Winners in the Game of Life

“Laugh a little. And teach your men to laugh. Show good humor under fire. War is a game played with a smile. If you cannot smile, grin. If you cannot grin, then stay out of the way until you can.” Lt. Winston Churchill   Speaking to fellow junior officers during a difficult period of World War I (1916) While certainly not nearly as grim as war, last season for the East High Scarlets boys basketball team was extremely trying. The most important factor which kept us moving on day after day was the enduring character and good spirit of our seniors. Katrell Graham was by far the guy most responsible for us having fun every day. If he had been in Churchill’s battalion, he would have been leading the other men with a healthy dose of humor in the dreary trenches along the Western Front. Every day, regardless of the circumstances, Katrell would be making people smile, occasionally with little jokes, but usually just by being himself. On our team he made both playe...

Saturday I had the distinct pleasure of traveling to the small town of Sully for a basketball scrimmage involving three area high school teams. Getting out of Des Moines and into the countryside was good for the soul. Driving mile after mile past green fields and immaculately cared for farms and acreages was just the prelude for entering the quaint central Iowa town a few miles south of Interstate 80. It’s pretty evident the residents of Sully have considerable community spirit as virtually every home along the main road are in ‘neat as a pin’ condition. And of course being a town in which Dutch ancestry predominates, the yards are uniformly pristine. They even have one of the original style Caseys, unlike the gigantic mega marts which other places have been forced to endure. The highlight of the trip, however, was walking into the gym of Lynnville-Sully High School. This little cracker box is the type of facility in which generations of farm kids and small town boys and girls...

Last week’s post dealt with the topic of positive sports parenting. Within hours of hitting the “publish” button, this video came across my Twitter feed: http://usatodayhss.com/2018/video-massive-brawl-breaks-out-between-parents-at-youth-softball-game Um…folks, this is not good. Then, a couple days later I met a sports parent (thankfully not affiliated with any program with which I am connected!) who can only be described as crazy in an obsessive, compulsive sort of way. So to begin, let’s review some of the key points of what makes a great sports parent. They are moms and dads who encourage rather than coerce, who understand school-based sports programs are meant to be educational, who model sportsmanship, who leave the coaching to coaches, who value everyone on the team, who understand growth emerges from occasional disappointment, who keep sports in perspective, and who promote health, fitness, and fun above all else. Perhaps the key point in ...

Many variables influence the success of high school athletic teams. One of the most significant factors are the parents. Aside from the obvious genetic traits passed along to the youngsters, the individual and collective mindsets of the moms and dads have a profound impact on whether their children's participation in athletics is a positive experience. This blog post will outline some of the characteristics of positive sports parenting. Great parents encourage   Being a teenager is tough. The difficult period between being a child and adult inflicts a heavy toll on emotional wellbeing. Kids’ identities are evolving, social relationships can be unstable, roles and expectations frequently create strain or even conflict. Sports should not become just another source of angst for those who participate. Make sure your son or daughter knows your love and approval is not contingent on their performance. Few people would admit to doing this on a conscious level, however in s...

One of the prevailing values of the American culture has been our work ethic. Pretty much every person who has risen to the top in any field has had the value of work imbedded deeply into their character. A young man who I admire deeply wears his work ethic as a badge of honor. East High Scarlets basketball player and member of the graduating class of 2018 Osdy Villegas will not let you out work him. Coaches frequently sing the praises of their players, almost habitually saying this or that player is a hard worker. But in the case of Osdy, this compliment is quite literal. A basketball season is a grind. We practice or play six days a week. The workouts are always exhausting. The competition we faced was brutal. Osdy was always there for us day in, day out. But this is only a small part of the story. In addition to meeting and exceeding the high expectations which are normal for a varsity basketball player, Osdy took it a big step further. You see after a full...

With graduation season in full bloom, schools all over the country are saying goodbye to seniors who are moving on to the next chapter of their lives. Basketball coaches, like every other school coach, director, or sponsor are accustomed to this bittersweet process. The “sweet” side is knowing in ways both big and small we have played a role in shaping our athletes; not only for the battles on the court but also to equip young adults to embrace the opportunities and attack the challenges in life. The East Scarlets were blessed to have Scott Cooper as a senior/leader on our basketball team. Scott meant so much to our team and to me personally. It’s no secret our team struggled this year. We faced adversity in just about every way imaginable. If we had a Rock of Gibraltar keeping us grounded, it would definitely have been Scott. He was one of the first players I met at the introductory meeting with players. From that moment, through open gyms, into summer and fall ...

Last week’s post described the vital role which student coaches have played in our program over the past couple of decades. Each young person who has served in that capacity have brought their own unique qualities to the position.   This past year, the East Scarlets were blessed to have 2018 graduate Jocelyn Paredes as one of our two student coaches. Jocelyn came to use without any previous experience in the game of basketball, but the impact she made on our group was profound. Let it be said without hesitation that Jocelyn is one of the best student coaches we have ever had. Her level of maturity, respect, courtesy, and responsibility was off the charts. She took the initiative on multiple projects throughout the year and rarely had to be told what to do or how to do it. How many young people have that type of initiative! She interacted with both students and adults in her characteristic sweet and engaging personality. She was a key member of our ...

