It's the thought that counts.... or is it?

Well the crazy nails didn't help us beat them. In fact, we played terrible. All three teams had a bad night. It happens. At least I tried something new. And I enjoyed the activity. I give 100% at every game. I expect players to do the same. Their 100% has different results based on their ability, but I only get upset when someone doesn't give 100%. I take that back, I also get upset when they make excuses for not giving 100%. That said, sometimes it's one of those nights when you just go "okay, the kids who don't get to play a lot.... you're on". If the top kids are getting beat and the game gets out of reach in the 4th, you have to let them (the bench kids) play. It makes the score uglier sometimes, but at least they get to play. What a rollercoaster this game has been in my life. You have to take the dips with the high rises though. It makes you keep working at the game and yourself. :) Monday's a new day and the scoreboard starts over for the next game. Thank goodness! And my nails will be plain again. :)

A New Year! A fun team bonding activity for basketball

We are already putting together our trip to Italy. I know it's still seven months away, but you have to get your passports six months in advance and figure out if you're going to go with a tour or on your own and where you want to visit while you're there, etc. We have had fun looking at all of our options and realizing that we will be there before we know it. Turning 50 this summer will be so much easier knowing that we are able to enjoy the fruits of our labors these past 50 years.

Christmas break was wonderful. We had days of crazy busyness and days of nothingness (relaxation). I have returned to school with new energy and ambition and ideas. We are also planning a trip to Seattle in March and we are combining business with pleasure as we attend a conference and new technology for the classroom. There are devices and software applications that are breaking edge and we will have the opportunity (together) to try some of these out and learn about them for each of our school districts. At the same time we will make some evening time to visit my best friend from high school. She and her husband live in Seattle. Plus, we'll have some "us" time. I am very excited for that trip as well.

Basketball has been a rollercoaster, but our varsity program is really doing well. I believe we are in 2nd place now. We've won about 6 in a row I believe. We have a game tonight, so I am excited to see how all of our teams do. Our JV team had a great team bonding activity last night. Good thing... we play the number one, undefeated team tonight. We almost had them last time, so we're going for it (as always). I dreamed up this crazy activity that I thought they might think was a little "corny" but they already know I'm a little "out there" anyway, so I thought I'd try it. I called it "because I love you". Most girls, no... all girls have insecurities. We also get caught up in our stats and wins and losses and at this point in the season we can start thinking that we're on our own islands if we're not careful. So, I thought we needed to know that through this journey called a season, we have grown close together and that the life lessons are as important as the trophies or even absence of trophies. It's my job to make this a journey they will cherish, win or lose, and I have been doing things to create memories, but I've never done this one before, so I was a little apprehensive.

So... here's what we did: I had them each bring a bottle of fingernail polish. Yes, fingernail polish. We went out in a large hallway (for ventilation purposes) and I have 11 players, but one just left for a national cow convention, yes, cow convention. Anyway, I became the #11 person since she was gone. This actually worked out even better in hindsight. That means we each paint one fingernail on each player (because you don't paint your own). As you paint your "special color" on their nail you must tell them "I love you because....." and they fill in the rest. The conversations I heard as I joined in were very touching and very needed. I saw girls tearing up and I even teared up as they said "Coach, I love you because..." I even had some insecurities dispelled because of what followed the word because. We are all loving by nature (especially when we know we are loved back) and I watched the smiles grow and the laughter get louder as we finished. Not only were nails crazy funny, but the we felt better on the inside as we headed to practice.

Before the nail activity I also did another activity. It was a "normal" one that has been done before, but I adapted it for basketball. I had 10 brown lunch sacks with a heart and different number on the front. Inside each bag was a small bag of valentine hearts-- the hard ones. One bag though had a 6 pack of lip glosses in it plus the hearts. They each picked a bag and I began reading a "left-right" story that I wrote and each time they heard the word "left" or "right" they had to pass their bag that way in the circle. Most people know this gift activity. The story was about having heart and the heart of a champion. When they ended, I asked them about the bag that was different. Some were afraid it was bad because it was different, some wanted it more because they thought it was better. We talked about trusting, following my instructions/coaching anyway, and about hidden rewards. Then we ate pizza, then we did the nails.

At the end of practice I always ask my captains to talk. One of my captains said that already, even at practice, when she looked at her crazy nails that she remembered what each person had said to her and it made her feel better and made her want to work harder for her team. Now we'll see if our crazy nails help us knock of #1 tonight of if they just make us smile. Either way, a larger victory was won last night. I need to remember that as a coach.

I also was SO grateful to have my son Jeremy (and Daisha and Tucker) come to practice to help out last night. Just having him there made me feel less tired and also gave me the opportunity to do post/guard splits and do some much-needed work with my posts. Thank you Jer!