Summer Winds Down

It was a great ride. All the girls gave the championship game their best shot. We played to win. One watching coach from one of the boys teams told me that if I'd stuck to my top 6 or 7 players like everyone else does, we would have won. I don't know about that. Everyone as always plays.

Last time that we played the Sting Angels, July 30, they beat us by 43 points and they lead us by 25 at half time.  Tonight we took them tied 13 - 13 into half time. The end score was 21 for the Destroyers to 40 for the Angels. 

The amazing is that we had the worst record in the division, winning just our last two games in the regular season. That we went on to win our first play off game decisively on will, guts and defense was unexpected.  Being competitive against the over aged and over sized Angels was a bonus. 

Summer League was hard. I am glad we did it. One of the toughest situations I face as a coach is preparing children to play in a game where they are considered the underdog and many fans – and maybe the athletes themselves – believe they will lose. That was my reality every game this summer. 

At our level there are winners and learners. You are never a loser no matter what the score. The scoreboard doesn’t define our girls as athletes or me as a coach. 

I think our players are now able to see the bigger picture, know that losing made us better, and recognize the value of strong opponents to push us to be even better. We don’t allow ourselves to be defined by a single performance. 

Learning, improving, going hard and having fun were my top priorities this summer. I believe I have met my goals. I am pleased that we learned a little offense (spacing, movement and attacking the basket) and defense along the way. 

My daily goal was / is to recognize and reward effort. Effort means giving 100% effort, 100% of the time, regardless of what the score was. I believe that we, as a team, got there, too.

Mistakes are the result of learning and effort. We made a lot of mistakes. I asked the girls to "Bush it off" and keep going when they make them. Mistakes are teaching tools. I have not removed a child from a game because she made a mistake. We learn more from mistakes than we do from successes. I have removed players for lacking effort. 

I love to teach the game and try to teach the girls every position. They will a develop in to better athletes and develop a better understanding and appreciation of the various roles on court. Over time, I hope to grow players who can play multiple positions well. I realize that at first it all seems like just a lot of chaos. 

The main thing that I hope all you parents will take away from the summer is that being able to fully maximize the potential of a player has very little to do with the child's initial level of raw talent. Every one got better. The players who came to practice and took advantage of the special offerings on Friday nights improved the most. 

The key is getting the player to work on her skills. The Talent Code Author Daniel Coyle sums it up perfectly, “Talent is determined far less by our genes and far more by our actions.”

Every practiced we worked on individual skills. Everyone got a little better at everything which made us a little better as a team every week. If you are serious about your daughter being a high school player, develop her basketball skills year round along with soccer, lacrosse, etc. 

We improved this summer because game in and game out as a team we outworked the competition. Hustling, hitting the floor after loose balls and sprinting in transition became our culture. 

We improved because we cared about each other as players and as people. We shared the ball. We taught each other the offense and defense. We encouraged each other. We created new friendships and strengthened old friendships which will endure off the basketball court. 

Coach Doc Rivers once said, “If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.” We improved together. Teamwork can be one of the most difficult things to teach in the game of basketball, especially for a team that mixes players who have limited to no experience with experienced players. We also had a mix of ages and still everyone came together. 

The principles of being an athlete – dedication, teamwork, goal-setting, and sportsmanship (to name a few) – are ideals that I hope our kids demonstrate 24-hours a day, not just on the basketball court. 

Rather than focusing on winning the championship (an outcome goal we can’t control), I worked with our girls to focus on effort goals that can ultimately lead to better outcomes. We looked at things like 

1. cutting all the way to the basket after every pass

2. meeting every pass with your eyes, hands and feet

3. peeking at the rim after every catch before making any move with the ball

to name just 3 of the many. 

And we improved practice by practice, game by game. 

Maybe being the underdog was actually a great position for us to be in. It provided an important rallying point for our Destroyers. When no one believes you can, but you and your teammates believe you can, you share an emotional bond that brings you closer together, helps to inspire you and adds a focus.  

You seek to prove “them” wrong – together.  And so win or lose, the underdog team actually takes away a potent life lesson:  when we trust and believe in ourselves, in our teammates, and in our preparation, great things can – and sometimes do – happen.

Sure, Tayja cried tonight. She HATES to lose what she considers the "big" games. When she came home from eating ice cream with her team mates she said the she has to become a better shot to keep from letting her team mates down again. She is as right as much as she is wrong. All of our girls have to get better so as to not let each other down. And I have to become a better coach. We all must add to our skill sets.

Thank you for playing this summer. 

Robin