The Good, the Bad and the something else!
The Cocoa Experience was worth every moment. There were, I believe, some exhilarating moments and some sobering moments but such is life, isn't it?
The very Good!
The match against the Clearwater Heatwaves was unforgettable. We were in our element. We played the best defense I have seen us play since the team came together. The H/Waves were outwitted and dumbfounded. They did not expect us to beat them and whereas most teams play hard we played smart. We played a mental game and stayed with it to the last whistle.
#34 took on the challenge and set the pace, pulled the team around her very strong offence. She orchestrated the plays time and time again. At times she fanned out her players, creating a "Red Sea" effect and made a beeline for the hoop. At other times she drew them in, with military precision, to cover her while she went in for the kill. It was beautiful to watch.
The Bad!
There was one unfortunate incident with the Lady Comets in which one of their players said that if our players took the ball from her again she would kill somebody. Our player to whom this was said brought it to the attention of the referee and our coach. It is important that as we strive for excellence in our own game we do the same for our sport. Let us not allow anyone to hijack this sport that we love so much. If you ever encounter hostility or an attack on your person by anyone during a game, either verbally or physically, I urge you to let your coach or one of the officials know immediately.
I also noticed a disturbing trend among players (not necessarily on our team). I saw the ball kicked towards the referees a couple of times and on many occasions when players were fouled, instead of passing the ball to the referee respectfully they just dropped it where they were and I guess, expected the official to go after the ball. To me that is totally unacceptable. I refuse to accept this for several reasons:
We play this game to glorify God and when we don't respect those that have been put in authority over us then we play in vain.
We stand on God's territory, as much in Church, school, home as on the basketball court.
Therefore everything I do should be done in the spirit of one who knows they are in the
presence of the Almighty God.
The Something Else!
The opportunity to play the Falcons was worth the whole trip. They were ranked third in the National Championship last year. Yesterday, they beat last year's national champions to win first place. Several of them have played for a while together but what was interesting is that they did not have any particularly tall players. Indeed, to me they all looked about the same height. They played a fine game. They had speed, agility and flair. They were aggressive on the court, had very few turnovers, had their shooting down to a precise science and came across as having great sportsmanship.
I did have the pleasure of speaking to their coach and he told me that they have trained hard because their motivation was to beat teams that beat them last year. That is their yardstick as to whether they were growing as a team. Well, they beat the current national champions so I think they raised the bar.
I am glad that we got to play up and see first hand what it is we can aspire to. It will take personal training and development of each player, first and foremost as an athlete, then the equipping of each one with the skills and techniques of the game and finally bringing the players' abilities together in a symphony that will delight us all.
Where does one start?
Wherever you are at.
Then every day:
Good, better, best
never let it rest,
Until your good is better,
and your better, best.
Go Lady Lions!
The Cocoa Experience was worth every moment. There were, I believe, some exhilarating moments and some sobering moments but such is life, isn't it?
The very Good!
The match against the Clearwater Heatwaves was unforgettable. We were in our element. We played the best defense I have seen us play since the team came together. The H/Waves were outwitted and dumbfounded. They did not expect us to beat them and whereas most teams play hard we played smart. We played a mental game and stayed with it to the last whistle.
#34 took on the challenge and set the pace, pulled the team around her very strong offence. She orchestrated the plays time and time again. At times she fanned out her players, creating a "Red Sea" effect and made a beeline for the hoop. At other times she drew them in, with military precision, to cover her while she went in for the kill. It was beautiful to watch.
The Bad!
There was one unfortunate incident with the Lady Comets in which one of their players said that if our players took the ball from her again she would kill somebody. Our player to whom this was said brought it to the attention of the referee and our coach. It is important that as we strive for excellence in our own game we do the same for our sport. Let us not allow anyone to hijack this sport that we love so much. If you ever encounter hostility or an attack on your person by anyone during a game, either verbally or physically, I urge you to let your coach or one of the officials know immediately.
I also noticed a disturbing trend among players (not necessarily on our team). I saw the ball kicked towards the referees a couple of times and on many occasions when players were fouled, instead of passing the ball to the referee respectfully they just dropped it where they were and I guess, expected the official to go after the ball. To me that is totally unacceptable. I refuse to accept this for several reasons:
We play this game to glorify God and when we don't respect those that have been put in authority over us then we play in vain.
We stand on God's territory, as much in Church, school, home as on the basketball court.
Therefore everything I do should be done in the spirit of one who knows they are in the
presence of the Almighty God.
The Something Else!
The opportunity to play the Falcons was worth the whole trip. They were ranked third in the National Championship last year. Yesterday, they beat last year's national champions to win first place. Several of them have played for a while together but what was interesting is that they did not have any particularly tall players. Indeed, to me they all looked about the same height. They played a fine game. They had speed, agility and flair. They were aggressive on the court, had very few turnovers, had their shooting down to a precise science and came across as having great sportsmanship.
I did have the pleasure of speaking to their coach and he told me that they have trained hard because their motivation was to beat teams that beat them last year. That is their yardstick as to whether they were growing as a team. Well, they beat the current national champions so I think they raised the bar.
I am glad that we got to play up and see first hand what it is we can aspire to. It will take personal training and development of each player, first and foremost as an athlete, then the equipping of each one with the skills and techniques of the game and finally bringing the players' abilities together in a symphony that will delight us all.
Where does one start?
Wherever you are at.
Then every day:
Good, better, best
never let it rest,
Until your good is better,
and your better, best.
Go Lady Lions!
posted by zinzi | 8:01 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home