I can remember back in early September, when I played my first game as a Viking. In fact, it seems like just like week I was writing a blog about that experience. I wrote about how young the team was, and how much room for growth we had. And boy did we grow. After starting the season on a 13 game losing streak, we won 6 of our last 10 games. While our record is a great representation of our growth, it goes much beyond wins and losses.
We grew as a team. I developed a relationship with each one of my teammates off of the court and that undoubtedly carried over to the court. It took a month or two for us to figure things out, but once we did our team’s chemistry was something serious.
We grew as an organization. While the team I play for is the top team in the organization, the Vikings family is a lot larger than one team. And this game showed that. The stands were packed with fans of all ages, many of whom I have been coaching all year, all decked out in blue and white. The crowds had been growing and growing all year, and this last game exemplified how much support our team received all year.
My teammates grew as players. I remember my first couple of practices with the Vikings. To be brutally honest the level of competition was not where I was used to it being. Oh my how that has changed. I am not sure if it is just more confidence in my teammates, or Pat Burke’s visit to our team having a lasting impact, but our practices have turned just as competitive as our games. Almost every practice over the last 2 months have run at least 15 minutes over our gym time, because everyone refuses to lose the last game. Competing like this is my favorite thing about basketball, and my teammates have definitely raised my competitiveness.
So while I may never put on a Vikings jersey again, I cannot wait for what the future holds for the club. The amount of growing that has taken place this year will serve as an incredible foundation for the future of the Waterford Vikings basketball club. I cannot wait to be watching them win the cup from back home in the next 5 years.
