![Picture](/uploads/1/3/6/8/13685025/6335554.jpeg?250)
July 15 – Skills, Games, and Intensity night.
Good evening readers I hope all is well at home, wherever that might be. It is another warm one at camp today and it is taking its toll on all of us. The girls played five games again today and in addition to that participated in the very fun, but very tiring “Intensity night”. Both coaches made the decision to participate as well, as a show of team unity, and now both of us can barely move. We may look/act young, but both of our bodies seem to have no trouble in reminding us just how old we really are, and how long it has been since we have done anything really “intense”.
We had about a 6:30am wake-up call (Spokane time, so one hour behind Alberta) and after a quick shower and wake-up the girls were off to morning ball handling drills before breakfast.
The girls stayed together after breakfast and they were put into specific positional groupings. All of them did exceptionally well and that includes the few of them who we were trying some different things with. One girl who normally plays on the inside or wing went to the point guard session and two girls who have split time at wing and post visited the wing session. The goal was to get the girls to work on things they needed to improve, while still maintaining some common sense in regards to where our girls may be most comfortable.
Lunchtime brought some much needed recharge for food and energy, but also some unexpected laughs. The team rule, instigated and reinforced by Coach, is that “no one should leave their plates unattended”. I made the first mistake and came back to some VERY salty green beans on my plate. Today one of our girls made the same mistake I did, opening up her banana for dessert.... only to realize how awesome it would be if she dipped her banana in chocolate pudding (in her defense this was the best idea of all camp). Our very trusting girl left her opened banana on the table... and the top of it got heavily salted. She came back, cut it into neat little pieces, and took the first bite quite excitedly. The rest of us watched as her joy turned quickly to horror at the revolting taste in her mouth. Needless to say the entire table erupted in laughter and our young lady was slightly embarrassed.
Good evening readers I hope all is well at home, wherever that might be. It is another warm one at camp today and it is taking its toll on all of us. The girls played five games again today and in addition to that participated in the very fun, but very tiring “Intensity night”. Both coaches made the decision to participate as well, as a show of team unity, and now both of us can barely move. We may look/act young, but both of our bodies seem to have no trouble in reminding us just how old we really are, and how long it has been since we have done anything really “intense”.
We had about a 6:30am wake-up call (Spokane time, so one hour behind Alberta) and after a quick shower and wake-up the girls were off to morning ball handling drills before breakfast.
The girls stayed together after breakfast and they were put into specific positional groupings. All of them did exceptionally well and that includes the few of them who we were trying some different things with. One girl who normally plays on the inside or wing went to the point guard session and two girls who have split time at wing and post visited the wing session. The goal was to get the girls to work on things they needed to improve, while still maintaining some common sense in regards to where our girls may be most comfortable.
Lunchtime brought some much needed recharge for food and energy, but also some unexpected laughs. The team rule, instigated and reinforced by Coach, is that “no one should leave their plates unattended”. I made the first mistake and came back to some VERY salty green beans on my plate. Today one of our girls made the same mistake I did, opening up her banana for dessert.... only to realize how awesome it would be if she dipped her banana in chocolate pudding (in her defense this was the best idea of all camp). Our very trusting girl left her opened banana on the table... and the top of it got heavily salted. She came back, cut it into neat little pieces, and took the first bite quite excitedly. The rest of us watched as her joy turned quickly to horror at the revolting taste in her mouth. Needless to say the entire table erupted in laughter and our young lady was slightly embarrassed.
After lunch it was game time and our girls came out flat. We got blitzed by a fantastic little team from Moses Lake and finally came back to make it a low double digit game. Our second game was possibly the most uninspired effort I have ever seen from our young ladies. They played tired, slow, and most disappointing of all they just didn’t look like they felt they belonged (which is very far from the truth). Coach and I sat them down after the game and gave them a serious talk about how they just played, how they need to believe they belonged, and how they needed to start relying on one another.
