Players Building Culture

Some say “culture” is an over used word in sports. I would disagree, “culture” is at the heart of any team’s success. “Culture” is what makes any business or organization successful. Culture is a set of shared values, beliefs, and norms for behavior. When everyone is “on the same page,” “buying in,” “rowing the same direction”- a group or organization works. 

In basketball, culture evolves around several things-

1- How players treat each other.

2- How players feel about the team in general and how important the team is to them. 

3- Players belief in the coaches and desire to be coached.

4- How players approach practice.

5- How players approach competing.

6- How players handle winning and losing. 

A coach can guide and encourage players behavior, and then a coach can reinforce positive behaviors. But it is the players who create the culture with their behaviors. While each team is unique in some ways, often the culture is passed down from one team to the next. Individuals and teams have the ability to add onto the existing culture and to make the culture stronger. 

Galesburg girls basketball built a positive, championship culture over time. There were many teams and many individual players who helped build our culture. I would like to share a few examples of how our culture was built.

COACHABILITY- My first team had very talented players. It could be argued that they had the three best guards any one GHS team ever had with Cookie Rosine, Lesa Moore, and Amy Crisman. Cookie Rosine is a player who would have been a starter on any team, any year at GHS. The combination of her skill level, her athleticism, and her competitiveness was off the charts. If GHS had the coach they had from the 1990’s to 2020’s- Cookie would have scored 25ppg. I was a beginning coach, and not really very good. From the start Cookie made it clear that she wanted to be coached- whether that meant taking coaching tips or taking coaching criticism. The “star” of the team wanted to be coached. Cookie’s attitude set a cultural standard that existed throughout the years.

COMMITMENT- In the summer of 1980, the school established PE summer school classes. Up to that point, there had never been high school camps in basketball. It was not legal with the IHSA to have camps for high school athletes. So GHS established “summer school” as a loophole. It was initiated by the football program and boys basketball jumped on. I wanted to do that for girls basketball. Most people thought that “the girls won’t being willing to make that commitment.” The 1980-1 varsity had 12 players- in the summer of 1980, 11 of the 12 attended the 2 hours per day, 5 days per week, 6 week summer “PE class.” Even more impressive, Amanda Allen and Amy Crisman also attended the tennis class during that same period. That team and those individuals established the norm that attending off-season camps, leagues, or summer school was expected. Commitment in the off-season started with this group of players. Over the next 40+ years, Galesburg players did not miss Streaks Camp, team camps, or summer leagues. 

SKILL DEVELOPMENT- We had players who would work on their game, but Brenda Stewart (Class of 1987) was the first to take it to a different level. She wanted individual workouts and recorded her efforts. She established that a serous player needed to do more than just the required stuff- you needed to invest time on your own. Her efforts influenced players in the immediate years following, and helped them be the first teams to win Regionals and Conference titles. And the Jessica Howards, the Lexi Daniels, the Saige Milroys, the Antonia Kislers, and the Alexis Edgersons, who all had a booklet and recorded workouts, were following in Brenda’s footsteps. Skill workouts became a norm. 

DO EXTRA- Galesburg Summer League did not start until the summer of 1988. Before that there was a league at the Carver Center. The girls part of the league had 4-5 teams of Galesburg players, and maybe a team or two from surrounding schools. Games were four nights a week, with each team playing twice per week. The girls played the early games and then it was an all men’s league after that. In the summer of 1987, Alicia Brannon had finished her junior year. Whether her team was scheduled to play or not, Alicia showed up at the Carver Center. Often teams were short-handed. Alicia would usually play 2 games each night, she played with every team in the league. So while most players were playing probably 12 games during the summer, Alicia was playing close to 45 games during the summer. Alicia’s improvement from all those games is the reason today in our summer league and in our travel, we try to play as much basketball as possible. 

BONDING- We had gone away to play in tourneys and in team camps, but in summer of 1989 we took things to a new level. We took the train to Ann Arbor, Michigan and attended U. of Michigan Team Camp. Vicki Fields and I went along as the “coaches.” The camp was 6 days long, and we were gone 8 days. What a bonding experience for the girls, what a commitment by the players, and what a commitment by parents. We realized the team camp was more than just basketball- our team became stronger with the bond created by the experience. And our teams have continued to do that ever since. 

RELENTLESS- Sara Wood started as a soph on the varsity, but she had Molly Watson behind her as a freshmen. It didn’t matter if it was the Spring, Summer, or Fall- Sara ran, lifted, and shot extra. Sara was one of the first “surprise” players at Streaks Camp- she surprised everyone with her improvement. Sara always got to practice early and stayed late. The team had practice but Sara always had her own practice. 

TRUST- In 1995, the Streaks lost only 3 games. In 1996, we lost three games in less than one week. Dec 16 at Maria, Dec. 19 at home vs Quincy, and Dec. 21 at Rock Island. This was a group with VERY high expectations for themselves, so to lose 3 games in such a short time could have and probably should have shaken them up. The core of this team had played together since grade school, thru junior high, and they were best friends. They handled it because of this connection- they trusted each other. 

All of the teams had big posts players and highly skilled athletes. I failed to trust what we do. We had 10 won games in a row before this stretch, and we had been 29-3 the year before. Our thing was to play solid man to man, and to press all over. I had chosen to try to play 2-3 zone to guard their big kids. I had failed to trust our system. So this set of three games- showed to be successful, we have to trust each other.

CHALLENGE YOURSELVES- After the 1996 team won the Sectional, as we were getting ready for practice, I made the comment, “Now we can put up another banner.” Jennifer Bulkeley said,”We’re not done yet, we haven’t decided what this one is going to say yet.” WOW!! If you are going to be great, you can’t ever be satisfied- you must challenge yourselves.

HUMILITY- Success starts with humility. Humility allows us to recognize we need to improve. Humility allows us to realize we need our team, we can’t do it alone. Humility allows us to recognize we need coaching. No GHS player ever received as many honors or as much attention as Molly Watson (Class of 1997) received. Molly and her parents established an example of humility. Despite all of her individual glory, it was always about the team. Our teams going forward had many, many stars- but Molly established how a star should act. 

TEAM- Sometimes it isn’t just players and coaches who help establish a team culture. The morning after the 1993 team was upset by Limestone at Limestone in the Sectional, I got a call from Rudy Aten. The loss had been a bitter and disappointing loss for the players, the coaches, and the parents. We had beaten Limestone by 20 points a month earlier. Rudy was an outspoken individual, so when he identified himself, I thought,”Oh no.” 

I anticipated it was going to be a bad conversation. It was not a bad conversation. Rudy was calling to ask what we could do to honor the team. We had not had a formal banquet up to this point. He thought it would be great to have a banquet to honor the girls. It was an emotional call as Rudy broke up several times as he talked. Rudy did what parents have done for decades- loved their daughters and supported their daughter’s team!!

As coaches, we can give players lists and post sayings- but ultimately our cultures are created by the behaviors we exhibit. I have shared just a few of the many examples of players and parents who helped build a strong culture!