About twenty years ago we piloted a new idea within our basketball program by replacing the traditional ‘manager’ role with ‘student coaches.’ We wanted to get away from having student volunteers handing out and picking towels or filling up water bottles. After all, what did having fellow students waiting on our players teach our athletes about being responsible and self-reliant? Additionally, it reinforced a negative stereotype that ‘jocks’ are to be pandered to and that non-athletic students are rightfully in a position of servitude.   No way! But the most important reason for the change was a great deal of human capital was not being fully developed and harnessed. We had talented kids who were potentially great leaders not being encouraged to reach their potential. We could do better. So in the late 1990’s we started specifically recruiting prospective coaches from the student body. More often than not, these candidates were students who had previously playe...

This "kid" demonstrates what can be accomplished when natural born talent is combined with hard work and a commitment to mastering the details of one's craft.  See the full article which originally appeared in USA Today here:  Inside the Mind of a Sniper When I first met Kyle during the summer of 1995, he was an incoming freshman at Pella (IA) High School. He was tall, lanky, and obviously talented. As the brand new head coach, there was a decision to be made about where to place him in our program. We had a nice group of returning varsity players which did not have any obvious shortcomings, plus he needed to be seasoned a bit more both physically and emotionally. As a result, we kept him on the 9th grade team rather than rushing him up to varsity. When we made him a part of the varsity team during his sophomore year, we still had plenty of talented, older, more experienced players. Despite this, that year he became our leading scorer and rebounder . It was p...

Continued from last week... Our team really struggled this past year. We lost all of our games and were blown out of many. Throughout these challenging times, Bagot’s Anyang's spirit never visibly waned. He always kept a positive attitude, always sought to lead his teammates, always took responsibility for his mistakes and never resorted to the blame game. In short, he helped to make a season short on wins rich with positive attitude. He is pretty much the same way around school. Bagot treats his teachers with respect, approaches his course work responsibly and is kind to fellow students. You would frequently find him with a smile on his face while sharing good times with fellow students at East High. Unlike many, Bagot does not let the enormous challenges he has faced define who he is now or dictate what he will become in the future. He has worked hard and is academically prepared to excel in higher education. That leads to the most impressive thing of all abou...

One of the many blessings which flowed from the past basketball season is having gotten to know senior student-athlete Bagot Anyang. Bagot is unlike any player I’ve ever coached. He is living proof of the miracles which surround us every day.   Bagot was born into the most poverty stricken, war torn nation on earth—South Sudan. He entered the world in the midst of a brutal civil war in a land where the people were desperately   fighting against a despotic regime to become an independent nation state. South Sudan, home to twelve million people is tiny, land-locked,   and located in a bone dry desert. To even exist, South Sudan had to win independence from the much larger nation of Sudan. Then they had to take on the challenge of forging unity from various tribal/ethnic/linguistic groups as well as disparate religions. Scratching out a living is also hard. The average per capita income is $1,700 (compared to over $58,000 in the US). Natio...

Small victories come in many forms. They can be process or product; on the court or in the classroom; team or individual. We were relentless in identifying and recognizing guys for doing things the right way. We never wanted to just BS our way through the process. The only rule was that it had to be real . A huge regret from this past season is that I didn’t write down the small victories as the occurred. Big mistake to trust to my fading memory! After all, the biggest joy in coaching is seeing kids be successful.   This post is going to be a review of some of the highlights from the 2017-18 season.   Junior forward has nearly perfect attendance. Zero absences and three measly tardies. At East High this is a really big deal! Senior guard has a 3.2 GPA with many Advanced Placement and/or college level classes despite working a full time job! Freshman forward had 14 discipline referrals from the start of the school year up to the start of basketball prac...

It is hard for most people to imagine finding success in a season in which no wins were recorded and 22 losses were endured. Not only did the East High varsity team lose all our games, but in many instances the contests were blow out affairs ending with a running clock (thus preventing an even more lopsided final score). It takes enormous inner strength to grow in the midst of adversity. Misfortune extended far beyond the results shown on the scoreboard. Many of our players deal with chaotic personal lives. They all attend a school which is frequently on the edge of tumult and of course there were the daily disorders which plagued our team.   Despite the turmoil, we experienced an amazing degree of personal triumph and team development. A tradition which helped immensely were our weekly celebrations during our Wednesday practice sessions in which we invested significant time to identify and celebrate small victories.   You read that right, VICTORIES! ...

Welcome to a new and unique blog about high school basketball.   In over three decades in education, I have had the privilege of working with thousands of young adults and hundreds of dedicated professionals. In the Leadership Stars blog we will learn about some of the players and coaches who are making a difference far beyond the court. Game night thrills and disappointments are fleeting but the character revealed and leadership developed in high school athletics last a lifetime. The first few posts will focus on some of the special young men who played for the East High Scarlets during the 2017-18 basketball campaign. Despite our lack of success in the win/loss column, this past season was a blast! (for those of you who didn’t grow up in the 1970’s, that means really fun!) The experiences we shared and the lessons we learned will last a lifetime. Look for the next post soon!