Special Olympics
I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to help coach basketball for Special Olympics. I have been playing basketball forever and it is one of my favorite things, but I have never coached basketball. Making things harder was the fact that I played basketball on the nights that Special Olympics practiced. Lucky for me two things happened that influenced my decision. The first being that a few of my clients were really excited about me coaching them and the second being that I hurt my foot playing in a basketball tournament. Since I could not play for a while, my fate was sealed and I went to my first practice.
Practice was interesting. I noticed right away the evil influence of the NBA on our players. Almost everyone wanted to take the shot and no one wanted to pass the ball. People always want to ban naughty words and behaviors from television, yet they encourage families to watch the NBA! Our first practice consisted of some dribbling, passing, and shooting drills. I was very impressed with the athleticism of many of our players. I also could see how much fun everyone was having. When practice ended the coach told everyone that the only way to get better was to practice as much as possible. He wanted everyone to practice dribbling and shooting at home.
When our second practice started, it was easy to see who had practiced during the week and who had not. I was blown away by how fast a few of the players had improved.
We were beat very convincingly in our first game. I don’t really think that we were ready for that game, but it was good experience for all the players. ~more
