The Enemy of Great

Basketball season is fast approaching and the entire Pacer Basketball coaching staff is extremely excited. Coming out of the summer, through fall open gyms and conditioning, and into this time of the year we spend a lot of time thinking about the state of the entire basketball program. One of the things that has been on our mind lately is, "The Enemy of Great". It is an exciting time for Pacer Basketball and we want it to become something great, just as our players, parents, and fans do. We have recently spent some time thinking about the things that deter our players from our mutual vision for Pacer Basketball.

1) Playing Time - This is a very sensitive topic. Everyone wants to play. There is a long list of VARSITY basketball players that played a lot and in pivotal roles on their VARSITY basketball teams and played very little on their elementary or middle school teams. Playing few minutes on an elementary or middle school team does not determine minutes that will be played in high school. The important thing is that player has a basketball in his hand every day in practice and is learning to be a great teammate.

2) Who the Coach Is - Guys that sign up to coach youth basketball very rarely have alterior motives. They are most often great guys that want to do something good for kids because they believe in youth athletics. Let the coach, coach the team, and be supportive of the coach. The best thing that anyone else can offer is teaching young players things like leardership and being a great teammate. So many great things may be accomplished if everyone would put WE before ME. The greatest leaders in history were servant leaders, people followed them because of the things they were able to accomplish for other people and that is why they were successful. In the grand scheme of things serving others is a selfish act, because by helping others you elevate yourself.

3) Roles - We all have roles. We play important roles in our families, our jobs, and in our community. There are roles on a basketball TEAM as well. One of the things that draws us all to basketball is the feeling we get when we see and hear the ball go through the net, but there are many things that have to happen before that event. On the other end of the floor great defense has to be played by all five players, a rebound has to be secured, an outlet pass has to be made, the ball has to be brought up the floor. To score against good competition several screens have to be set, passes made, to get that high percentage shot. That requires numerous actions from several people on the floor to create something good. It also requires support and enthusiasm from the bench. We should all embrace our roles, nobody is shackling us to a certain role. We can obtain new roles by developing new skills that we did not have before, but until those skills are developed embrace the role you play and become the best at it.

"Nothing great was ever accomplished without great enthusiasm" - Thomas Jefferson

4) NOT being a Great Teammate - The entire purpose of youth sports is to teach young people how to operate as part of a team. It teaches them about adversity and how to overcome adversity with a group of people that have a common goal. The closer our youth get to being great teammates the closer we get to great. Wonderful things can be accomplished if we approach our obstacles together. We have to teach our young kids what it means to be a great teammate.

Basketball is an emotional sport and that is what we love about it. It is fast paced, there is a lot of action, and we always experience ups and downs throughout a game. Those emotions, however, can not be negatively impact our common goals.