PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Prep Work
Our first practice for the 2014-15 basketball season is one month from today! I’m so excited to get to the fun stuff…the coaching. I even like practices more than games…well now that I’m a coach, not when I was a player. But most of all, I just like to be on the court.
However, the prep work is just as important if you are a coach, or an athlete (or in life). As a coach, if I don’t have everything ready to roll for the season; schedules, school district paperwork, parent meeting packets, fundraising information, updated first-aid card, etc, it can make for a hectic year. As an athlete, if you don’t prep by getting in shape, it can make for a more difficult start to your season and can even contribute to injuries. Take care of your prep work. It isn’t alway fun, but it is a necessity.
On that note, I better get to work!
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Always Believe In You
Today I’m speaking at TEDxSpokane. I’ll be talking about believing in yourself, and how doing so has not always been easy for me, but has helped me to achieve goals and overcome obstacles in my lifetime.
In fact, when I got the call to be a part of the TEDx Conference, I had to remind MYSELF to believe, because public speaking scares me. I had to remind myself that I am capable of anything that I put my mind to. Well, maybe it’s too late for me to play professional basketball, but most anything…
When you come up against obstacles or have goals you’d like to achieve, remember always believe in you!
WRITING PROMPT: Write about a time that you didn’t believe in yourself. Write about a time that you did.
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Focus On The Good
There are so many great life lessons that can be learned on the basketball court. For example, when my daughter was in middle school, she had a coach who yelled at her, and all the girls, a lot. He even yelled at his own daughter until she cried. I was not fond of this coach, yet I felt the best way to handle the situation was to teach my daughter how to cope. To use it as a life lesson, so that as she grew up she would understand how to work with different personalities in the work place and in life. So I talked to my daughter about focusing on the good, enjoying her teammates and enjoying the game.
There will be times in life when people try to fill the world with hate and drag you down with them. Don’t go for it! Instead, take a deep breath, surround your self with positive energy and focus on the good and enjoy, because life is way to short.
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Books, Books and More Good Books…
Have you read a good book lately? I was enjoying dinner at our neighbors last night and long with an amazing meal, I got a new list of books to read. Now if I only had more time.
What are some good books that you would recommend?
WRITING PROMPT #1: Casey grabbed the tattered book from the counter and…
WRITING PROMPT #2: Write the first page of a book you would want to read.
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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PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Practice + Heart + Hustle = Reaching Your Dreams
Since becoming a parent, I’ve realized that, to a certain degree, each and every one of us is hardwired at birth. Born with certain tendencies. My son and daughter have different wiring, different ways about doing things, even though they were raised in the same house. But no matter your hardwiring, there’s an equation to living that will help you in following your hopes and dreams, practice plus a whole lot of heart and hustle.
If, for example, your dream is to make the varsity basketball team for your school, you’ve got to put the work in, practice. Get up early, or stay up late, and go to the YMCA or the closest park to shoot and work on your ball handling, expand your knowledge and go to camps or ask your coach for help, go to open gyms and consider […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Big Magic
Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, speak at Benaroya Hall. It is alway helpful to hear that I’m not alone when it comes to the struggles of getting work done and when this information is followed up with thoughts on how to move forward in the writing journey, I am inspired and itching for my pen.
Ms. Gilbert’s idea of creativity and fear being a package deal makes sense. I have written a book and I know I can do it, but there is always this little something that works to drag me down in the process of writing another one, this fear perhaps that it can’t possibly happen again. It takes a lot of work to pull thousands of words together in a way that makes sense and that […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Get Ready for Basketball Season!
Basketball season is around the corner and for the first time in a long while I’m not preparing to coach, but instead preparing to watch. Simply watching is bound to keep me busy as I will be supporting my son and the boys basketball team, and of course I will be cheering on the high school girls team that I used to coach, and though I will miss being a part of their season as their coach, not coaching will also allow me to travel and watch my daughter who is playing basketball in college. I can’t wait!
If you’re a fan, parent, coach, or a player, here are some great basketball books to get you pumped up and ready for the season!
In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle (Memoir) by Madeleine Blais
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