I’ve often heard broadcasters talk about a moment when a team seems to break or to rise to another level. It is as if they feel that there is a single situation which defines a season. Our coaching staff doesn’t believe that a specific play or a win or a loss determines the outcome of the year. We believe in creating opportunity from each challenge that we face.
Every season there are going to be obstacles which a team must confront in order to move forward toward success. We want to bring a philosophy to the table which stimulates growth and achievement from the challenges we face. We feel that if we can get our players to buy into the belief system that adversity is meant to raise them to another level rather than discourage them to lower depths, then we can confront all obstacles in our paths. It is not the adversity we face which determines the outcome of our lives; it is our reaction to it.
After our first four games, our record stood at 1 win versus 3 losses. Not in our wildest imagination would our coaching staff have believed that we would be a losing team at that moment. In the past three seasons, we have accumulated only eight losses, yet here we are with three losses in our first four outings. How do we go forward from this point? How do we create what we want?
Most players and teams in this position want to create the blame game. It is easy to begin the finger pointing process which entails fixing the blame on others rather than acknowledging what our role is in the process. The answer, however, is not in anybody else. By blaming others, we are in fact empowering them and stating that we cannot change what has occurred. We want our players and our coaching staff to accept what role they have played in our losses. If we accept our shortcomings, then we have the power to begin changing them. In order to change events, we first have to change ourselves.
In order to become aware of our roles, we must have built the foundation of communication. We want the members of our coaching staff to be able to openly discuss shortcomings. We have to foster a place where we don’t take criticism personally. Likewise, it is essential that our players feel they can bring forth concerns or questions. We foster this type of environment by having weekly meetings with our team leaders (our maroon group) and our remaining members (our gold group). During the meetings, we ask their opinions and allow them to answer without fear of retribution. They become part of the solution, feeling as if they have ownership of the team.
To further this feeling of ownership, we allow our players to evaluate the program and the coaches. When we meet with them, we actively listen to their suggestions. It does not mean that they run the team. There are times when we have to explain why something will not work, and the coaching staff always has the final word. We maintain discipline so that there is no question of who the authority figure is; however, we have discovered that when players have a voice, they are more apt to work within our system. They want to be a part of the answer rather than a part of the problem. It is essential when a team comes under stress that they look to one another for comfort and answers.
When communication has been established, it is easier to truly discover the problems. How many times at the end of the season do players come forward who are departing to relay all the problems which occurred during the year? Those problems cannot be addressed, because they are known too late. One season when we failed to transition the ball well, I was flabbergasted at our lack of speed when I knew we were fast. It wasn’t until the end of the season I discovered that our #5 player who inbounded the ball told her teammates that if they shot before she got down the floor, she would personally beat the *&%# out of them. No wonder our transition suffered! Had we addressed this problem earlier, we would have been a better team. We could have changed who took the ball out of bounds, a simple solution to a difficult obstacle.
It is unknown how we will progress from our current challenges; however, we do know what type of environment we will foster. We will go forward searching for the answers in a positive manner where all members are actively working together. We will seek strength from adversity and grow as individuals and as a team, and we will persist. By the way, in the recent weeks, we went on a 14 game winning streak and now stand at 21-7.
