Courage

An observation:

I coach 8th grade boys basketball. I've been coaching ever since I started student teaching (Fall of 1999). I've coached boys at the Freshmen and 8th grade levels. Girls I've coached from 7th grade to the JV level. Today I saw something that really impressed me.

I had a staff meeting today, so practice was only for an hour after school (4-5). Along with this, we had about 60 kids out of school (flu, strep, you name it). So, I only had 5 kids at practice. Four of the five are good friends and get a long great. The 5th is a kid that doesn't hang with the others. Doesn't have the nice clothes, comes from a poorer family, you know the individual. Anyhow, with 5 kids, I figured it would be a great day to work on half court offense.

As practice moves on, it is obvious that the 5th kid is no where near the skill level of the other 4. Instead of hanging his head, as often kids will do, he worked his behind off to learn the plays. Never once did he complain or give up. If he didn't know how to throw a pass, he listened and tried his best. He improved. As this student worked and worked and struggled to be a part of this group, the group helped him. They encouraged him, showing him how to throw a lob pass. They helped show him how to curl off of a screen. They wanted him to succeed. As a coach, this made me very proud of my 5 dedicated players. It goes to show you that when the world looks dark and gloomy, and kindness seems to be on the brink of disappearing - you have 5 kids out there from different backgrounds that are working together to help each other succeed. Might sound sappy, but it made me very proud of the 5th boy to show such courage.