guy. He is 5 foot nothing but has good hands and speed. The thing that impressed me about him was how he interacted with his coach after he got thrown out at third trying to take an extra base on a base hit by a teammate. Manager Billy Gardner was the third base coach and was expressing some displeasure at the youngster. David looked him in the eye and every thing about his body language said, "Yes Sir, I am eagerly learning from you and appreciate your coaching". He was nodding his headed positively and showed no disrespect. He is what I would call at this point a "throwback".
I was reading the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper while eating lunch at the Captain D's across from campus today and there was an article written by Stacy Long on the sports page in a section called the "Biscuits Crumbs". "Crumbs" is basically the inside clubhouse scoop on the players and coaches and will highlight some on the field things, but also some off the field stuff. It turns out that my man Drew was converted today to the outfield from second base because of either a call-up or injury or both, I didn't pay close attention as to why. He was a professional ball player that was told he was switching positions today. I am not sure how I would react to that if I were in the same circumstance. I did play close attention to Drew's quoted response. He said, "Isn't that cool...I'm just moving around".
Anderson is a difference maker. His attitude is incredible. Coach wants me in a different position? Ok let's do it...it will be fun. I don't know what happened behind closed doors and I don't want to know because I am now a fan of Drew Anderson's. I literally came to the park tonight and sit here right now because I wanted to see more of his team first attitude.
So because of DA, I got a ticket and came to the park, as I sat down to my pizza slice and coke, I looked over to the dugout and who is the first guy out of the dugout to start warming up? You take a guess.
Blessings,
Coach
"Your example is the not the main thing in influencing others...it is the ONLY thing."
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Proud Coach
I am very proud of Westbury Christian senior-to-be Amber Orrange who is going to USA Basketball U18 Trials. It was an absolute honor to coach her for the last two years. She is a tremendous young lady with a huge heart, great student, and a very special basketball talent. I am extremely proud of her.
My prayers are with Amber that she can be a great ambassador of her school, her family, our country, and most importantly of the Most High God! Good luck to Amber Orrange and her "ponytail of doom" in Colorado Springs! My advice to Coach Rizzotti is to put the ball in Amber's hands as much as possible.
Coach
"God Bless America, land that I love"
My prayers are with Amber that she can be a great ambassador of her school, her family, our country, and most importantly of the Most High God! Good luck to Amber Orrange and her "ponytail of doom" in Colorado Springs! My advice to Coach Rizzotti is to put the ball in Amber's hands as much as possible.
Coach
"God Bless America, land that I love"
Coach Larry
Coach Jyusef Larry, whom I have mentioned in a previous blog, is a dear friend and a great coach who was just hired as the Head Girl's Basketball Coach at Spring Branch Memorial High School in Houston, TX. He sent me the email below that I have posted as today's blog entry. I thought his words were spot on for personal and playing development.
"Coach Sutton,
Just figured I would drop you a note and pass something on to you that I read this morning.
I wanted to share something I just read as a follow up on (Coach Larry's)last week’s blog, Brand You 2.0. Hip hop superstar 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) is having a majority of his tattoos removed in an attempt to help land more movie roles and give off a more professional appearance.
He is making a distinct change to his brand’s image to achieve an even higher level of success. He is reinventing himself, which in my opinion, is a brilliant move on his part. He has conquered the music industry (sold millions of albums). He has conquered the business world (sold his stock in Vitamin Water for $400+ million). Now he is going to conquer Hollywood!
One of the most significant ingredients to success is your ability to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Your comfort zone is your enemy. It makes you soft. It leads to complacency.
You have to constantly and consistently step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. There is no reward for always playing it safe. The player who can push themselves further once the situation gets uncomfortable is the one who will win. That is what makes Kobe so lethal. He thrives in adversity.
In addition to helping players get stronger, quicker, and in great shape, it is my job to push players out of their comfort zone on a regular basis. It is my job to help them increase their tolerance for discomfort (mental and physical). I want them to train hard so the game becomes easy.
I tell my players of the time during our workouts, “Temporary discomfort leads to permanent improvement.”
I also tell them, “You can have the pain of discipline or the pain of regret… take your choice.”
Both of those quotes exemplify the same point – if you are willing to step out of your comfort zone now… you will reap the benefits ten times over in the future. But you have to have the courage to sacrifice your immediate personal contentment.
When you are lifting weights, do you stop as soon as there is a slight “burn”… or do you push through and do a few more reps?
When you are running sprints, do you stop as soon as you are a little “winded”… or do you suck it up and run a few more?
When you are working on your ball handling, do you spend extra time on your off hand even though you make more mistakes? Or do you just keep doing the drills you are already good at?
When you are getting up shots, are you a “casual shooter” or do you run through every rep at game speed? Do you come off of imaginary screens and make hard cuts… or do you simply do spot shooting?
The answers to these questions will determine how successful you will be next season.
Remember, you have to deserve success. And to do that you have to leave your comfort zone now.
Jyusef Larry, MBA
Memorial High School
Head Girl's Basketball Coach
www.MrCoachLarry.com"
Blessings,
Coach S
"Coach Sutton,
Just figured I would drop you a note and pass something on to you that I read this morning.
I wanted to share something I just read as a follow up on (Coach Larry's)last week’s blog, Brand You 2.0. Hip hop superstar 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) is having a majority of his tattoos removed in an attempt to help land more movie roles and give off a more professional appearance.
He is making a distinct change to his brand’s image to achieve an even higher level of success. He is reinventing himself, which in my opinion, is a brilliant move on his part. He has conquered the music industry (sold millions of albums). He has conquered the business world (sold his stock in Vitamin Water for $400+ million). Now he is going to conquer Hollywood!
One of the most significant ingredients to success is your ability to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Your comfort zone is your enemy. It makes you soft. It leads to complacency.
You have to constantly and consistently step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. There is no reward for always playing it safe. The player who can push themselves further once the situation gets uncomfortable is the one who will win. That is what makes Kobe so lethal. He thrives in adversity.
