I hope by the title of this post, before the person reads this they’ll know it’s dedicated to them. But for those of you reading from the outside this post is dedicated to my assistant coach at Manhattan College Sahar Nusseibeh. A quick background to the title… my senior year I randomly started saying “hey girl” to Coach Sahar and she thought it was the funniest thing, it always caught her off guard and it took a little for her to get used to it and truthfully I don’t even know if she’s fully used to it haha but it stuck and became our thing whenever we would communicate with each other.
I’ve had a lot of coaches in my life, but Coach Sahar hold a dear place in my heart. She has taught me countless lessons in just the two short years she coached me. The most important lessons I’ve learned from her haven’t come from the court, but rather my personal life. There was a period of time where I lost myself as a player and that was a miserable time for me. For me personally my performance on the court often times reflected in my personal life as well and vice versa. I’d lost all confidence and was afraid to make a mistake and playing scared or nervous translates to awful performance. So she often became an outlet for me to just let out how I was feeling about life, basketball and my differences with my head coach at the time. Before every game she would write a quote or a personal focus for me for that game on a index card. And often times it actually helped and if I achieved that game goal it would build my confidence back up as a player. At the time I didn’t realize how important those cards would be, but I decided to save every card… I didn’t know why at the time but I knew I’d need them at some point. I’m now furthering my basketball career in Ireland, and of all the things, what did I make sure to pack? The index cards. Before every game I pick a card at random and read it and aim to achieve that goal. So how is that not a basketball lesson? What I learned from her is to never give up on myself and to control what I can control. In life you may think something is unfair or you may not life the way somethings going, but instead of complaining about it reflect on your own actions and see what you can change to get the outcome you want.
Coach Sahar always told me I was bad ass, she even got me a button that says it when you push it and everyday I push it to remind myself what I am capable of. She told me I’d do amazing things in life and when she found out I was coming to Ireland she told me to have an amazing time and that’s exactly what I’m doing. One of her hobbies is running (I still have yet to find the joy in that but I’m trying to understand haha) and enjoying the beauty of nature. Before coming to Ireland I never particularly noticed the beauty of mountains or oceans, but something about this place has given me a new appreciation for nature. Whenever I visit places like the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare or Banna Strand in Tralee I think of my girl Coach Sahar and of course she always messages me when she sees something on my insta story. But 3,000 miles and a time zone away and she’s still teaching me lessons! So don’t worry Coach… I AM HAVING AN AMAZING TIME!
Banna Strand:
Cliffs of Moher:
