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Award winning coach Sonya Elliott talking to a player. Peacelovebasketball blog about the fact that coaches don't know everything.
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Remember the Gifts

Recently I had the most incredible experience. I was allowed to share my story of recovery with a grief support group at a neighborhood middle school. I felt very privileged. I can’t imagine dealing with death while going through middle school. Those years are such a time of change and growth.

Before meeting with the students I spoke with Ann White at The Healing Center in hopes that I might better understand what part of my experience would best support them in dealing with their grief. Surrounded by the Healing Center’s warmth, I melted into the soft chair next to Ann and found myself holding back tears as I told her about my fiance Mark who was killed in an accident 17 years ago. A lot of years have passed since Mark’s death and I don’t cry about it much anymore, so I felt silly. Ann reached across and touched my arm. “It’s okay to cry. And it will be okay for the kids to see that even after many years have gone by, you have a special place in your heart for Mark.”
 
Thank you. Even an old lady like me felt relieved to hear it out loud. 
Ann related the grief of a loved one to a scar. She said the pain in your heart, just like a scar, can heal and be stronger than before, but it can also be very sore to the touch. 
I felt the pain melt away.
I talked to the middle schoolers about my life. How lucky I feel to be in this world sharing my life with my husband and kids. That I am a writer and I have just finished writing […]

Natalie Goldberg…GO!


Her voice was remarkably comforting as she commanded every writer in the auditorium to “Go.” She, of course, didn’t mean for us to leave because we were getting on her nerves, she meant WRITE. Just WRITE.

Fellow writers, readers, artists, and adoring fans were all ready to absorb her every word in hopes that it would lead them down their writing path. Her magic helping to make “it” happen. “It” being the book, the essay, the writing. My own writing experience hasn’t always been easy. Life seems to get in the way, but Natalie Goldberg has been there to help in my journey. I remember when I first discovered her powerful yet soothing voice, listening to her books on tape as I built my deck. Her voice spoke to me and told me that as writers we often look outside for help to keep us moving forward with our work, but the magic we are looking for is within. Write is Goldberg’s answer. Go
It sounds crazy, but I’m a believer. Writing my memoir Lasting Impact seemed overwhelming. Too many words. Too many ideas to get my mind around. Go Sonya. Go. I drew inspiration and strength from Ms. Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. First I wrote a paragraph, then a page, and then another. The pages grew and combined with one another, they began to form a story. Go Sonya. Go. I believed that if I continued on my path of writing, perhaps I could finish my memoir. It was slow, but like a puzzle the pieces came together. And when I thought I was finished, there was more. Revise. Edit. Go Sonya. Go. More than ten years have passed. My memoir is […]

Favorite Photos


Wild Horse Island – Flathead Lake Montana

by Sonya Elliott

Project Red Dress


A photo of me in Macy’s Project Red Dress fashion show/student designer contest to benefit the American Heart Association. The student, Abigail Pleiss, who designed my dress won second place in the contest. (…not my choice in shoes) 

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Meet Sonya

Sonya Elliott’s memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy […]

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Meet Sonya

Sonya Elliott’s memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy after she and her fiancé were hit by a train. She blogs about writing, basketball, and life and is currently working on a Young Adult Novel and a Non-Fiction Coaching book. Stories of her career as a fashion model are woven through her memoir, as both the Soloflex and Easy Spirit Shoes commercials were filmed during that time period, and this unique and intriguing business continues to be a part of her life.

Sonya played basketball at Eastern Washington University and was a starter for the Big Sky Champion team that went to the 1987 NCAA tournament. She coached for almost 25 years and was voted Seattle Times Coach of the Year, Seattle Officials Women’s Basketball Association Coach of the Year, and twice voted Metro League Coach of the Year. She loves the game of basketball and is thankful, not only for her husband and kids but for her ability to continue to get back on the court.

Blog

Monday’s Pen to Paper: Perfect Plans

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Technology and I don’t alway get along very well. I have been on a family vacation but before I left town I scheduled a couple blogs to “publish” on Monday and Friday. (I have made a commitment to myself to blog those days.) When I go on vacation I go off the grid, sort of. I glance at emails on occasion but almost never respond and I don’t pick up the phone. It’s suppose to be vacation after all.

This morning when I opened my commuter to write my blog, I realized that my scheduled blogs hadn’t posted while I was gone. It had looked easy enough. Schedule the date to publish and hit “publish”. Obviously I had done something wrong. So I hit publish a few times this morning, ran to work for a few hours and ran back for today’s Pen […]

PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: The Little Things Count

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I’ve been on my players about setting up their screens. Maybe it seems like a little thing, but really, it’s not. Not if you want the ball. Your teammate can set a perfect screen but if you don’t keep your defender engaged, give them a fake or jab away from the screen, and then use the screen by staying close, shoulder to shoulder, to rub your man off, then that beautiful screen goes to waste. Remember, it’s often the little things in basketball, and in life, that make a difference.

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