In addition to helping players get stronger, quicker, and in great shape, it is my job to push players out of their comfort zone on a regular basis. It is my job to help them increase their tolerance for discomfort (mental and physical). I want them to train hard so the game becomes easy.
I tell my players of the time during our workouts, “Temporary discomfort leads to permanent improvement.”
I also tell them, “You can have the pain of discipline or the pain of regret… take your choice.”
Both of those quotes exemplify the same point – if you are willing to step out of your comfort zone now… you will reap the benefits ten times over in the future. But you have to have the courage to sacrifice your immediate personal contentment.
When you are lifting weights, do you stop as soon as there is a slight “burn”… or do you push through and do a few more reps?
When you are running sprints, do you stop as soon as you are a little “winded”… or do you suck it up and run a few more?
When you are working on your ball handling, do you spend extra time on your off hand even though you make more mistakes? Or do you just keep doing the drills you are already good at?
When you are getting up shots, are you a “casual shooter” or do you run through every rep at game speed? Do you come off of imaginary screens and make hard cuts… or do you simply do spot shooting?
The answers to these questions will determine how successful you will be next season.
Remember, you have to deserve success. And to do that you have to leave your comfort zone now.
Jyusef Larry, MBA
Memorial High School
Head Girl's Basketball Coach
www.MrCoachLarry.com"
Blessings,
Coach S
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Difference Maker
I thought it was a great observation when I was told by a coaching friend that he believed that God places reading material in front of you as you need it or slightly before you need it. He claimed this is true of both Scripture and casual reading material. I have seen that to be true for me so far over the summer.
The first step was just to read more. Since I arrived in Montgomery I had found myself watching alot of RedBox movies. I guess it was to try to shut my mind down for a couple of hours from thinking about basketball or from thinking about how much I missed my family back in Houston. About three weeks ago I got to the point where I was starting to watch movies just for the sake of watching them. They weren't even any good. Then I would look at my watch and get mad at myself for wasting 2 and a half hours of my life.
So I started reading. I am on my fourth book in those three weeks. I started with "The Long Snapper" by Jeffrey Marx, then I got "Beyond Basketball" by Coach K, then I read "The Gold Standard" by Coach K. The last of those three books is one that I felt that God put in front of me as I am building a team. It takes you behind the coaching scenes and into personal conversations and team meetings of the 2008 Gold-Medal winning USA Olympic Basketball Team. In the book, Coach K discusses roles, leadership, team standards, and a myriad of other topics related to building a championship team. I look forward to utilizing some of the ideas with my new team.
However, the idea that is on my heart today comes from a book that I am currently reading called, "Difference Maker" by John Maxwell. He talks in the book about a person's attitude. He suggests that many people believe it is the most important element in success. Maxwell disagrees. He believes that being competent is the most important element, but that a great attitude is the difference maker between great and average. I think this is an important point for our team this year. I think I have developed a roster full of kids with a great attitude. I think that they are all competent to varying degrees. We are going to need to continue to improve our competence this summer and next fall to improve our chances of being successful. The great thing about improved competence is that it also leads to improved confidence. Then with improved confidence the positive attitude increases. You can see the cycle, but it all goes back to the idea that we need to work hard to get better. That is where it starts.
Biblically speaking, God put the words of Jesus in my heart from Luke 9:23 when Jesus says"...If anyone would come after me, he must DENY HIMSELF, and take up his cross daily and follow me." So I ask, deny myself from what? Fun? Types of food? Recreation? Time on the computer? RedBox movies? It requires self-evaluation to figure it out and probably more study into my tendencies toward sin. I need to be willing to take an honest look at my life and work hard to get better in the areas that GOD would have me be successful. I suspect that He is not going to check my winning percentage at His holy gates.
Coach
"The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work"
-Vince Lombardi
The first step was just to read more. Since I arrived in Montgomery I had found myself watching alot of RedBox movies. I guess it was to try to shut my mind down for a couple of hours from thinking about basketball or from thinking about how much I missed my family back in Houston. About three weeks ago I got to the point where I was starting to watch movies just for the sake of watching them. They weren't even any good. Then I would look at my watch and get mad at myself for wasting 2 and a half hours of my life.
So I started reading. I am on my fourth book in those three weeks. I started with "The Long Snapper" by Jeffrey Marx, then I got "Beyond Basketball" by Coach K, then I read "The Gold Standard" by Coach K. The last of those three books is one that I felt that God put in front of me as I am building a team. It takes you behind the coaching scenes and into personal conversations and team meetings of the 2008 Gold-Medal winning USA Olympic Basketball Team. In the book, Coach K discusses roles, leadership, team standards, and a myriad of other topics related to building a championship team. I look forward to utilizing some of the ideas with my new team.
However, the idea that is on my heart today comes from a book that I am currently reading called, "Difference Maker" by John Maxwell. He talks in the book about a person's attitude. He suggests that many people believe it is the most important element in success. Maxwell disagrees. He believes that being competent is the most important element, but that a great attitude is the difference maker between great and average. I think this is an important point for our team this year. I think I have developed a roster full of kids with a great attitude. I think that they are all competent to varying degrees. We are going to need to continue to improve our competence this summer and next fall to improve our chances of being successful. The great thing about improved competence is that it also leads to improved confidence. Then with improved confidence the positive attitude increases. You can see the cycle, but it all goes back to the idea that we need to work hard to get better. That is where it starts.
Biblically speaking, God put the words of Jesus in my heart from Luke 9:23 when Jesus says"...If anyone would come after me, he must DENY HIMSELF, and take up his cross daily and follow me." So I ask, deny myself from what? Fun? Types of food? Recreation? Time on the computer? RedBox movies? It requires self-evaluation to figure it out and probably more study into my tendencies toward sin. I need to be willing to take an honest look at my life and work hard to get better in the areas that GOD would have me be successful. I suspect that He is not going to check my winning percentage at His holy gates.
Coach
"The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work"
-Vince Lombardi
Monday, May 24, 2010
Very Impressive Person
I just returned to my room from my awesome weekend in Houston. Only a couple of thoughts because it is past bed time!
