I’ve coached basketball for eight years. I won a championship at the seventh-grade boys level, but also had two seasons with zero wins. But before I coached the young guys, I was an assistant for a fifth-grade girls’ team. We were pretty awful, but this is where my journey started. And I’ve never had another team try as hard as they did. I never thought I’d be a coach, and almost a decade later, I’m still at it. This is the story of the team where it all began.
The Letter
I started coaching because of a college professor who’d told us to chase our dreams. I’ve already written this article, though. For context, I returned to college after dropping out and graduated at 28.
My only basketball experience came ten years prior as a high school benchwarmer; it was an improbable decision. Still is.
But I went for it.
The first step I took was writing a passionate letter expressing how badly I wanted to be part of basketball. It lacked professionalism, but showed character.
The program head got back to me a week later, and I was in a gym before I had time to process what had happened.
I’ll never forget the first day standing in the tunnel; it felt like an illusion.
In the movies, when someone chases their dreams, they’re often faced with some heartbreaking loss or awesome moment in the beginning, a majestic sign of sorts. In reality, it feels like a first day at any other job.
I remember not knowing exactly what to do and feeling out of place.
The Season
I made some mistakes my first year as an assistant, and I’m lucky I didn’t get fired.
One of my most trying moments watching was watching the Head Coach continue to play our best player after she had knocked her head on the ground. It wasn’t a catastrophic fall, but any youth coach should know to check for a concussion.
She was also asking to come out of the game.
I didn’t like the Head Coach, whom we’ll call Peter, and one time I subbed a girl into the game without his permission. An assistant coach isn’t supposed to do that.
This led to an argument on the bench, which is a bad look for everyone; the girls deserved better leadership.
After the scuffle, I got moved to a different team. I became the assistant coach of the seventh-grade girls’ team, while Peter continued coaching the fifth graders.
As a new coach, I was too caught up in my emotions and chose to step away from the program after a couple of practices with the new squad. But in Oliver Twist, Peter got fired, and I returned as the fifth-grade assistant.
The Team
The girls were a lot of fun to be around, but our record was probably like 1-40. The best fifth grader in the program chose to play up a year, which makes things difficult.
Regardless, these girls kept an amazing attitude for two different leaders. And an assistant who was, then wasn’t, then was there again.
In terms of playing style, there’s not too much to dissect. We lacked the talent to compete in most contests, and Peter called the same play every time. Seven will forever be remembered.
I still run that play.
The main takeaway from the season was falling in love with the game again, and that’s a credit to those girls. It was difficult to drive in Seattle rush-hour traffic for minimal pay while also working as a server.
Some of my favorite moments of the season proved the sideline banter.
I will always remember one of the players telling me about the big bugs in Texas.
Conclusion
These girls are about to graduate high school this year, and I can’t thank them enough for getting me back to the sport I love. I’d forgotten about how odd this experience was until I wrote this article, but the players made it fun. As parents, teachers, and coaches, we should always do our best to instill our knowledge in the youth, but sometimes the kids teach the lessons.
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