Winners in the Game of Life

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!