First, I was excited to return to an email from Linzee Kerce who committed to join our team. Linzee will be a sophomore next year. She is a 5'11" post player from Huntsville. She played at Southern Union Community College last year after playing at Madison Academy in High School for good friend and Faulkner grad, Brian Privett. Linzee is a very hard worker, a great student, and is committed in her walk with Christ. The Faulkner Women's Basketball trifecta.
Last, I just wanted to pass along a poem of which I have not researched the author and I changed to the feminine, but it was given to a group of coaches at a small clinic that I went to this weekend featuring Coach Don Meyer. Coach Meyer is a big influence on my coaching career, and is the winningest basketball coach in college history. He is an ESPY award winner whose speech is a must see for award speeches. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoOkHawZKa4 His life story will be out in a book written by Buster Olney in September. Check him out at www.coachmeyer.com. I think it is a great poem for our players to read.
VERY IMPRESSIVE PERSON
She greets everyone with a smile
And a hearty handshake;
And makes you fell she means it
When she says she is glad to meet you.
And she makes you glad to meet her.
She walks with a sprightly step
And speaks with a laugh in her voice.
She listens with interest
And speaks with conviction,
And makes you feel you have known her all your life.
She doesn't seem to try to impress,
Yet she's most impressive.
She never tries pressing to pursuade,
Yet you always come away convinced.
She's the kind of girl we enjoy being around
Because she is what we all secretly would like to be;
Someone who enjoys being herself.
Blessings,
Coach
"I have decided to let my life be my argument"
-Albert Schweitzer
First, I was excited to return to an email from Linzee Kerce who committed to join our team. Linzee will be a sophomore next year. She is a 5'11" post player from Huntsville. She played at Southern Union Community College last year after playing at Madison Academy in High School for good friend and Faulkner grad, Brian Privett. Linzee is a very hard worker, a great student, and is committed in her walk with Christ. The Faulkner Women's Basketball trifecta.
Last, I just wanted to pass along a poem of which I have not researched the author and I changed to the feminine, but it was given to a group of coaches at a small clinic that I went to this weekend featuring Coach Don Meyer. Coach Meyer is a big influence on my coaching career, and is the winningest basketball coach in college history. He is an ESPY award winner whose speech is a must see for award speeches. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoOkHawZKa4 His life story will be out in a book written by Buster Olney in September. Check him out at www.coachmeyer.com. I think it is a great poem for our players to read.
VERY IMPRESSIVE PERSON
She greets everyone with a smile
And a hearty handshake;
And makes you fell she means it
When she says she is glad to meet you.
And she makes you glad to meet her.
She walks with a sprightly step
And speaks with a laugh in her voice.
She listens with interest
And speaks with conviction,
And makes you feel you have known her all your life.
She doesn't seem to try to impress,
Yet she's most impressive.
She never tries pressing to pursuade,
Yet you always come away convinced.
She's the kind of girl we enjoy being around
Because she is what we all secretly would like to be;
Someone who enjoys being herself.
Blessings,
Coach
"I have decided to let my life be my argument"
-Albert Schweitzer
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Mr. Heisman
I have had the great pleasure of getting to know Charlie Ward over the last three years. Coach Ward has the football coach at Westbury Christian School for the last two years as a head coach and he was an assistant for a year before that. I had met Coach Ward when I worked a camp that he ran at our school when he was an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets. Shortly after that summer camp when Coach Jeff Van Gundy and his staff was let go as coaches of the Rockets, he took a job on campus at WCS. Charlie is one of the most humble and Godly men that I know. He only speaks when spoken to and every word that comes out of his mouth is thoughtful, spiritual, and encouraging. His humility was present when he moved into his office at Westbury Christian (which is a make-shift office built in the cafegymnatorium). As I was walking by, I asked him if he needed help unpacking. He said no and that he didn't have much stuff to unpack. I asked him where he was placing his Davy O'Brien and Heisman trophies and he just looked at me out of the corner of his eyes as if to say, "I don't really talk about those things much". His glance suggested that those are not things he specifically wants to display or be known for. Mr. Heisman was Mr. Humble.
This morning I had the opportunity to attend a breakfast at an Outback Steakhouse in Sugarland, TX. It was a Men's devotional breakfast. It was great to see all of my buddies from Westbury at the breakfast. I was blessed to be surrounded by strong Christian men at WCS that had fun with each other, but held each other accountable. A great lesson for teams...fun, but accountable. I got to sit next to two men I recently became friends with. One man's name was Shane and I met him for the first time this morning. The other man's name is Ben Edmiston. I got to know Ben this last basketball season. He is the husband of one of my Westbury assistant coaches, Kelly Edmiston. Kelly was a critical key to our championship success this last season because she has a degree in social work/ministry from Abilene Christian University and half of my team was certifiably crazy and unpredictable. Without her spiritual guidance and mentoring with our girls, we would not have been able to keep things together. She has made me realize that the number one quality that I want in the assistant coach that I will hire at Faulkner is not necessarily a basketball mind or playing pedigree, but a heart for serving Christ using basketball as a tool to develop servant leaders. I really enjoyed seeing Ben. He is a Barnabas... very smart and always encouraging. He is most impressive because of the patience he shows in being married to such a high maintenance chick like Kelly! Just kidding, Kel. Anyway, the speaker of the hour was Coach Ward.
Coach shared some keys to navigating through life that I thought were really good and worth documenting. They all start with the letter P. They are the Process (and patience), Purpose, Potential, Prioritization, and Proceeding without Procrastination. These are great thoughts that he backed up with scripture as usual. The thing that he mentioned that caught my attention more than anything else that he said, however, was that he took his walk with Christ seriously when he was on the national stage as a college football quarterback on a national championship team and as an NBA player and coach. He said that he wanted everyone that he came in contact with to see him more as a Christian than an athlete. He has lived that message out over his career and he continues to "walk the walk" The lesson for our players next season is that we need to keep the first things first and stay focused on Christ. Satan will try to use basketball, boyfriends, academics, and social situations to distract us from our one purpose in life...the glorification of God through our deeds. We can't let Satan win. We will be held up as role models and be watched very carefuly on and off the court. What we do must match closely with who we say we are. Lesson learned from Mr. Heisman.
