In 48 days....I step out of my comfort zone

I believe that if you want to grow as a person, you must do a couple of different things. One is to reflect. Reflect on your life, on your actions...decide what works and move on, find what doesn't work and change it.

Second, I believe that you have to step out of your comfort zone. This past fall, I became friends with a man from Macedonia, Tane Spasev. We connected on Twitter, then on Facebook and he being a basketball coach, we had a common thing we liked. He is quite fluent in English having attended college in the United States. During one of our conversations, he asked if I had ever been to Europe...I haven't been out of the United States.

So, I was invited to work a camp in Zlatibor, Serbia which is southwest of the capital Belgrade. Since then, I have been asked to work at another camp for their Junior program in Macedonia. That camp will take place at Lake Ohrid, Macedonia. I readily accepted and have grown to know Coach Spasev and Coach Borce Ilievski both of Macedonia (Coach Borce is a pro coach in Iceland and coached former South Central star Craig Schoen...what a small world).

Stepping out of my comfort zone...I have never flown in a plane...EVER!!! Now I will fly from Louisville to New York, New York to Frankfurt, Germany, Frankfurt to Belgrade...then back again after two weeks. I am forty years old and have never flown and now my first flights will be halfway around the world.

I will be entering countries in which English is not the native language. I am nervous because I have heard horror stories about the airport in Frankfurt, Germany. That it isn't English friendly, that the people aren't apt to help Americans and on and on and on. In its defense, I have also heard that there will be no problems.

I will end up in Serbia which wasn't exactly an ally of the United States in the mid 90's and earlier this decade. To remove the Serbs from Kosovo and allow U.N. peacekeepers in, the U.N. (mostly the United States and Germany) bombed the Serbian military. From all accounts, there will be no problems with me being there this summer...at all.

I will be around people who will not speak English first which will be the first time I have ever been around this type of situation.

After visiting the International Clinic for foreign travelers, I have been put on alert to what types of "diseases" I can get. Such as "traveler's diarrhea" which I have already been given a prescription to fight off if I get at anytime during my stay. The water is not bad for them in that area as they are used to it, however, I am not and have been told to not drink the water and to close my eyes and mouth during showers.

The worst part of being out of my comfort zone is not being around my family for two weeks. I am going to miss my kids and wife terribly during this time. We will use skype to communicate, but with the six hour difference, it will be hard to find time when we are all capable of being free. I am not so sure that seeing them rarely during those two weeks may not make it worse when I leave. Watching them cry and missing me, hopefully, will be painful...very painful.

But, with all of the above said, we/I must step out of the comfort zone. I can stay in Sellersburg/Henryville my whole life and live a good life, but would it be great? Yes, there is the chance that I could die on this trip, but that could happen every time I get behing the wheel of my car.

I will write about my experiences in Eastern Europe, I may even blog from there, but I will be going this summer, Lord willing, and hopefully will come back a better coach, person, and father.

Mental Toughness is Everything

If you play athletics, especially at a younger age, there are certain lessons that will inherently be learned. Often, they are very hard lessons to learn. How to lose, how to win, how to be unsuccessful and show class, and how to be successful and show class.

It is those lessons that you learn mental toughness. Mental toughness is being able to function and continue doing what you are supposed to do at all times. You will be given so many opportunities to learn it in athletics that you will be prepared for "real life".

As an athlete, I have learned to deal with many tough times in my life. It can be something as hard as divorce or the death of a loved one, or it can be something as simple as dealing with a family member or student in school. Those mental toughness lessons from athletics have helped me to continue on in life....without medication.

I often tell my students/players that life isn't easy or fair and the sooner you understand that, the happier you will be. However, like me, they will learn those lessons on their own, the hard way. Luckily for me, in my experiences with athletics, I learned how to deal with getting out of bed on days when lying there, depressed would have been much easier. Those days when you can barely look anyone in the face because of shame or embarassment...it is mental toughness that gets me up and moves me on.

There are two choices in life...competing and giving up. With me...I only see one choice: to compete, every second, every day.

