Winners in the Game of Life

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...