Blessings on a great weekend and have a great Lord's Day tomorrow,
Coach
"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us..."
2 Cor 5:20
This morning I had the opportunity to attend a breakfast at an Outback Steakhouse in Sugarland, TX. It was a Men's devotional breakfast. It was great to see all of my buddies from Westbury at the breakfast. I was blessed to be surrounded by strong Christian men at WCS that had fun with each other, but held each other accountable. A great lesson for teams...fun, but accountable. I got to sit next to two men I recently became friends with. One man's name was Shane and I met him for the first time this morning. The other man's name is Ben Edmiston. I got to know Ben this last basketball season. He is the husband of one of my Westbury assistant coaches, Kelly Edmiston. Kelly was a critical key to our championship success this last season because she has a degree in social work/ministry from Abilene Christian University and half of my team was certifiably crazy and unpredictable. Without her spiritual guidance and mentoring with our girls, we would not have been able to keep things together. She has made me realize that the number one quality that I want in the assistant coach that I will hire at Faulkner is not necessarily a basketball mind or playing pedigree, but a heart for serving Christ using basketball as a tool to develop servant leaders. I really enjoyed seeing Ben. He is a Barnabas... very smart and always encouraging. He is most impressive because of the patience he shows in being married to such a high maintenance chick like Kelly! Just kidding, Kel. Anyway, the speaker of the hour was Coach Ward.
Coach shared some keys to navigating through life that I thought were really good and worth documenting. They all start with the letter P. They are the Process (and patience), Purpose, Potential, Prioritization, and Proceeding without Procrastination. These are great thoughts that he backed up with scripture as usual. The thing that he mentioned that caught my attention more than anything else that he said, however, was that he took his walk with Christ seriously when he was on the national stage as a college football quarterback on a national championship team and as an NBA player and coach. He said that he wanted everyone that he came in contact with to see him more as a Christian than an athlete. He has lived that message out over his career and he continues to "walk the walk" The lesson for our players next season is that we need to keep the first things first and stay focused on Christ. Satan will try to use basketball, boyfriends, academics, and social situations to distract us from our one purpose in life...the glorification of God through our deeds. We can't let Satan win. We will be held up as role models and be watched very carefuly on and off the court. What we do must match closely with who we say we are. Lesson learned from Mr. Heisman.
Blessings on a great weekend and have a great Lord's Day tomorrow,
Coach
"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us..."
2 Cor 5:20
Friday, May 21, 2010
How About Them Apples?
Admittedly, at times I have felt a little rushed in putting our team together because I am ready to get off the road and lock in with our players to get them ready physically, mentally, and relationally for next season. However, one of the things I have grown to enjoy already in recruiting is signing day.
I had the tremendous honor of signing Rebekah Marsh today to come play at Faulkner. Rebekah is a 6 foot tall post/forward who can defend well, is smart (having spent some time coaching), and can step out and shoot. I think she will help us on the floor, she is talented. However, I think she will help us in many more areas of our program as we build it because she is a mother hen. She has the unique ability to think about others more than herself. She communicates well and has developed a relationship with me in a short period of time to where I really respect her thoughts about basketball. She has a tremendous work ethic. Rebekah called me the other day and asked, "Coach how much rest time is there between 40 yard dashes when I run 50 of them?" You see, when she was on her visit we went out to dinner with another recruit, Sonja Vuong, who played for me at Westbury Christian. Sonja and I were talking about conditioning and I asked her what the toughest day was as Lady Wildcat and Sonja said the day we finished with 50 40's. Rebekah picked up on that on her own and got with her trainers to raise herself to that level in May so that she will be more than ready come October when practice starts. That is an incredible attitude!
Rebekah has to have the qualities of a mother hen because she is the oldest of 8 kids. I am sure that she has had to dedicate her life to helping raise her brothers and sisters because that is what is practical for running the Marsh home. I am excited about Rebekah joining our team.
I have had a great relationship with almost all of the parents of the players I have coached. Even if we disagreed about things (mostly playing time...which I don't ever talk about directly with parents), I have earned their respect and they have earned mine for the sacrifices that they make in trying to provide the best education and opportunity for their kids. I remember when I was an assistant boys coach at Westbury there was a player that I really wanted to come to the school, but our Head Coach at the time Greg Glenn noticed that the parents were a little loopy and had overblown expectations for their kid who would have been a role player for our team that year. I remember that Greg said he would not add the player to our roster because, "The apple does not fall far from the tree". In other words, if the parents were not to be trusted, then their child's attitude would turn south. I think about this phrase all the time when I think about the example I am setting for my children.
So now when I recruit young ladies for my team, I try recruit their parents as well. That is what makes Rebekah so special. I had the opportunity to visit with her parents at their home about a month ago and fell in love with their family. There is a spirit of joy in their home that is unparalled and I am jealous of that for my family. They are amazing people, both of whom are deaf, but have not let that stop them from living life to its fullest especially as they sacrifice for their 8 children. I know that if the apple doesn't fall far from the tree with the Rebekah, the tree is a redwood at the Marsh home.
Building a team has to start with relationships and I believe that Rebekah is going to be a relationship builder on our team that unifies and keeps her teammates pointed in the right direction. I am grateful that she is now a Lady Eagle.
Coach S
"...just like a tree that's planted by the water, I shall not be moved" - hymn
I had the tremendous honor of signing Rebekah Marsh today to come play at Faulkner. Rebekah is a 6 foot tall post/forward who can defend well, is smart (having spent some time coaching), and can step out and shoot. I think she will help us on the floor, she is talented. However, I think she will help us in many more areas of our program as we build it because she is a mother hen. She has the unique ability to think about others more than herself. She communicates well and has developed a relationship with me in a short period of time to where I really respect her thoughts about basketball. She has a tremendous work ethic. Rebekah called me the other day and asked, "Coach how much rest time is there between 40 yard dashes when I run 50 of them?" You see, when she was on her visit we went out to dinner with another recruit, Sonja Vuong, who played for me at Westbury Christian. Sonja and I were talking about conditioning and I asked her what the toughest day was as Lady Wildcat and Sonja said the day we finished with 50 40's. Rebekah picked up on that on her own and got with her trainers to raise herself to that level in May so that she will be more than ready come October when practice starts. That is an incredible attitude!
