PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Stop the Madness, It’s Just a Game
I was at my son’s Junior Varsity High School summer recreation game last night when some parent madness was unleashed. Now understand, I am aware of the crazy antics of some high school parents, I spent three of my five years as a varsity head coach with a few of the parent telling lies about me and trying to get me fired, these parents are out there, but this, let me remind you, was a JUNIOR VARSITY Summer Rec-Tournament game.
It had been a great game. A tough fought battle. Both teams had played aggressive, intense basketball. Both teams fired up 3-balls from way beyond the arc and the lead switched back and forth throughout the game. It was the type of game players, coaches and fans live for, and the type of game that make players and teams better, win or lose. Yes, you want to win, you want your kid’s team to win, but it is also a game. And losing with honor and grace is important, not only for the players, but for the parents as well.
I’m not sure why I even allowed myself to get involved, except for that fact that one mother held a young child in her arms as two crazed moms got in her face. About what exactly I did not know, but this was not right. Myself and several others stepped between the madness until a man three-times our size made his own wall. Still the mom’s bickered, throwing F-bombs in front of the crowd and young boys and continued as they exited the gym. One parent asked me what I was thinking stepping into the mix as I was half the size of the women. I explained I felt like I had to […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Take Heart
“Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.” – William James
WRITING PROMPT: Take time to write about what is important to you and what makes your life worth living? Now take this information to heart as you live each day.
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: New Beginnings
A new coach was named at the high school where I was head coach for five years. It’s a weird feeling to know that the girls who I have grown to care about and love, will be led by someone new. Yet, I also know that they will be fine, that learning to work with a new leader on the court will be good for them. It is a great lesson for life, because throughout their lifetime they will experience a lot of change, they will have to work with new bosses and a variety of co-workers, and figure out who they are, and how they fit in, along the way.
I have heard that the new coach is quite the opposite of me, and there is nothing wrong with that. All coaches have different styles. Pat Summit, C. Vivian Stringer, Mike Krzyzewski, John Wooden, all have had excellent results through different teaching methods. But what is important is that a coach has the best interest of the team in mind, because not only is a coach helping to develop young men and women, but in the case of high school basketball where there is no recruiting, a coach is working with the team they are given, so they are helping them to become better, stronger athletes, teaching them to work together on the court and creating a season that, win or lose, the players can be proud of.
I wish all the best to my girls and their new coach and I can’t wait to cheer them on to another successful season. Go Wildcats!
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Change
This is an exciting time. My daughter is about to graduate from high school, but you know what, as excited as I am for her to go off on her own and start living her own life, it’s really hitting me this week on how much I’m gonna miss her. In fact just writing about it gets me a little teary eyed.
Oh, I know she’ll be fine, I know that she will experience amazing things, and meet new friends, and grow as a person, but damn it, I like having her around.
Change is hard, I get it and know how to deal with it, but it doesn’t mean I always have to like it.
WRITING PROMPT: Write about changes that are happening in your life. How do they make you feel? How do they affect your life?
Meet Sonya
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.
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Monday’s Pen to Paper: What Helps You Increase Your Daily Word Count
I went away to write for a couple of days and it’s amazing how much work I can get done when I don’t have laundry to do, dishes to wash and errands to run. When all I have to do is focus on my writing (And pet the cats and the chickens that were at my B-n-B). This, however, is not my every day life, so though I’m thrilled I got to bang out several chapters in my time away, I’m always striving to find ways to better forward my daily word count and “get away” on my normal schedule.
So far, going to the “office” (a coffee shop), for a few hours every day seems to be my most productive choice. What works best to keep you moving forward with you writing?
WRITING PROMPT: The black cat…
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Are Women Coaches Bullied?
photo credit: Paul Moseley
I’ve spent over half of my life coaching and every minute was worth it. Not for the money of course, I volunteered for eighteen of the years that I coached and the others I was paid next to nothing (As you know high school coaches don’t coach for the money). But it was worth it because of the opportunity to work with the players (mostly girls) and teach them about basketball, a sport dear to my heart, and through basketball help them learn about life. How to set goals, work hard, work as a team, win and lose with grace and also how to have some fun in the process.
Over the years, my players inspired me, entertained me, and taught me to be a better coach and a better person. But coaching high school was […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Spring has Sprung
The cherry trees are in bloom and I’m sneezing from time to time and every once in a blue moon we have some sunlight, so I’m calling it spring. And my daughter informed me that it was officially spring yesterday, so there you have it, it may not feel like it at times, but it’s official. Spring has sprung!
WRITING PROMPT #1: What does spring mean to you?
WRITING PROMPT #2: Selma couldn’t stop sneezing, she…
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