Always believe in you | Sonya Elliott | TEDxSpokane
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. How do you respond to setbacks or tragedy in your life? The speaker shares her ideas, looking internally, on how to find success and overcome hardships.
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Baby Steps
Do you ever have HUGE dreams of what you are going to do with your life? Times when you imagine yourself accomplishing all kinds of amazing things? And then you wake up and realize that the dreams are never going to happen, or at least that’s how you feel.
That was me this morning. Last night I had all these thoughts going on in my head about basketball and my writing and my life. I couldn’t sleep. And when I woke up, reality hit as I thought about what I would need to do to achieve these dreams.
I wish I could say that I sat down and meditated for ten minutes and found my focus, because that would have been a great thing to do, but I felt pretty good about the fact that I didn’t just crawl back into bed, because that is what I wanted to do. You know that feeling of being overwhelmed, when there seems like there is too much to do so you’d rather do nothing? That’s how I felt.
Instead I dove in and started working. I pulled out my computer and sat my butt down. This in itself wasn’t easy because I have a love/hate relationship with my computer. I know that it can do all sorts of great things, but I remember a day when there were no emails, a day when I actually felt like I was accomplishing things during the day. (Sending fifty emails does not feel like an accomplishment to me.) But it is part of life these days, so, there I sat, plugging away at my To Do List so that later, I could get to the good stuff. I was whacking away at the BORING little things so […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Space
There may be days when you feel alone in the world or…
days when you can’t find space to breathe.
WRITING PROMPT: Write about one of these days or use one of the photos above to inspire you…
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Together We Are Strong
We had basketball tryouts this week for the high school team that I coach. We pushed the girls hard for three days and I was so impressed with how they responded. Most of the girls, including many that had never played basketball before, and perhaps never been terribly active, didn’t give up even when our conditioning coach put the hammer down. It was awesome to watch these young women push themselves and discover what they are capable of. The mind is a powerful thing and in just three days I hope that some of these girls learned that they are stronger than they ever believed.
A lesson in life, as well as on the court.
What was even better to see than the tenacity on the court, was the girls supporting one another through the tough workouts. There were last season’s varsity players clapping and hollering for freshman, encouraging them to finish their run or to get in one last push up and new players to the program cheering on older players. With this type of attitude on the court, I know that as the girls continue to work together they will become even stronger.
We announced Varsity, Junior Varsity, and JV/C teams last night. We divided into three smaller groups to make sure everyone gets a lot of playing time in games. This is good for the kids and good for the parents, as over the years that I’ve been coaching parents have become more invested in their daughter’s playing time. (Another blog all its own). Basic math alone guarantees more time on the court during games when a team has 9-10 players, yet it’s still practice where the real work and learning […]
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.
Blog
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Protect Our Kids…because the title of this blog could have easily been… “Another High School Football Player Seriously Injured.”
I saw the hit coming. I was at the top of the stadium watching my son’s high school football game and my stomach clenched as he ran a slant across the middle of the field while a freight train was headed in his direction. The F’word formed on my lips before the hit even happened, before my son leaped up to catch the pass, open and defenseless, to the oncoming hit. A hard tackle would have been bad, but I watched as a kid rammed his helmet into my son’s head and then pushed him to the ground. My son’s arms went slack and his body limp as he fell. The proud defender looked down upon him. I wanted to vomit.
I had just been telling another mom that I hated having to play these final games, when our high […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: What the heck is NaNoWriMo?
I’ve had friends in the past who have written first drafts of their novels by being a part of NaNoWriMo. I never quite understood what it was and have shied away from doing it, but this November I decided that if it can help me get my first draft finished sooner, why not give it a try.
National Novel Writing Month is put on by a non-profit organization to encourage writing. For the month of November, thousands of people write like crazy, working to finish their novels. The NaNoWriMo website helps writers to track their word-counts toward a goal of at least 50,000 words.
I’m excited to be on board this year, even if I’m a little behind with my word count (It’s day 2 and I’m still at zero). But not for long, from now on, it’s one day at a time until […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Patience
I played basketball with a group of high school girls at open gym this week. A great workout for me, and whether they liked it or not (between my huffing and puffing) the girls got some coaching. Not super serious coaching, more encouragement and reminders, but I just couldn’t help myself. Once a coach always a coach.
“Nice look.” “Sweet Pass.” “Stay between your man and the basket.”
I’d set a screen away and make them think about movement away from the ball. Remind them, and myself, to stay low, jump to the ball, block out. As much as I don’t like getting old and being a little out of shape, not being able to do what I wanted to do, exactly when I wanted to do it, emphasized for me how important patience is, as a player and as a coach, […]
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