Rebekah has to have the qualities of a mother hen because she is the oldest of 8 kids. I am sure that she has had to dedicate her life to helping raise her brothers and sisters because that is what is practical for running the Marsh home. I am excited about Rebekah joining our team.
I have had a great relationship with almost all of the parents of the players I have coached. Even if we disagreed about things (mostly playing time...which I don't ever talk about directly with parents), I have earned their respect and they have earned mine for the sacrifices that they make in trying to provide the best education and opportunity for their kids. I remember when I was an assistant boys coach at Westbury there was a player that I really wanted to come to the school, but our Head Coach at the time Greg Glenn noticed that the parents were a little loopy and had overblown expectations for their kid who would have been a role player for our team that year. I remember that Greg said he would not add the player to our roster because, "The apple does not fall far from the tree". In other words, if the parents were not to be trusted, then their child's attitude would turn south. I think about this phrase all the time when I think about the example I am setting for my children.
So now when I recruit young ladies for my team, I try recruit their parents as well. That is what makes Rebekah so special. I had the opportunity to visit with her parents at their home about a month ago and fell in love with their family. There is a spirit of joy in their home that is unparalled and I am jealous of that for my family. They are amazing people, both of whom are deaf, but have not let that stop them from living life to its fullest especially as they sacrifice for their 8 children. I know that if the apple doesn't fall far from the tree with the Rebekah, the tree is a redwood at the Marsh home.
Building a team has to start with relationships and I believe that Rebekah is going to be a relationship builder on our team that unifies and keeps her teammates pointed in the right direction. I am grateful that she is now a Lady Eagle.
Coach S
"...just like a tree that's planted by the water, I shall not be moved" - hymn
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Anticipation
I remember a commercial when I was a kid for Heinz ketchup. They turned the bottle upside down and the substance was so thick that it took a while for it to come out to be enjoyed with french fries, a hot dog, or another of America's gourmet delicacies. The song lyrics were, "Anticipation...is makin me wait". Thanks to Google, I found out that it was performed by J. Mascis and the Fog.
When I was a kid, I would always get really excited before big events to where I couldn't sleep. Before we would go to a Detroit Tigers game or Cedar Point amusement park, I was very restless. Last night was one of those nights in preparation for today. I went to bed early knowing that I was to get up at 4 am for a drive to Birmingham to catch a flight to Houston. I woke up at 1 AM and never got back to sleep. I even watched C-Span to try to get back to sleep and ended up getting engrossed in the coverage of House committee hearings with the CEO's of BP and Transoceanic who were getting grilled over the oil spill (speaking of anticipation, you would think they could have thought anticipated some worst case scenario's there to protect their 26 Billion dollar business). I was too excited about this weekend.
I eagerly anticipate the weekend for several reasons. I get to hug my family and catch up with the happenings of my kids. I will attend the graduation ceremony at Westbury Christian where I have 13 of my players and managers from this last season walking across the stage. I don't want to understate how important those things are to me, but it is going to be a great basketball weekend. Today at 3 PM I will attend a mini-clinic with Coach Don Meyer who is the winningest coach in college basketball history. He is doing a private clinic for the coaches at WCS and friends. I enjoy the learning that takes place when he speaks, but I enjoy seeing my former boss Coach Greg Glenn (I was Greg's assistant boy's coach for 6 years) get to spend time with his mentor even more. Greg played for Coach Meyer at Lipscomb on their National Championship team. Greg has had such an impact on me as a coach and a person that I know I have been influenced by Coach Meyer's teaching.
On Friday afternoon, I get to go to the home of Rebekah Marsh and sign her to a letter-of-intent to come play for me at Faulkner (more on Rebekah in a future blog).
On Saturday morning, I get to attend a breakfast with my coaching colleagues where my friend Charlie Ward is speaking. Every time he opens his mouth, which is not often, there is Godly wisdom spewed forth. Friday Night is Westbury's graduation where Coach Meyer will again speak.
On Sunday, I will attend church and Bible class at Westbury Church of Christ where I will again be surrounded by people that have encouraged and challenged me along the way.
Of course, I will be visiting with a few AAU coaches and High School coaches to try to find the best candidates to add to my team from 2011 graduates. I am especially excited to see Coach Jyusef Larry, who despite being a Harding grad is a dear friend who is getting his first head girl's coaching job at Memorial High School in Houston. He was a fellow varsity assistant with the boy's team at Westbury with me and he was my JV assistant coach. I am really proud of him and I am looking forward to seeing his influence not only on the kids he will coach, but also within wider basketball circles in the city of Houston. I am also trying to meet the parents of Faulkner signee Katie Pavlik for the first time. It will be great to meet the folks that developed such a great daughter.
What a weekend of basketball and relationship building to look forward to. I am living the dream as they say and will grow in many ways this weekend. I look forward to lasking volumes of questions to all of the coaching influences in my life that I will see this weekend. I am going to ask their personal advice for me on starting a program and I will certainly share this mother lode of blog material in the coming weeks.
Be blessed in your life today and anticipate the awesome opportunities God gives us each day to grow!
Coach
"It is good to give thanks to the Lord;
to sing praises to your name, O Most High."
Psalm 92:1
When I was a kid, I would always get really excited before big events to where I couldn't sleep. Before we would go to a Detroit Tigers game or Cedar Point amusement park, I was very restless. Last night was one of those nights in preparation for today. I went to bed early knowing that I was to get up at 4 am for a drive to Birmingham to catch a flight to Houston. I woke up at 1 AM and never got back to sleep. I even watched C-Span to try to get back to sleep and ended up getting engrossed in the coverage of House committee hearings with the CEO's of BP and Transoceanic who were getting grilled over the oil spill (speaking of anticipation, you would think they could have thought anticipated some worst case scenario's there to protect their 26 Billion dollar business). I was too excited about this weekend.
