October 20th, 2014 | Uncategorized
I traveled south this past weekend to Galway to help coach the North regional squad at the Ireland Inter-Regionals. They select the top 35 girls from this tournament to be a part of the Ireland u15 national training. I thought my biggest concern/worry going into this tournament would be to get crowned Inter-Regional champs and to get as many girls selected for the Ireland team as possible. However, my thinking has changed since being over here in Ireland.
I’m a natural born competitor that wants to win and be the best in any and everything I do. We always know what is in winning, but what comes from the journey will always be different. The long practices, the bus rides, team meals, being crammed in a gym all day, and having to sleep with one another brings a lot more memories than winning. I saw personalities shine, relationships grow/begin, and girls come out of their shell. That was a lot bigger than winning. Saw my young club and regional players really step up. When the competition got more difficult they stepped up to the plate (baseball analogy) and gave it everything they had. They may have struck out but at least they did by trying their best.
That’s all you can ever ask for out of a group of 15 year old girls. They all came together to be good basketball players and win Inter-Regionals. Sad to say that the winning part didn’t happen. However, they did become better basketball players from when they go on the bus to head to Galway to when they got off the bus back in Belfast. Their relationships had grown, their personalities were much stronger, and the look in their eyes showed nothing but enjoyment. SCL mentor Andy, Deirdre and I couldn’t have asked for more as coaches. We lost the trip this past weekend in basketball terms. However, we are riding high in the winning lane on our journey.
