I'd like to start today’s post by wishing Coach Dave and his wonderfully patient wife Janey a very happy 25th wedding anniversary. Of course this camp tends to fall on Dave and Janey’s anniversary every year and we are all very grateful that Dave is able to continually give up the time he cherishes at home to be with us on weeks like this. I would also like to offer a sincere thank you to Janey for routinely taking a vacation from her husband at this time of year. You both make so many sacrifices throughout the spring in order for our program to run the way that it does, at the high level that it has risen too. You have both been instrumental, in your own ways, in my development as a player, a coach, and as a young man just learning how to ‘adult’. Our program owes you a both a debt of gratitude. It is something I was lucky enough to be part of as a player, and now am as a coach. I am thankful for the fact that it’s now officially more work for Dave to actually get rid of me than it is for him to keep bringing me back. A huge thank you and congratulations from all of us here at Falcons basketball. Cheers to both of you on what I am sure has been 25 years full of adventures.
While yesterday was our first official day of camp, this was our first full day, complete with a 7am wake up call, breakfast, morning ball handling and positional sessions for two and a half hours. After positionals, where the girls split off into guards, wings, and posts, it was off to a full slate of games (4 in four hours), followed by dinner, two more games, and a night program to cap what is no doubt one of our busiest days of the week.
Positional work for two hours was our first stop this morning. The majority of our kids went to get some shots up and work on their footwork in the wing player session, while a few brave souls broke a hard sweat on the main court in the point guard session, working on their handle in the open court. Allie, flying solo this morning, hit the Graves gym for some post work.
Graves gym is one of Dave, Ryan, and I’s favourite places on camp. The gym looks, and sounds, like it is straight out of the movie Hoosiers. The floor creaks from sneakers more than it squeaks, the baskets are all attached to the walls, and when a coach speaks the sound bounces so hard off the walls that you hear it in both ears three times. The girls are convinced the bathrooms are haunted, and when the outside heats up the inside is double the temperature. It’s a neat place to hang out in. One must truly be resilient to play and coach in this great old gym.
Graves was also home to some of the games for our teams in the afternoon today. It was a very busy day for our little birds. 6 games per team spread out between the hours of 1pm – 8pm. The U15 team played multiple back-to-back games against older and more physical competition than they have ever seen. They are essentially a grade nine team competing against high school JV and Senior teams. They struggled with certain aspects of the games, but their spirit was never broken and they continued to fight tooth and nail the entire afternoon. Although they ended the day with an 0-6 record, they proved they belonged on the court with 4 very close games.
Lola and Brooke were a couple of our stand outs for the littles today. Lola was in attack mode all day, breaking down close outs, hitting shots from the outside, and filling the lanes in the fast break really well. She has had a bit of a tough week away from home so it was really nice to have her back to herself today.
As a club we pride ourselves on our energy and our intensity, but few kids worked harder today than Brooke. She has such great natural instincts, a feel for the flow of the game and cat-like hands.
Our U17’s had a mostly successful day today too. They played 6 games, with a back-to-back to finish it off, just because we can. At their best the girls are super active defensively and all of them are continuing to grow as threats on offense.
Shannon continued to stand out today, driving to the rim, finishing layups in transition, and scoring multiple and 1’s. Georgia also had a good day, pushing the basketball in transition, probing and generally being a thorn in the defense’s side. Lastly, Gerber showed great grit in her efforts today as she has stuck with things, even when they get tough, in order to bounce back after dinner to have two solid games. She is our go to defender on the perimeter and she is slowly gaining more confidence with the ball in her hands on offense.
The U17 team is notoriously unselfish offensively, at times to a fault. When they share and zip that ball around the perimeter, however, it is a sight to behold. Lots of attack and kick out to shooters or more attackers and when we were flying today it was beautiful. When he did those things, we had a lot of success, but as fatigue and the burden of a short bench on a long week took hold of us, we found ourselves digging holes that proved too difficult to get out of. Both teams were tired but stayed tough today. Bending, but rarely breaking as they continued to turn heads at camp and represent our schools and communities the way they have all year.
Speaking of resiliency, the theme of our day today is “grit”. Grit at camp this year is defined as “toughness”. Not just physical toughness, but mental toughness. Grit involves a positive mindset. It often involves failing, and then learning from those failures and turning them into successes. For my money, this focus on the mindset of our athletes is the most important thing we try to do within the theme of grit in our program.
One of the things that is hard about dealing with mindset, or “grit”, in general is that it is hard to see or quantify. Combine that with the fact that we are dealing with the mindsets of teenage girls and there can be a lot of complicating factors that cloud our brains. That’s not a knock on our girls as a group, or even young ladies as a whole. The simple fact is that it’s hard to understand what is going through a player’s head on and off the floor. Although our coaches preach the importance of leaving the outside world at the door and just focusing on the team and getting better as a player, we also are realistic and understand that difficulty at home, school, or socially can affect a player’s ability to have a good positive frame of mind on the court.
As someone who has been through his own share of mental battles over the last ten years, some of which have been documented on this blog, our young people’s mindset is a point of emphasis that I try hard to address when I build a relationship with them. I am always trying to assess where they are mentally. Are they feeling confident? Are they feeling adequate? Do they feel as though they have a role, are they embracing that role, and are they embracing the qualities and the philosophy of our program.