I eagerly anticipate the weekend for several reasons. I get to hug my family and catch up with the happenings of my kids. I will attend the graduation ceremony at Westbury Christian where I have 13 of my players and managers from this last season walking across the stage. I don't want to understate how important those things are to me, but it is going to be a great basketball weekend. Today at 3 PM I will attend a mini-clinic with Coach Don Meyer who is the winningest coach in college basketball history. He is doing a private clinic for the coaches at WCS and friends. I enjoy the learning that takes place when he speaks, but I enjoy seeing my former boss Coach Greg Glenn (I was Greg's assistant boy's coach for 6 years) get to spend time with his mentor even more. Greg played for Coach Meyer at Lipscomb on their National Championship team. Greg has had such an impact on me as a coach and a person that I know I have been influenced by Coach Meyer's teaching.
On Friday afternoon, I get to go to the home of Rebekah Marsh and sign her to a letter-of-intent to come play for me at Faulkner (more on Rebekah in a future blog).
On Saturday morning, I get to attend a breakfast with my coaching colleagues where my friend Charlie Ward is speaking. Every time he opens his mouth, which is not often, there is Godly wisdom spewed forth. Friday Night is Westbury's graduation where Coach Meyer will again speak.
On Sunday, I will attend church and Bible class at Westbury Church of Christ where I will again be surrounded by people that have encouraged and challenged me along the way.
Of course, I will be visiting with a few AAU coaches and High School coaches to try to find the best candidates to add to my team from 2011 graduates. I am especially excited to see Coach Jyusef Larry, who despite being a Harding grad is a dear friend who is getting his first head girl's coaching job at Memorial High School in Houston. He was a fellow varsity assistant with the boy's team at Westbury with me and he was my JV assistant coach. I am really proud of him and I am looking forward to seeing his influence not only on the kids he will coach, but also within wider basketball circles in the city of Houston. I am also trying to meet the parents of Faulkner signee Katie Pavlik for the first time. It will be great to meet the folks that developed such a great daughter.
What a weekend of basketball and relationship building to look forward to. I am living the dream as they say and will grow in many ways this weekend. I look forward to lasking volumes of questions to all of the coaching influences in my life that I will see this weekend. I am going to ask their personal advice for me on starting a program and I will certainly share this mother lode of blog material in the coming weeks.
Be blessed in your life today and anticipate the awesome opportunities God gives us each day to grow!
Coach
"It is good to give thanks to the Lord;
to sing praises to your name, O Most High."
Psalm 92:1
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Ni Hao
Ni hao
My daughter, Marisa, and I are taking a trip this summer to Shanghai to see my brother, Mark, and his family (wife Elizabeth and son Evan aka "Big Panda"). I am trying to learn simple phrases in Mandarin Chinese so that I can at least be considered kind and courteous to the Chinese people. The first phrase I learned was Ni Hao, which is simply "Hello".
As a coach, I consider myself a teacher. Teachers give assignments so that students learn new things. Then teachers give tests so they assess what has been learned.
I set up an appointment with one of my players for 12:15 pm today to come by my office. Spenser Cantrell is a charming young lady and a very good basketball player who had an outstanding high school career at Mt. Dora Bible in Florida. She is taking a summer class on the Pentateuch to get a head start for next school year. I asked her to stop by my office so we could look at her syllabus and she could update me on her progress. I am happy to report that she earned a 94 on her first test. What stood out to me was the volume of work that she was doing in this course. Her professor has obviously given her several assignments! Then he has scheduled tests to assess learning. I am sure they will assess their tests in preparation for their final exam.
I am about to email my first official assignment to my players. I am going to send them a roster with email addresses and cell phone numbers of all of their teammates and suggest that they connect with each one of them by email, text, phone call, or facebook by the end of June.
They need to get connected! They need to say "Ni Hao" to their teammates.
In the next year they will live with each other, travel with each other, sweat with each other, hug each other, fight each other, compete against each other, compete with each other, bleed for each other, and learn to love and respect each other. I don't want to waste time without using this summer to help them build positive relationships with each other. Even though they are scattered about the country, they can use technology for its designed purpose. If we are going to develop a championship atmosphere, we need to start by getting connected.
Baibai (good bye in Mandarin--i think),
Coach S
"..so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others"
Romans 12:5
My daughter, Marisa, and I are taking a trip this summer to Shanghai to see my brother, Mark, and his family (wife Elizabeth and son Evan aka "Big Panda"). I am trying to learn simple phrases in Mandarin Chinese so that I can at least be considered kind and courteous to the Chinese people. The first phrase I learned was Ni Hao, which is simply "Hello".
As a coach, I consider myself a teacher. Teachers give assignments so that students learn new things. Then teachers give tests so they assess what has been learned.
I set up an appointment with one of my players for 12:15 pm today to come by my office. Spenser Cantrell is a charming young lady and a very good basketball player who had an outstanding high school career at Mt. Dora Bible in Florida. She is taking a summer class on the Pentateuch to get a head start for next school year. I asked her to stop by my office so we could look at her syllabus and she could update me on her progress. I am happy to report that she earned a 94 on her first test. What stood out to me was the volume of work that she was doing in this course. Her professor has obviously given her several assignments! Then he has scheduled tests to assess learning. I am sure they will assess their tests in preparation for their final exam.
I am about to email my first official assignment to my players. I am going to send them a roster with email addresses and cell phone numbers of all of their teammates and suggest that they connect with each one of them by email, text, phone call, or facebook by the end of June.
They need to get connected! They need to say "Ni Hao" to their teammates.
In the next year they will live with each other, travel with each other, sweat with each other, hug each other, fight each other, compete against each other, compete with each other, bleed for each other, and learn to love and respect each other. I don't want to waste time without using this summer to help them build positive relationships with each other. Even though they are scattered about the country, they can use technology for its designed purpose. If we are going to develop a championship atmosphere, we need to start by getting connected.
