Leadership by Andie Leibach (Allison)

Andie Leibach (Allison), has been a great leader in our program as both a player and then as a coach. As a player, her strength as a leader was through her example. Her work ethic and competitiveness were second to none. When you have a leader, who comes to work in every practice, it sets a tone for the team.

The other component of her leadership was the example of team first she set. Whether she scored a lot or a little, whether she played a lot or played not as much, her approach never changed. It was obvious to her coaches and to her teammates her focus was on the team being successful. She set an example of unselfishness. In simple terms, Andie set an example of WE being more important than ME.

Here are Andie’s thoughts on leadership…

I totally agree that leadership can be a learned skill and I hope that many of your players learn to embrace the role. I think to some, leadership means being very vocal and taking that "cheerleader" role on the team. While I agree that verbal support is one way to help a team in a leadership role, it is not the only way or always the most effective way. When I was a player, one way that I always tried to be a leader (as well as the other seniors on the team) was to include everyone on the team in whatever was happening. That may have meant going to another school function as a group, making sure everyone would be at the team dinner and had a ride, or planning a breakfast or lunch out after a weekend practice. I think that the more everyone feels a part of the team, the more enjoyable the team will be as a whole and the more everyone will be willing to accept her role on the team. I think juniors and seniors specifically can do a lot of this by checking in with the younger players, making sure they feel comfortable and important to the team.

On the basketball side of things, I think the leaders set the tone when it comes to expectations of work ethic and commitment inside and outside of practice and games. This means that the leaders do not have to be the juniors and seniors. The leaders do the extra shooting/ball handling routines. It doesn't have to take hours every day, but I think that the leaders on the team take the extra opportunities to improve their individual games so others want to follow suit. In practices or games, the leaders don't take plays off and don't promote the "woe is me" attitude if things don't go well or seem unfair. It's always about the TEAM and not necessarily how uncomfortable the individual player feels. This can obviously be difficult to do every single day, but I think the effort must be made by leaders to make it the norm. No one enjoys being around a teammate who constantly feels sorry for herself!

As for right now, I think players can simply check in with one another, record themselves shooting or working on their own to send along, and just remain positive! The "we are in this together" attitude can go a long way!!