Developing Individual Players

Developing individual players is an important part of any program. We, as coaches, must work to develop basketball players from the time they start coming to our camps in kindergarten, all the way until they graduate as seniors. In fact, much of what is shown as kindergarteners will be shown all the way through school.

I have heard, as I sometimes do, criticism that the coaches do not "develop players" to the best of their potential. Now, I am not going to say that isn't totally correct, but I do know that players in our program, again from K thru 12, are given the opportunity to do just that; develop themselves.

Some of the things available for Henryville boys' to do to develop their games are our camps which we hold in the spring and in the fall. During those camps we show individual drills that each player can work on, and in the fall, we allow them to play also. I think it is imperative that when they enter 5th grade (which is when our "teams" form) that they know what a baseline and a sideline are...how to line up for jump balls, and for free throws.

Also, the gym is open every morning at 7 AM for any player to work on their game. During the off season, I have yet to be approached by many players to stay after school to work on their games. I understand that spring and fall sports are being played and that takes some of the players, I support that they play them.

We also have the opportunity for them to try out for AAU teams, there is the new TSI Nolan league available in the spring and summer. These leagues will allow them to play on teams together and with players from other schools to see where they stand skill wise.

Finally, we have the entire month of June for them to work on their games and play. Our practices and open gyms in July are for the high school, but I have yet to turn away a younger player who wants to come in and shoot around, or play. I would love to be bothered to the point of frustration that people want to use the gym, but it hasn't been the case.

I could use any number of players as an example who worked on their games, but if you want to see or think back of an example of a player who took what we showed him and then he worked on the game...by himself...without direction; take a look at the picture associated with this article. Shane Meadows, Henryville's all time leading scorer. A guy who scored over 1700 career points, 1300 in his last two years, and won a ton of basketball games. He was shown the skills and then worked his tail off, many times by himself, to make himself better.

So the next time you contemplate if we develop our players, please ask me to help in anyway, think about what you have done to help your son, think about what your son has done, both in the gym and at his home; and then reconsider your comments.

When you are thinking of not sending your son to camp (I understand not every player can make every camp), or not having them play in the Nolan league (I understand vacation time), or allowing them to skip our June practices (which I don't ask for much), or making some excuse why they don't have to work on their game; please do not lay the blame at my or any of our coaches feet. There is no one here, on our staff, that wouldn't help to develop your son, I can promise that. And if you ask someone who won't, come to me and remind me of this article!

Training Camp: What the Best Do Better Than Everybody Else

Another book I have read and found useful is Training Camp:What the Best Do Better Than Everyone Else.  The book details a Playbook in how to be successful.  This playbook has 11 things that can be done to help you achieve your goals.

It is a fictional book done from the perspective of a mid-major, to small college football player (Martin) trying to make his NFL team. He sprains his ankle, then taken under the wing of one of the Assistant coaches who gives/reveals the Playbook to the player to be successful.  Martin has spent his entire life proving critics wrong.  His sprained ankle in pre-season ends his dream, or so he thinks.  The player believes the help and the Playbook are for making the team, but ultimately it is about how to be successful in life and to be the best of the best.

Some of the virtues it touches on is that success isn't often how well you do something, but just sustainability. Meaning, you get up every day and go to work and often you will succeed because so many people will not do that simple thing, they will give up.  Arriving at work early and leaving late, and finally "mental toughness". In fact, the comment is made in the book that "mental toughness is everything" when wanting to be successful. Mental toughness is that ability to continue on when your mind and/or body are telling you to stop.   The book even lists ways to become more mentally tough.  Too often, in today's world, we never want to get out of our comfort zone and by never doing so, we cannot live a fulfilled life in every aspect of life.

It is an inspirational story using real world wisdom on what it takes to reach true success and how you, your team, your school team, your church, your family can achieve it. The book ends happily, but also sadly which is ultimately turned into a success. When you experience failure, use it as a defining moment for some success that will come in the future.