Baibai (good bye in Mandarin--i think),
Coach S
"..so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others"
Romans 12:5
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Let's Get It Re-Started
I am inspired. I received an email this morning from a very good friend and fellow coach, Russell Carr. He is the Athletic Director and Boy's Basketball Coach at Westbury Christian School where I worked for 8 1/2 years. On the email from Russell was a link to his new blog. On his blog site was a post about my wonderful family. Coach wrote about them as he noticed that they helped him learn a life lesson about happiness. I enjoyed receiving it the email and reading about the lessons that Russell is learning in his life.
I also have another dear coaching friend that has a blog. Steve Hawley from Westbury Christian is a teacher, author, and friend. He is the best at being alert in every day life to the little things that make a difference and then applying that to a Biblical principle. I read Coach Hawley's blog almost every day.
This got me thinking about my blog. I didn't know that it would even still exist. In 2005 and 2006 I was a PE/Health teacher and basketball/tennis coach at Westbury Christian School. I utilized a blog in my Health classes as one of many teaching methods that kids were interested in. So after being inspired by Coach Carr's blog, I punched in the url for my old blog and voila! It still exists. So I have decided to delete most of my old blogs (I kept a couple of my favorites) and start anew. It was alot of fun looking back and being reminded of all of those lessons and moments. A blog is a great place to reflect on life and then review it later.
This is a great opportunity to chronicle my new adventure in life, team building. I am the new Head Women's Basketball Coach at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. I consider it a great honor to have been entrusted with the task of starting the program from scratch. We will play our first game November 4, 2010 against Warner University in Florida.
My goal is to begin blogging again about the journey of building a team from its inception. I will attempt to chronicle the lessons (good and bad) that I learn along the way. I will try to give and receive insight about team building concepts such as leadership, character, collective identity, community service, and education. I will share stories about the players on the team and their triumphs and struggles. I will post articles and links that people send to me that I think reinforce good team building practices. I will be as transparent as possible on the journey that we are starting as we build toward having the model women's basketball program...a program the glorifies God.
I look forward to your contributions. I hope you enjoy.
I also have another dear coaching friend that has a blog. Steve Hawley from Westbury Christian is a teacher, author, and friend. He is the best at being alert in every day life to the little things that make a difference and then applying that to a Biblical principle. I read Coach Hawley's blog almost every day.
This got me thinking about my blog. I didn't know that it would even still exist. In 2005 and 2006 I was a PE/Health teacher and basketball/tennis coach at Westbury Christian School. I utilized a blog in my Health classes as one of many teaching methods that kids were interested in. So after being inspired by Coach Carr's blog, I punched in the url for my old blog and voila! It still exists. So I have decided to delete most of my old blogs (I kept a couple of my favorites) and start anew. It was alot of fun looking back and being reminded of all of those lessons and moments. A blog is a great place to reflect on life and then review it later.
This is a great opportunity to chronicle my new adventure in life, team building. I am the new Head Women's Basketball Coach at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. I consider it a great honor to have been entrusted with the task of starting the program from scratch. We will play our first game November 4, 2010 against Warner University in Florida.
My goal is to begin blogging again about the journey of building a team from its inception. I will attempt to chronicle the lessons (good and bad) that I learn along the way. I will try to give and receive insight about team building concepts such as leadership, character, collective identity, community service, and education. I will share stories about the players on the team and their triumphs and struggles. I will post articles and links that people send to me that I think reinforce good team building practices. I will be as transparent as possible on the journey that we are starting as we build toward having the model women's basketball program...a program the glorifies God.
I look forward to your contributions. I hope you enjoy.
Monday, March 06, 2006
The cross
I had the privilege of representing our school on television a while back. It was a show that was taped called "High School Sports Live". Ironic isn't it...that we would have to tape a live show! Along with four of our basketball players, I was interviewed about winning our state championship. It was a bit stressful and I was apprehensive when Coach Glenn first asked me to do it. He is much better at those types of things than I.
I used to do interviews on a television sports show when I was at Grand Valley State as the tennis coach. I also used to do radio interviews at halftime of our Womens basketball games at GVSU. I can tell you that I never worried about what I was wearing on the radio shows...which is good considering my wardrobe.
So I thought a little bit about it before we went to the television station and decided to go with something moderately casual. The guys were were khaki pants and their warm-up jackets. I went with some khaki cords, a blue t-shirt, and my Westbury Christian Faculty sweatervest. I spent all of about 2 minutes thinking about the ensemble.
As we were getting ready to shoot, I had an itch at the back of my neck. It was a wooden cross that was given to me by fellow coach and blogger extraordinaire, Steve Hawley. Coach Hawley got it for me on one of his mission trips to Honduras. I have had it for four years and don't remember taking it off much. I decided to pull it out and wear it over the sweatervest.
I came to school the next morning and one of our faculty members, Jennifer Zalud, stopped me in the hall and said, "We saw you on TV this weekend". She said, "Jon noticed that your were wearing your Honduras cross". Jon is her son. You see, the kids at our school recognize these crosses because several of them have been given the crosses by Coach Hawley as well. Coach Hawley collects change from our students to take to a Childrens Home in Honduras every summer and has collected tens of thousands of dollars. Jon is a young elementary student (I think he is in the first or second grade). Jon is a legend in collecting change for Honduran kids.
In my world, at times, it is all about basketball and "the work", and what an ego trip it is to be on television. Jon Zalud, helped me realize alot of lessons about who I am and who it is that I represent just by seeing that little wooden cross around my neck. I think about all of the times that I don't even think about the impression I am making on the kids around me here at Westbury Christian School. The things that I dare say and the things that I dare do are not always reflective of the man who the little wooden cross represents.
So later in the day, I was walking into the gym and Jon saw me down the hall and yelled, "Coach I saw your Honduras cross on TV". How humbling is that? It wasn't "Coach, I saw you on TV". Jon has his eyes fixed on the cross, figuratively and literally. How cool is it that Jon has his eyes fixed on noticing that little cross and what it represents? Jon Zalud taught me a great lesson about "the cross".
I used to do interviews on a television sports show when I was at Grand Valley State as the tennis coach. I also used to do radio interviews at halftime of our Womens basketball games at GVSU. I can tell you that I never worried about what I was wearing on the radio shows...which is good considering my wardrobe.
