Four years ago, the class of 2014 was helping me rediscover my love for the game of basketball. At the same time, a class of freshmen were beginning to make their mark in the program.
Last week, those freshman celebrated their senior night at McKay High School. Three of them were left from that season’s freshman team. One started playing in our program as a sophomore.
Each year, the kids I coach teach me something new about myself, the game or life in general. We had expectations to return to the playoffs this year. At the end of the year, we weren’t able to make it happen. There were more losses than we anticipated at the beginning of the year.
The class of 2016 taught me this: Don’t accept defeat. Obviously, we would all have hoped that by not accepting defeat we would win more. But for whatever reason, more losses came. This group showed their resilience by maintaining an attitude of growth as the season went on. The week that we were officially eliminated from playoff contention, all 4 seniors were at Saturday’s optional practice.
2016 helped me understand that success is not measured by reward. Rather, it’s a product obtained by getting 1% better everyday. When you have this attitude on a daily basis, you will find success in the improvements you make and develop habits which prepare you for a life ahead full of adversity, setbacks and struggles.
Tristan, Izaya, Demeris, Darrell - - Thank you.