As I have commented on in the past couple of days, we try very hard to empower young ladies in our communities. Do we teach basketball skills? Yes. Do we hope all of our players reach their individual potential and get joy out of the game? Without question. But more than that we are trying to prove to these girls that they can be really good at something, and that confidence can drip down to their studies, their ability to develop relationships with peers, and their willingness to make the right decisions as they navigate life’s many winding paths. It is our belief that reinforcing and teaching this kind of grit, this mental toughness, will allow our young ladies to leave our program and be successful in life, no matter which path they choose.
While yesterday was our first official day of camp, this was our first full day, complete with a 7am wake up call, breakfast, morning ball handling and positional sessions for two and a half hours. After positionals, where the girls split off into guards, wings, and posts, it was off to a full slate of games (4 in four hours), followed by dinner, two more games, and a night program to cap what is no doubt one of our busiest days of the week.
Positional work for two hours was our first stop this morning. The majority of our kids went to get some shots up and work on their footwork in the wing player session, while a few brave souls broke a hard sweat on the main court in the point guard session, working on their handle in the open court. Allie, flying solo this morning, hit the Graves gym for some post work.
Graves gym is one of Dave, Ryan, and I’s favourite places on camp. The gym looks, and sounds, like it is straight out of the movie Hoosiers. The floor creaks from sneakers more than it squeaks, the baskets are all attached to the walls, and when a coach speaks the sound bounces so hard off the walls that you hear it in both ears three times. The girls are convinced the bathrooms are haunted, and when the outside heats up the inside is double the temperature. It’s a neat place to hang out in. One must truly be resilient to play and coach in this great old gym.
Graves was also home to some of the games for our teams in the afternoon today. It was a very busy day for our little birds. 6 games per team spread out between the hours of 1pm – 8pm. The U15 team played multiple back-to-back games against older and more physical competition than they have ever seen. They are essentially a grade nine team competing against high school JV and Senior teams. They struggled with certain aspects of the games, but their spirit was never broken and they continued to fight tooth and nail the entire afternoon. Although they ended the day with an 0-6 record, they proved they belonged on the court with 4 very close games.
Lola and Brooke were a couple of our stand outs for the littles today. Lola was in attack mode all day, breaking down close outs, hitting shots from the outside, and filling the lanes in the fast break really well. She has had a bit of a tough week away from home so it was really nice to have her back to herself today.
As a club we pride ourselves on our energy and our intensity, but few kids worked harder today than Brooke. She has such great natural instincts, a feel for the flow of the game and cat-like hands.
Our U17’s had a mostly successful day today too. They played 6 games, with a back-to-back to finish it off, just because we can. At their best the girls are super active defensively and all of them are continuing to grow as threats on offense.
Shannon continued to stand out today, driving to the rim, finishing layups in transition, and scoring multiple and 1’s. Georgia also had a good day, pushing the basketball in transition, probing and generally being a thorn in the defense’s side. Lastly, Gerber showed great grit in her efforts today as she has stuck with things, even when they get tough, in order to bounce back after dinner to have two solid games. She is our go to defender on the perimeter and she is slowly gaining more confidence with the ball in her hands on offense.
The U17 team is notoriously unselfish offensively, at times to a fault. When they share and zip that ball around the perimeter, however, it is a sight to behold. Lots of attack and kick out to shooters or more attackers and when we were flying today it was beautiful. When he did those things, we had a lot of success, but as fatigue and the burden of a short bench on a long week took hold of us, we found ourselves digging holes that proved too difficult to get out of. Both teams were tired but stayed tough today. Bending, but rarely breaking as they continued to turn heads at camp and represent our schools and communities the way they have all year.
Speaking of resiliency, the theme of our day today is “grit”. Grit at camp this year is defined as “toughness”. Not just physical toughness, but mental toughness. Grit involves a positive mindset. It often involves failing, and then learning from those failures and turning them into successes. For my money, this focus on the mindset of our athletes is the most important thing we try to do within the theme of grit in our program.
One of the things that is hard about dealing with mindset, or “grit”, in general is that it is hard to see or quantify. Combine that with the fact that we are dealing with the mindsets of teenage girls and there can be a lot of complicating factors that cloud our brains. That’s not a knock on our girls as a group, or even young ladies as a whole. The simple fact is that it’s hard to understand what is going through a player’s head on and off the floor. Although our coaches preach the importance of leaving the outside world at the door and just focusing on the team and getting better as a player, we also are realistic and understand that difficulty at home, school, or socially can affect a player’s ability to have a good positive frame of mind on the court.
As someone who has been through his own share of mental battles over the last ten years, some of which have been documented on this blog, our young people’s mindset is a point of emphasis that I try hard to address when I build a relationship with them. I am always trying to assess where they are mentally. Are they feeling confident? Are they feeling adequate? Do they feel as though they have a role, are they embracing that role, and are they embracing the qualities and the philosophy of our program.
As I have commented on in the past couple of days, we try very hard to empower young ladies in our communities. Do we teach basketball skills? Yes. Do we hope all of our players reach their individual potential and get joy out of the game? Without question. But more than that we are trying to prove to these girls that they can be really good at something, and that confidence can drip down to their studies, their ability to develop relationships with peers, and their willingness to make the right decisions as they navigate life’s many winding paths. It is our belief that reinforcing and teaching this kind of grit, this mental toughness, will allow our young ladies to leave our program and be successful in life, no matter which path they choose.