So I thought a little bit about it before we went to the television station and decided to go with something moderately casual. The guys were were khaki pants and their warm-up jackets. I went with some khaki cords, a blue t-shirt, and my Westbury Christian Faculty sweatervest. I spent all of about 2 minutes thinking about the ensemble.
As we were getting ready to shoot, I had an itch at the back of my neck. It was a wooden cross that was given to me by fellow coach and blogger extraordinaire, Steve Hawley. Coach Hawley got it for me on one of his mission trips to Honduras. I have had it for four years and don't remember taking it off much. I decided to pull it out and wear it over the sweatervest.
I came to school the next morning and one of our faculty members, Jennifer Zalud, stopped me in the hall and said, "We saw you on TV this weekend". She said, "Jon noticed that your were wearing your Honduras cross". Jon is her son. You see, the kids at our school recognize these crosses because several of them have been given the crosses by Coach Hawley as well. Coach Hawley collects change from our students to take to a Childrens Home in Honduras every summer and has collected tens of thousands of dollars. Jon is a young elementary student (I think he is in the first or second grade). Jon is a legend in collecting change for Honduran kids.
In my world, at times, it is all about basketball and "the work", and what an ego trip it is to be on television. Jon Zalud, helped me realize alot of lessons about who I am and who it is that I represent just by seeing that little wooden cross around my neck. I think about all of the times that I don't even think about the impression I am making on the kids around me here at Westbury Christian School. The things that I dare say and the things that I dare do are not always reflective of the man who the little wooden cross represents.
So later in the day, I was walking into the gym and Jon saw me down the hall and yelled, "Coach I saw your Honduras cross on TV". How humbling is that? It wasn't "Coach, I saw you on TV". Jon has his eyes fixed on the cross, figuratively and literally. How cool is it that Jon has his eyes fixed on noticing that little cross and what it represents? Jon Zalud taught me a great lesson about "the cross".
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
There goes my hero...
"V-Cox is back from Iraq". Although that sounds poetic, his stay there was not. He is my hero.
Our student body was fortunate to be able to hear from Vincenzo Cox on Tuesday during the middle school and high school chapel times at the school where I teach, Westbury Christian School. He gave several stories from his experience to express to the students how truly fortunate they are to have the lives and creature-comforts that they have. He told stories of physical and emotional pain.
I was fortunate to be able to have Vincenzo come speak to my Health classes as well. If the kids were in chapel, they only know about some of his war stories. They don't know the whole story. Vincenzo is a world-class athlete. He grew up in Miami. He was a self-proclaimed sub-par student who didn't take advantage of opportunities as a teenager. He was offered a scholarship to run track at Arizona State University, but could not qualify academically. He joined a program in the army for athletes and became a member of the National Guard. Later, he latched on to the track program at the University of Houston and a coach that has trained some of the great track athletes of all time; Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell, and Mike Marsh (among others). He succeeded on the track. Later, he took up soccer and was able to work out with two English teams and the Columbus Crew of the MLS. Recently, he has been a teacher in the Alief district working with special educational students.
He was able to speak candidly in class about his concerns about the war, about Army politics, about being persecuted in Iraq for his religious beliefs and practices as a founding member of the Church of Christ in Tikrit. He was singled out and sent to Mosul for a hearing regarding those practices, but thanks to letters from higher ranking doctors at his base, he was not "punished". He was relocated to Kuwait, where he started a church that now has between 40 and 50 people in attendance every service.
As our students watched, and hopefully listened, to Vincenzo talk about his greatest achievement being the gift of the Holy Spirit at his baptism. You could tell they couldn't believe after all his accomplishments, that his baptism would be the one thing he pointed to.
I asked them to ponder two questions and comment before the end of the day on Friday. If you would like to share stories of people that you know that are heros by answering the questions...feel free.
Question #1; Share your thoughts on Vincenzo's experiences. What stands out to you?
Question #2; How do you think these experiences affected Vincenzo in each of his four types of health; Physically, Mentally, Socially, and Spiritually?
Our student body was fortunate to be able to hear from Vincenzo Cox on Tuesday during the middle school and high school chapel times at the school where I teach, Westbury Christian School. He gave several stories from his experience to express to the students how truly fortunate they are to have the lives and creature-comforts that they have. He told stories of physical and emotional pain.
I was fortunate to be able to have Vincenzo come speak to my Health classes as well. If the kids were in chapel, they only know about some of his war stories. They don't know the whole story. Vincenzo is a world-class athlete. He grew up in Miami. He was a self-proclaimed sub-par student who didn't take advantage of opportunities as a teenager. He was offered a scholarship to run track at Arizona State University, but could not qualify academically. He joined a program in the army for athletes and became a member of the National Guard. Later, he latched on to the track program at the University of Houston and a coach that has trained some of the great track athletes of all time; Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell, and Mike Marsh (among others). He succeeded on the track. Later, he took up soccer and was able to work out with two English teams and the Columbus Crew of the MLS. Recently, he has been a teacher in the Alief district working with special educational students.
He was able to speak candidly in class about his concerns about the war, about Army politics, about being persecuted in Iraq for his religious beliefs and practices as a founding member of the Church of Christ in Tikrit. He was singled out and sent to Mosul for a hearing regarding those practices, but thanks to letters from higher ranking doctors at his base, he was not "punished". He was relocated to Kuwait, where he started a church that now has between 40 and 50 people in attendance every service.
As our students watched, and hopefully listened, to Vincenzo talk about his greatest achievement being the gift of the Holy Spirit at his baptism. You could tell they couldn't believe after all his accomplishments, that his baptism would be the one thing he pointed to.
I asked them to ponder two questions and comment before the end of the day on Friday. If you would like to share stories of people that you know that are heros by answering the questions...feel free.
Question #1; Share your thoughts on Vincenzo's experiences. What stands out to you?
Question #2; How do you think these experiences affected Vincenzo in each of his four types of health; Physically, Mentally, Socially, and Spiritually?
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