The last three games the difference was burgundy and white. The girls looked excited, they were constantly running over to touch each other and high five one another and looked like the game was really, really fun. The acknowledgment has been the thing that I was harping on the girls about because it THAT important to me, and to see them doing that with one another and to turn that corner was something I won’t forget very soon.
After dinner and games came the much anticipated “Intensity Night”. Pictures are coming, but suffice it to say our neon clad, face painted Falcons were pedal to the medal from the word go. We essentially had 18 sessions and worked through every session at 1 minute a piece. Sessions ranged from push ups to sprints to a water station. We built in some team activities and, of course, had the loudest cheer of the 16 teams (at the cost of our little jitterbug’s voice box no doubt.) Perhaps the coolest part of the whole thing is that all THIRTEEN of us (that’s right both coaches participated) were loud, proud, and having the most fun of any team in the gym. Basically... we rock.
Thank you so much for all you do moms and dads, we could never do it without you. Go Falcons!
Team Goal Update
1. Consistent energy and intensity on the court.
a. Again with the slow start, but the girls really made it count in the last three, winning them all by a sufficient margin. Although we don't keep track of wins and losses, it was nice for the girls to see the results of what this goal means for the result on the scoreboard when it will count on Thursday.
2. Acknowledge one another on the basketball court. Point for good plays and 'dap' for helping one another out.
a. This was completely uninspired to start with... and boy did the girls ever 180 after that. More than one girl has run across the court in order to thank someone for making an effort, to tell them the next time will be better, or to simply give them a tap on the butt or a high five. I cannot stress enough how fun this is to see from our young group as they learn to grow and love playing together.
3. Learning to play as individuals within a team structure on both offense and defense.
The defense is really coming along quite nicely as the girls are adjusting to the more physical game down here by bodying up dribblers and getting their hands in places that they normally wouldn’t be allowed to in our FIBA game. Offensively we had to play against a lot of zone today and the girls struggled to move at first, but are beginning to understand the spots they need to be and the rate at which the ball must be moved in order to catch the defense off guard.
The last three games the difference was burgundy and white. The girls looked excited, they were constantly running over to touch each other and high five one another and looked like the game was really, really fun. The acknowledgment has been the thing that I was harping on the girls about because it THAT important to me, and to see them doing that with one another and to turn that corner was something I won’t forget very soon.
After dinner and games came the much anticipated “Intensity Night”. Pictures are coming, but suffice it to say our neon clad, face painted Falcons were pedal to the medal from the word go. We essentially had 18 sessions and worked through every session at 1 minute a piece. Sessions ranged from push ups to sprints to a water station. We built in some team activities and, of course, had the loudest cheer of the 16 teams (at the cost of our little jitterbug’s voice box no doubt.) Perhaps the coolest part of the whole thing is that all THIRTEEN of us (that’s right both coaches participated) were loud, proud, and having the most fun of any team in the gym. Basically... we rock.
Thank you so much for all you do moms and dads, we could never do it without you. Go Falcons!
Team Goal Update
1. Consistent energy and intensity on the court.
a. Again with the slow start, but the girls really made it count in the last three, winning them all by a sufficient margin. Although we don't keep track of wins and losses, it was nice for the girls to see the results of what this goal means for the result on the scoreboard when it will count on Thursday.
2. Acknowledge one another on the basketball court. Point for good plays and 'dap' for helping one another out.
a. This was completely uninspired to start with... and boy did the girls ever 180 after that. More than one girl has run across the court in order to thank someone for making an effort, to tell them the next time will be better, or to simply give them a tap on the butt or a high five. I cannot stress enough how fun this is to see from our young group as they learn to grow and love playing together.
3. Learning to play as individuals within a team structure on both offense and defense.
The defense is really coming along quite nicely as the girls are adjusting to the more physical game down here by bodying up dribblers and getting their hands in places that they normally wouldn’t be allowed to in our FIBA game. Offensively we had to play against a lot of zone today and the girls struggled to move at first, but are beginning to understand the spots they need to be and the rate at which the ball must be moved in order to catch the defense off guard.