Training Camp is a Great book which can be read by everyone to improve themselves.  Put down the remote control, the XBOX, or game tape and read.  Read this book (again, I get zero dollars for writing this for you to purchase) or read something else.  If you are not moving forward in trying to improve yourself,  you are standing still which is, in effect, moving backwards.  Feel free to email me at anytime which can be found on my blog listed below.  I would love to discuss this book, any book, or anything I have written in the past and your thoughts.  Just no anonymous emails, let me know who you are.

 

Generation Y

I recently read the book Gen Y Now. Great book that described the seventy million born from 1977 to 1992. They are called Generation Y, as opposed to my generation, Generation X, and my father's generation, the Baby Boomers. There are seventy million Boomers, forty million X'ers, and seventy million Y's.

The book examined this current younger generation, and explained that we must, at the least, understand them. As the Boomers retire and die, the Y generation will have us, the X generation outnumbered about 2 to 1. So, we may not like how they are different, but we must understand that they are different because they will be our workforce and also in charge. With the upcoming work shortage, Boomers retiring, we have to deal with the Y generation and not just stereoptype and "write them off".

Some of the key points that the book brought up about Generation Y is that they are a group that feels a sense of entitlement more than any other previous generation in U.S. History. They are not disloyal, yet it comes off as selfish, being treated unfairly or if you aren't doing something that can relate to a greater good, they will quit on you. And they are communicators.

Gen Y has a sense of entitlement because they are the first generation that has been given almost every whim from the moment of their birth. They have been given more toys as children than X'ers and Boomers had their entire lives. They have had every moment photographed and videotaped and treated as supremely special most of their entire lives. Their parents have taken care of them and allowed them to make mistakes with the option of always falling back on them, whether it be defending them when they are clearly wrong, or allowing them to move back into home when marriages or jobs fail.

If you as a boss or a coach do not make Gen Y feel special or that you are working for a greater good, they will leave. Whether it be physcially or psychologically. The reason why is that their parents will allow them to. This generation is allowed to quit teams, work and know that they will be supported by their parents. There is no negative stigma attached to quitting or moving on with this generation, and often it is seen as them standing up for what they believe in.

This generation is also great communicators. With the Internet, twitter, facebook, cell phones, texting, instant messaging, computers, television, cable, DVR's and many other technological advances this generation is communicating constantly. If you as a leader do not communicate with them, they will feel as if something is wrong. X'ers and Boomers almost stayed away from leaders and the only time they did communicate with leaders was when they were in trouble. Y'ers crave communication. They need feedback. It doesn't necessarily have to be positive, but they want to know where they stand, almost daily.

Very detailed book on Generation Y, and above I have written only a few of the items discussed. The biggest obstacle for Generation Y is the thoughts and stereotypical beliefs of the Boomers and X'ers. I did not always agree with what the book offered, but it did help me to first understand that this generation is different, and also why they are. If you are a coach or "boss", I would recommend this book. Even parents or grandparents could get something out of this book to try and understand their children or grandchildren.

Elementary camps...

I often hear that coaches do not do enough for their programs. Often it is a criticism that the coach doesn't have elementary or jr. high camps, they don't have enough camps or if they do, the stuff that goes on isn't good enough.

All of those items could be debated as could playing time, playing style and every other thing that coaches are criticized for, but one item rarely brought up is participation. The doors can be open, but if the kids do not come, it isn't the coaches fault.

As coaches, we want as many kids in the gym as possible. I have tried different times of the year, different payment scales, and different items given out at camp besides knowledge and I have found that none of those variables hinders attendance.

I run my camps in the fall and spring and I realize that I will have some conflict with youth football and baseball, but I have had the camps during the summer with little conflict and have as many students show up either way. So, I have decided to do what is convenient for myself and family.

In the summer, I spend many hours with my high school players now that we can practice and play games, so camps are held during the school year before our practice begins and after our season ends.

Email me at phunter@wclark.k12.in.us with feedback on what I can do to increase the numbers at my camps. I realize that football and baseball will be in the way of school camps, but non school camps have equal attendance. I go for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. I give out a t-shirt every single time, and often have prizes for individuals each day. When I get a large number of anything free with HHS on it, I give it away.

I would love to have camps where we need to use 3 gyms and so many boys that we are overcrowded, but it has not been the scenario as yet.