Abby- Working Her Way Back

Abby & family finishing a mile run at Lake Storey.

Abby had a heartbreaking year of basketball. She hurt her knee in the third practice of the season. It is tough to have worked hard and feel like you are ready go for some of your basketball goals, and then have to put the goals on the backburner while you develop a whole new set of goals about rehab.

It is probably easy for some to look at Abby, and figure she is good because she is tall. This summer Abby was one of our best players, and in some games she was our best player. Just going into her sophomore year, and having success already could be pretty heady stuff for some players. But this summer, it became clear to me that Abby has been successful because of her inner drive.

We had planned games at Breese. We were really challenged as a team, it turns out we played  4 of 5 games vs. teams who were state ranked. And we played vs. some really good post players. After the last game, I was standing next to Abby in the lobby outside the gym. She turned to me and said, “This weekend I showed me that I have to get stronger. I have to get into the weight room, I don’t want to be pushed around.” Clearly Abby wasn't just happy to be on the varsity, she wanted to get better!

Successful athletes have to be willing to do self-examination and be willing to challenge themselves. Abby isn’t afraid to challenge herself. And because of that attitude, she is successful as she does her knee rebab.

Shayli Florine- Finishing Up College

Shayli Florine had a great high school career. No one was better in the low post. Vs. Richwoods in the Sectionals, she dominated a good post player inside. Time after time, we took the ball to the wing so they fronted her. Then the ball went to the high post, she sealed the defense, got the feed and made a nice, soft little hook shot going into the lane. By the time they recognized they had to give her more attention than just one defender, the game was over. This was the story of her varsity career.

Shayli wasn't just tall, she REALLY worked to develop her game. She had a good junior season. When she came back as a senior, you looked at her and said,"Wow, she is a lot better!" She invested time into her game, and it showed.

It seems like just yesterday that she was playing as a Streak. But four years have gone by, and Shayli is getting ready to graduate from McKendree. She had a great college experience, and is headed off to grad school with big things ahead of her.

Emily Meinert- Headed to NIU

Emily Meinert is headed to Northern Illinois University at DeKalb to play basketball on a full scholarship.

Emily had a very good high school career. As a junior, she was first off the bench for a team that went 26-8, and was ranked 11th in Illinois. It was a team that beat Morton in the regular season, and then lost to Morton in the Sectionals.

As a senior, she had an outstanding season. She was First Team All-Conference, averaging 9.5ppg and 6.3rpg, while shooting 48% from the field and 60% from the line. The team didn't have the year they had hoped, going 15-16.

Emily wanted to play college basketball, and like many players she dreamed of playing D1. As an 18 year old, she got no D1 offers. She headed off to Parkland College in Champaign to play basketball. Her first year things were ok, but not what she had hoped for. The team went 16-14, while Emily started only 7 of 30 games. She led the team in rebounding with 6.4rpg and twice scored 18 points.

Home Workouts

No matter our age, all of us should be taking care of ourselves and following the directions of the health experts (and our Mom’s). To remain safe, we should be practicing social distancing. Our number one priority needs to our health and the health of our families. We must follow directions of health experts- we MUST practice social distancing. Stay safe!

There are things you can do to improve yourself as an athlete without leaving your house, and without leaving your driveway. 

Practice, Teamwork, Game Plan

Sermon delivered October 20, 2019 at First Presbyterian Church, Galesburg

Weeks ago, I told my son, Allen that I was speaking this morning. After he quit laughing, he gave me wise advice, “Remember no ever gets mad at someone for giving a short speech.” I will try to follow his advice.

Winning Culture: #3 "It Don't Come Easy"

The Beatles classic, “It Don’t Come Easy,” captures an essence of competition. Once players/teams have established their vision and are firm in their commitment, they must realize that it is not going to be easy. Competition is tough.

It is easy for a player and/or a parent to mistakenly feel desire automatically produces success. Just because we want it doesn’t mean it is going to happen. Other teams are just as focused on success, and maybe just as committed. Quite simply, many teams are competing for the same goals- not every team is going to win.

On our own team, many players have the vision of playing regularly or of starting. Obviously if ten players have a vision of being a starter, not all of the ten will reach their goal. It is competitive- it is tough.

Winning Culture: #2 Commitment

The first step of developing team culture is about developing vision. But for the vision to be reached, a player needs commitment. All of us have heard the phrase, “talk is cheap.” Vision can be the “talk part”, while commitment is the “action part.” Coaches often say, “Don’t tell me, show me.”

The first season I was coaching girls basketball, in the fall I chaperoned a fan bus to Danville. We stopped in Champaign (where the girls tourney was at that time) to eat. One of the future players said to me, “We’re going to be playing in Champaign this year.” Obviously the player had a vision, but I had no confidence in the vision because they really had not at that point had an off-season commitment.

Stephen Covey in his book “First Things First,” deals with this idea. His message is:

1-   Determine your priorities.

2-   Let your priorities determine your actions.

3-   Your actions should be showing your priorities.

Winning Culture: #1 Vision

Motivational experts talk about the importance of goals. There are various versions of “you have to see it to achieve it.”

To be successful, players and teams must have a “vision” of what they want to be, and what they want to become. Often our vision is inspired by a role model or the excitement of an event we witness. It is kind of like, “We want to be like Mike.”

Team Culture- Pyramid

The most famous pyramid in basketball was John Wooden's Pyramid of Success. For many it is easier to grasp something when we see it in a picture vs just a paragraph. The major concept of Wooden's pyramid was that you need to do some basic things first- their is a foundation on which everything else rests.

One season, I tried my hand at making our own pyramid. While Wooden called it a pyramid of success, I would say it is also a pyramid for building a winning culture. The team formulated their beliefs of what would make for a successful season. I took their words and put them into the following drawing:

 

                                                                       

Team Culture- Words

Jon Gordon has had several very good motivational books. In one of his books, he talks about the power of words. He encourages people to pick out one word which will be the person's focus for a day, a week, or a year. People should pick out a word which captures what a person wants to be about. The concept is that the mind needs our focus to be simplified. Everyone can remember key words which will be their focus.

We ask our teams to formulate goals for the season. One season, we asked them to do two things in putting their goals together:

1- Make their goals focused on the process not the outcomes. In other words, don't put down the wins or championships you wish to attain. List what you need to do, or what you need to be-  to be successful.

2- Try to keep it simple. Pick out 8 words, which capture what you want to be as a team.

Team Culture- Building Winning Culture

Earlier this week I was listening to former college football coach, Rick Neuheisel. His conversation was about new coaches taking over programs this year in college football. He commented the most important job of a first year coach is not X/O's or strategy. The most important job is to "reshape the culture" of their program. His feeling was if a program is going to have long term success, it will be a result of a strong culture.

The other point he made was culture does not just happen, culture is built. And for a culture to be successfully built into a winning culture, it is a process. Just like you build skills in a sport with purposeful daily commitment, you build culture with a purposeful daily commitment. It doesn't just happen!

Here is an example of a foundation of values to build a culture: