I decided to write this blog tonight for my boys. Who are my boys? They are a small number of student athletes who I have been given the privilege of coaching the past two years at MCA.
Tomorrow, a handful of these boys step onto the basketball floor for what could be the last time this season and for four of them, their last time as an 8th grader. We will be competing as a 3 seed in the MTAC Conference Tournament this season, our first season in the conference. We have been handed a tough match up with a team that is beatable, but has previously defeated us this season. All season long I have preached the “small things” and I hope they have taken it to heart.
I have taken on a philosophy as a coach, teacher, and leader that great things can only be accomplished by doing the little things right. I believe that doing things right become habit, and habits stand up under pressure. Often times teams place such an emphasis on reaching a distant goal- winning the championship, that they place inadequate time on what it takes to get there. This starts with the finest details of what clothes to wear to a game, how you tie your basketball shoes, how to hold the ball, how to dribble, shoot, pass, rebound, block-out, play defense, etc... Every practice, every meeting, and every game we have put in the time to perfect the little things.
Lack of focus on the small things leads to sloppiness on the court, which eventually catches up with you. (Our team has experienced this a couple of times this season and each time the boys and I walked away with a renewed focus to get the job done.) However, if you make a concentrated effort on the little things the big things can be attainable. Coach John Wooden was quoted as saying, “I consider each detail like a rivet in the wing of an airplane. Remove one rivet from the wing and it makes no difference. Remove enough of them, however, and the wing falls off.” With my boys I don't want a wing to fall off. So, every detail that is relevant is important and deserves to be done the right way.
I hope that my passion for the little things has rubbed off on these guys. This focus will help our team set the tone, in style and in substance, for how we want to execute tomorrow and throughout this tournament. If we properly execute all the small things tomorrow, we will accomplish a great thing-VICTORY.
Regardless of the outcome tomorrow I will be proud of what this team has accomplished this season. We have totaled ten wins this season to only five losses, but more importantly these boys have grown everyday as young men and basketball players. Our success will continue tomorrow if we do all of the little things!
Good luck guys and I cant wait to coach you in the first “big” game of your career.
Coach Shawn
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