And the verdict is ...

The Journey continues ………

After much thought and deliberation I have decided that this magical journey needs to continue and I want to continue to be a large part of it. There was a point where I wasn’t sure weather to keep the team or give them up and I want to keep them as there is still more work to do. It is an easy decision to keep going when you are fortunate to have a great group of young ladies to work with.

Will there be changes? Probably! But that is what makes it fun and challenging. 

After making the decision I already feel more energized as a whole. Perhaps just knowing what the long term plans are, has released a burden in my mind and allowed me to open myself up for new challenges this summer. 

Rose Garden

“I beg your pardon, I never promised you a Rose Garden. Along with the sunshine, there got to be a little rain sometime “

This song came into my head the other night as I was reflecting upon our season. I never promised anyone a gold medal but rather our best attempt at getting one. We did just that, we gave it our best effort and fell short. We lost in the finals by single digits to the number one team in the province finishing number 2 in the province at season’s end. I am disappointed with the result and the game is still running thru my mind even three days later. HOWEVER, I am not even close to being disappointed with the ladies and in fact I would say that I am on the other end of the spectrum as I am proud to be associated with such a great group of young ladies. The way they competed and played with class throughout the whole weekend and season for that matter is something that makes us proud as parents and as coaches. No matter the score you could count on the ladies to play the game the way it should be played, as a team with unselfish ball movement and a total lack of ME vs WE shots. While the season is over, I don’t want this to sound like a eulogy.

A quick recap of games. The Friday night game started off excellently with strong defence and decent offence, in fact we were about 30 seconds short of obtaining on of my goal of shutting out an opponent for an entire quarter but we did hold them to 1 point so in hindsight I guess that is pretty awesome. It wasn’t the prettiest win but as they say a W is a W. Saturday saw the girls rebound very nicely and put on a sweet display of basketball for the fans to enjoy during the two games. Sunday’s game started off nicely but we fell behind near the end of the first and were never able to close that gap that has hounded us all season. There is no shame in losing as they played a better total game than we did and deserved the win. Our ladies kept the game close and made them play right to the end but it just wasn’t enough.

Was the season success? Some may say it is not if you don’t win the final game BUT I beg to differ! I believe in my heart and mind that is most definitely a success. We didn’t reach all our goals but we achieve so much more. To paraphrase the great coach carter “I came to group of girls and they become a family”, in the end you can’t ask for much more than that.

Where do we go from here? Well the year end celebration is this weekend and from there I do not quite know …………….

The Time has Come

The Night Before   

         

Well here I sit the night before the big tournament. The provincial championships, the grand finale, the big enchilada, the final test. Tomorrow begins the final tournament of the year; this tournament will determine our final standing for the year. We are going in ranked #2 in the province for U17 girls and have our sights set on claiming the number 1 spot. Are we ready? I think so! Unlike last tournament where I was nervous due to lack of preparation, I believe we are prepared physically and hopefully mentally. We are almost fully healed and will have 9 active players this week with the return of the ankle and lower back ready to play. Even the cold has recovered and has had a good week of practice.

Speaking of practice, this week we were finally able to fine tune some defensive schemes and offensive adjustments. Even though we only went at half speed tonight I was very pleased with what I saw during our two practices this week. The team is gelling on the court almost to the same degree they seem to gel off the court. Of course, it would be very tough to match the connectedness this team has off the court and I am fortunate that it translates onto the court.

A very positive sign is the fact that “the Kid” is watching Space Jam while doing her homework the night before her big tournament. The other ladies seem to have a sense of anticipation for playing for a D1 championship this weekend. My final words at the end of practice consisted of me informing them that they have a chance to make history, we believe in them, and they can do it. From my end, this blog is serving its purpose as it is helping me to have an outlet for my excitement.

During the year I implemented some different aspects in terms of off-court activities and different approaches to practice. This evening I informally polled the ladies and the results are as followed.

Out of 8 players polled, 7 enjoyed and recommended the sessions with the performance consultant.

Out of 8 players polled, 7 enjoyed and recommend the university coach coming to practice and going to the university for practice.

All 8 enjoyed the idea of watching a university game.

So overall, I based upon their feedback I can conclude that the changes I made were received successfully. It is always hard to know what is going on in the minds of teenage girls and while I will never claim to fully understand them, I am glad that I was able to add some additional value to their season.

Now it is time to sit back and enjoy the games on the weekend.