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The game of basketball is not only great exercise, but it can be fun and rewarding. I can only base this article on the fantastic basketball coach I had in middle school. I am 36 years old today and I will never forget that basketball coach.
He taught us all the fundamentals of the game; dribbling, passing, shooting... . We practiced our skills on nearly a daily basis and we did exercises intended to keep us in shape for the game (long before it was popular to do so). We got quite a work out. In addition to teaching us the foundation of any/all skills needed to succeed, he taught us the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship. He was gentle and kind. When we played in 7th grade, we lost every game of that season. But he never gave up on us, never raised his voice, never displayed his disappointment. He only offered us encouragement and advice. He paid attention to what we were doing and always made sure to point out the positive. He waited until the next practice to go over the things he saw us doing wrong and showed us how to do it right. At one point, he told us a story about one professional team that was having a loosing streak and came up with the slogan "You gotta believe". When we went into the locker room before that game, he had put us signs that read "You gotta believe". It didn't work, we just couldn't pull it together.

The following year (our last year on the team) we went from last place to first. We were undefeated in the league. His demeanor never changed, not even once. There were teams that we were beating so badly that he would only let our second string players play. We weren't allowed to take any shots unless they were in lay-up form. At one point we were coming up against a team that was probably equally as good as we were, if not better. Before the game, he told us that the opposing team was really good and that he just wanted us to go in there and have fun, and that it was o.k. for us to loose. He told us that we don't have to win every game, he is just proud of us for working together so well and for having a good time doing it. We still beat that team anyways. We made it into the state finals and won our first game by default (the other team never showed). We were disappointed, we wanted desperately to play, so our coach arranged for the parents and whatever adults he could round up to play against us. We beat the adults as well. We did end up loosing the 2nd game in the state tournament to the very best team in New England.
While waiting to play that game, we were watching the game before us where the coach of the girls playing kept yelling at and demeaning his own players. My coach kept yelling at him from the audience reminding him to be nice. The other coach tried to challenge my coach to a fight outside. He ended up getting thrown out of the game for that.
One might wonder what transformed this once team of misfits into the untouchable golden team that we became the following year. I'm not sure of that myself to this day even. But I have no doubt that if not for the kindness and compassion and encouragement of that coach, it never would have happened.
Not only did that coach transform us in the game of basketball, but he instilled some basic morals into each one of us. Not everyone on the team had the best home life. He never tried to replace the role that our parents should have been playing, but he was a role model for us. He showed us how adults should behave and he showed each of us our own potential.

Learn more about this author, Linda Cavanaugh.
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