Fourteen And Counting

Aspen had a good day in practice Thursday, maybe her best day ever in basketball. Let me backtrack a bit. Even though the game playing part of our season is over, we still have a practice time every morning during first period. Much of what we do is competing. We start almost every day with a contest or a mini tournament and we post the results on the locker room door. Amazing what a motivator that is. I've written before  how much I love coaching these seven kids. They have improved tremendously and can be competitive with each other without taking it personally. For example, we are in the middle of a double elimination one on one tournament but there are rules. You have to shoot within eight seconds- games go to eight points or three minutes, whichever comes first- shooting fouls are one shot plus return of the ball- the ball has to go to the coach/passer on each change of possession. The games are very intense and the girls are gassed after each match which is one of the reasons I like it. It's hard to make practices game like but we do the best we can.

Since the calendar has turned over to March, we've started our monthly free throw ladder. Each girl shoots 100 free throws in sets of ten with a partner and Taylore, our student coach, records the scores. One thing we emphasize is streaks- I think it's one of the best things we can do to focus. So, anytime in the middle of the 100 FTS a girl gets to five consecutive makaes, everything stops and we cluster around her basket until the streak ends. That brings us back to Aspen. Three days ago, she made fourteen free throws in a row which is phenomenal! In fact, Aspen went through a stretch in which she made 18/20, or a ninety % clip. Factor in that she only made 40% of her free throws in the February ladder and it is amazing, at least to me. She wanted to keep shooting at that basket but I make them rotate through the six baskets in our gym- don't want them getting too comfortable!

Shooting is a funny thing. One day the ball goes in and the next day, it doesn't. Same ball, same basket, same time, same shooting mechanics, same concentration. That is really aggravating to the kids. We've really worked on form the past several weeks, and it has paid off, particularly with Aspen. But one of the other young ladies who tied for first in February finished dead last this week, shockingly going down twenty-four percentage points (while her sister improved thirteen points). I watched her- everything looked identical but the ball just would not go in for her like it did four weeks ago. There is no explanation. That's kind of like life, isn't it? Some days, things break our way and the next day, every path we walk is blocked. I'm in the middle of watching a documentary on Ulysses Grant and even though I taught about him, I'm shocked at how many turns his life took in business and in the military. That a man would consider himself a failure, with many others sharing his view, and yet come back to lead the Union army within a few short years is almost unbelievable. But most of us go through that on a small scale in our less publicized lives. How we handle the daily turn of events says a great deal about us. Do you know who is easy to coach? The player whose behavior and demeanor is consistent, or at least relatively so. Those on the other side of the spectrum? Not so easy! The girl whose shooting percentage fell off the cliff last week? You would never guess by looking at her. That's the way she handles life- that's one reason she is a joy to coach.

Tonight, we sang It Is Well With My Soul in our worship time. If you know it, you probably know it was written out of the deepest sorrow, the loss of four young daughters at sea. And yet Horatio Spafford was able to pen this amazing opening verse to one of the greatest hymns of Christendom:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Of course, his reason for composing was unbearable grief on the scale most of us, hopefully, will never experience. And, of course, it's easier to sing the words than to actually live them out in the vignettes which make up our days/weeks/months/years/lives. Finishing his timeless treasure, Spafford gives the praise and the credit for the ability to overcome to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our lives matter to our Savior- our failures and successes, our triumphs and tragedies, our hits and misses. Living with that assurance makes life bearable, streaks or no streaks. Fourteen in a row for a fourteen year old. Too bad we can't all shoot our age!

Applicable quote of the day:

Basketball is a game that gives you every chance to be great, and puts every pressure on you to prove that you haven’t got what it takes. It never takes away the chance, and it never eases up on the pressure.
Bob Sundvold

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
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E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com