First, seriously, a super full moon AND a winter storm?? Seriously?? Whomever put the bee in Mother Nature’s bonnet, please, for the love of all that is holy, stop it!!
#snowdaysaredrivingmecrazy
But enough about snow, let’s talk about my slice! This last weekend, I organized our final outing with our 8th grade basketball team, a trip to Iowa City to watch the Iowa Women’s Basketball team play against Maryland. If you’ve not heard of Megan Gustafson, and one who’s at all interested in college basketball, look her up. She’s a center from Iowa who averages 27 points per game, along with around 12 rebounds. I read an article from an Iowa blog about how we are running out of time to witness the play of Megan, so this was the weekend! We ended up with five girls, a few parents, and siblings who made the 2 1/2 trek to Iowa City (through a SNOW STORM) to watch her play.
We were not disappointed.
Maryland was ranked number seven in the nation, with three women above 6’2″ (Megan is 6’3″) and they rotated all three on her. She was double teamed, sometimes tripled teamed, but ended the game with 31 points and 17 rebounds as Iowa won. A great game for the girls to see because the Iowa point guard is a 5’3″ ball of energy, playing with a fearless abandon, guarding women much taller, and not ever backing down. It was such a good game to teach that idea of family, taking care of each other, never giving up, and that even families lose their focus.
#lifelessonsonthecourt
As we came back, I felt good about life. We’d gotten this done in a snow storm, my wife and I had a Saturday night together in Iowa City, and we didn’t cancel school! Hooray for small miracles. I walk in (two hours late, damn snow) and here’s one of my better shooters at her locker. I greet her, and she hands me two cards.
#whattheheck
One is a handmade card (awwwwwwww!!), saying thank you for all the great memories and how she’s even more in love with the game because of how I treated her and her teammates. The second, from her dad, basically saying the same thing, thank you for all you’ve done for my daughter and her team. Goodness, I about starting bawling as I read these. I will say, this has been one of the most appreciative teams, both from parents and players that I’ve ever coached. They’ve gone out of the way to make me feel appreciated, which is such a different feeling. I always feel that way because working with middle schoolers, they tend to be willing to say thank you, but never like this.
#thankyou
That filled my bucket for this week, period. I’ve got a spot on my board where I put my thank yous, and those two are up there prominently, to remind me of a couple things. One, write your dang thank you notes! You never know who might need a little boost, and a handwritten thank you ALWAYS does the trick for me! Two, those bucket fillers don’t take much time, but they always reap dividends. I was considering taking a step back from coaching because of a bad experience. Now, I’m back. The college game just got me thinking about what I do with my team next year. The wheels were turning because I have a 6’1″ center to work with! 🙂 Watching what these girls COULD become is so awesome. But more importantly, these teams are the lifeline to the high school program. I need to continue to push girls to play, to stay out next year, and to be as prepared as possible.
Just a thank you, but so much more. To feel appreciated it to know you’ve made a difference in a life. That’s a hard feeling to walk away from! 🙂
And, on a more selfish note, it sounds like Iowa may host two NCAA games, another chance to see this all world center play. Power and fineness, an unlikely combination, but so much fun to watch!
February 19, 2019 at 4:50 pm
Nice! I love getting thank you notes, but I’m not that great at writing them. Sounds like you had a great trip.
February 20, 2019 at 10:09 am
We did, indeed! It felt like the right place at the right time. I don’t get that feeling much, so it was nice to sit back and savor it! 🙂
February 19, 2019 at 5:47 pm
Awwww warms the heart!
February 19, 2019 at 6:02 pm
MY HEART. Aw, I love that! Also, I love love that the tiny Iowa player was also there to show your girls how to play with heart no matter their size. Awwwwww.
February 20, 2019 at 10:07 am
My daughter is 5’2″ and the two of them have become friends because of a class they took together. Watching that game, the way the girls were just enthralled, the team played, it was just the where we needed to be: together. 🙂
February 19, 2019 at 7:20 pm
So much I want to say here. First, my daughter and sister are both high school basketball coaches, so I totally understand the supportive parents. Those are not always easy to find! I also know how important you are to those players and understand the significance of the thank you! And you are right, handmade/written thank you cards are simply the best…no matter how old the students. I’m from Indiana so March Madness…let’s go!
February 20, 2019 at 10:05 am
For a brief period of insanity, I wanted to be a high school/varsity coach, that was until I had kids! I’m quite content with my very little pressure middle school job because I can count on one hand the number of parents who’ve caused problems. Indiana + hoops = year ’round March Madness! 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
February 19, 2019 at 7:23 pm
One of my favorite things as a teacher is when I find small notes of thanks from my students. Whether it’s thank you for being an awesome teacher or thank you for letting us play that fun Quizlet game it warms my heart.
February 20, 2019 at 7:30 am
Heart warming indeed! Some days, the students lead us to that point where we remember how good receiving something like this feels! 🙂
February 19, 2019 at 7:24 pm
And one more basketball thing…heard of Jackie Young from Notre Dame or Tyra Buss from Indiana? They are from my neck of the southern woods! 🙂
February 20, 2019 at 7:29 am
Jackie Young, yes, I’ve heard of her because I got interested in women’s hoops because of UConn. Jackie had a pretty good line against the Huskies when they played this year. Tyra Buss I had to look up, and what a career she had! 🙂
February 19, 2019 at 7:34 pm
What a nice reminder of how powerful our actions are–the thank you notes for you, the trip to the game for the students. Your post is making me think about the thank yous I should write, as well as the actions I can take to inspire students (and myself). Thanks!
February 20, 2019 at 7:20 am
> the thank yous I should write<
As I wrote this and reflected, that's where my mind was, who needs a thank you from me? I guess it's true that great minds do think alike! 🙂
February 19, 2019 at 8:58 pm
So glad you got some well deserved thank you notes for your kindness. So often, thank you’s are not given. When thank you’s are written instead of spoken or sent digitally, they can visited over and over again. I hope your notes give you many moments of happiness and fond memories. Goodness rewarded! (And, now the snow can stop!)
February 20, 2019 at 7:16 am
I’ve got my “happy file” that they’ll be dropped into, so when life is not good, I can pull those out and remember. And yes, the snow can stop any time. Snow day #11 is upon us!
February 23, 2019 at 1:00 pm
Wow! 11 snow days….how did your district decide to make them up? Just wondering. I think that there has been a lot of creativity with making up these days….so of which will probably not benefit the students.
February 19, 2019 at 9:05 pm
Warms my heart to see that people really do care about the other adults in their children’s lives. It is so important to instill that kindness in our youth!
February 20, 2019 at 7:13 am
And it makes me think, who needs a thank you note from me?? 🙂
February 20, 2019 at 7:31 am
Absolutely!! Even just a simple thank you for being in my life could really brighten up anyone’s day.
February 21, 2019 at 7:00 am
So true…the power of thank you notes. I always made my kids write them and now they have our grandkids write them. It’s a simple thing to sit down and write out a thank you note that like you said, “You never know who might lead a little boost.” Thanks for reminding me I owe someone a thank you note! 🙂
February 21, 2019 at 1:37 pm
Like Debbie Lynn, I encouraged my kids to write thank you notes and both still do at ages 35 and 37 so I guess that will stick. I love both writing and receiving thank you’s. I am so glad the student and parent wrote to you…look how much encouragement and motivation that provided you. I know nothing about basketball and leagues, but I do think your kids (both in school and at home) are really lucky to have you in their lives. And I do like that idea of a happy file. Now you’ve given me something to think about. So thank you!