Viking Coach

Well. . . it has been one week since a wrote to you and to tell you the truth, hoops has not gotten too much better.

After our loss to Frazee last Tuesday we did take Wednesday off. It was a pre-planned day off as we had late practice. I am a big believer in giving the team a day off whenever I can in late January and in February. I think it gives the players a nice mental break away from the game and feel they come back a little more rejuvenated at the next practice.

Thursday we laced them back up and talked about the reality of our situation. . . We were going into a game on Saturday against Crookston, the #1 ranked team in the state of Minnesota and because of our loss to Frazee we most likely would play Barnesville in the first round of the play-offs on Thursday, March 1st. (Barnesville, by the way, beat Crookston earlier in the year!!!)

The biggest thing for me to accomplish in our Thursday practice was to get the players to answer the following question:

Why are we going to practice when we know the opportunity for victory in the next two games is ever so slight?

Before I relayed my reasons for continued practice I allowed them to come up with a few reasons on their own. . . Most of the reasons centered around the desire to improve for “next year” as we only have one senior, Sarah Voigt, who is still healthy and playing.

Sarah Voigt is a great kid and she provides lots of “funny moments” with her uncanny ability to get confused. I guess the best way to describe it. . . using a term that may offend some people. . . is that Sarah, even though she is a brunette, occasionally has her “Blonde Moments”.

But in our discussion of reasons to practice Sarah didn’t miss the theme of most of the answers. She once again brought a smile to my face when she all of a sudden looked at me and said, “Well, why am I practicing?”

This is actually the question I was waiting for as it created an opportunity for me to explain to the girls the importance of the next few practices. In a nut shell, here is what I said.

#1 – We are practicing because we want to finish the season like we have practice and played all year long. . . and all year we have played with intensity and desire.

#2 - We owe it to ourselves and our competition to give the best we can give.

#3 – I reminded them of the story that was told to us earlier in the year at our workshop with “The One Man Volleyball Team” and how he thought players and teams who stop playing hard before the game is over are “PATHETIC” and I told them that they were too classy to be put into that group.

#4 – I explained to them that even though the loss to Frazee was frustrating and that it put us in a bad position in the tournaments, we had come a long way this year as a team.

This is the beauty of athletics. . . there are so many opportunities to test a person’s character and learn how to be a “winner” in life. For these girls to go out into the world knowing that even when the chips are down they still need to give their best, what an asset for them to have in their “tool box”.

So now you may be wondering about my initial statement. . . the one about “hoops has not gotten too much better”. . . Well Friday came and we were practicing, only for an hour mind you, and wouldn’t you know it. . . MAJOR INJURY #4 hits the team.

Chelsea Bjerke, sophomore point guard, severely sprains her ankle and will be out for at least two to three weeks! What the “heck” is going on here. . . we were now down to six players on varsity going into Saturday’s game against the #1 team in the state!!!!

I went home that night and cried. . . just kidding. But seriously, if you didn’t laugh at the situation we were in you pretty much would cry. I went home that night and called up the 9th and 8th graders to dress. We had to have more than six players warming up. . . it wouldn’t look too good to have three coaches and one player on the bench. The younger girls were actually excited about the opportunity to dress.

An added bonus was the fact that they would get to warm up at Concordia Field House. Concordia is the BIG TIME for Pelican Rapids’ hoops! Lots of great games and memories for players, fans and coaches.

We did catch a little break on Saturday. . . Game against Crookston was cancelled due to bad weather. . . Seriously. . . I was a happy coach!

Now we are back at it this week and we are excited to play Barnesville on Thursday. We will go into the game with hopes of being successful. We will work hard and give our very best. We will walk off the court a better team and with a feeling of satisfaction knowing that we gave our best to be our best.