Small Victories

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! 

Every member of our program would stand in a circle, look each other in the eye, and listen intently while someone would articulate something positive which had taken place during the previous week. 

We had only one rule—it had to be real. 

A small victory could involve process or product. It could be team or individual. It could be basketball-related or not. It just had to be real. After each person had their say, there was always applause. Usually there were smiles. Frequently someone would jump in to affirm or elaborate on what had just been spoken. Personally, I invariably left with a glad heart and feeling like we were making progress towards becoming better people and a more effective group. It was a very tangible way to count our blessings and be proactively grateful. 

(see James 1:2-4 NIV)

Telling the story of winning small victories in the face of trials and tribulations is what the next several posts will be all about.