The conclusion of Varsities this past weekend ultimately completes my basketball stint here in Ireland. The season was . . . unique. As a Victory Scholar, you compete at both the club level, in the National League, and collegiately; however, it is widely understood that the club season takes precedence, as it typically possesses more dedicated and skilled players, while the college team is open for all to participate in. Higher expectations are set for the former, while the later is more about the craic. And yet, my seasons proved to be a mirror image of this. My club team finished with an underwhelming record of two wins and twenty-two losses, bottom of Division One in the National League. In contrast, my college team found more on-court success, advancing to both the All-Ireland league finals and Varsities championship before ultimately dropping both contests.
In the spirit of full transparency, this season was an incredibly difficult adjustment. Losing so frequently was challenging enough, but exposure to a completely different culture surrounding the sport I grew up on broke me down at times. I come from high school and college programs that were highly structured, possessing meticulous details in the systems we executed. Adjusting to a more disorganized, fast-paced, up-and-down style of play proved difficult. I came from a culture where “If you’re early, you’re on time. And if you’re on time, you’re late.”. So seeing guys stroll into practice late, or leave early for other social commitments, was something I couldn’t rationalize. I came into this year seeking to change the culture of a team that has struggled with wins and losses the past few years, but my objectives came at the expense of truly trying to understand their culture first. The reality is that basketball in Ireland has different roots and upbringings than it does in the United States; that doesn’t make it better or worse, rather it’s just embedded in a different worldview than I was used to.
Though I’m leaving Ireland with a few silver medals and an ‘All-Star’ accolade, strangely I’m most proud to be leaving with the lessons I’ve taken away from this season. I try to look for the silver-linings in even the worst of situations, and I’ve reached this conclusion in retrospect: my year with the Titans has shown me more areas for my improvement with regards to leadership, centering around patience and cultural understanding. The team encompassed a lot of youthful faces, all possessing high upside potential. But I found that effectively communicating with them at times was severely difficult — just as when I was their age, today’s teenagers can still lack the attentiveness and responsiveness to coaching that we would like them to have. In hindsight, there were certainly moments from this season I would like to have back, but I wouldn’t trade the people in the Titans organization for anything. Though my tenure with the team is complete, I think the majority of them know my commitment to helping them improve is not, and I am always available if and when they need guidance.
Thank you both NUI Galway and the Galway Titans for welcoming me into your organizations and enabling to play the sport I love for one more season.
