My son played Freshman basketball this school year. He had a great season with a wonderful group of young men and two tremendous coaches. I would like to recognize Coach Neidig and Coach Newton from the Delaware Valley School District. Both did a tremendous job guiding, molding, and directing these 14 and 15-year-olds. It takes a certain person to coach Freshmen for sure. Just getting them to the court with their uniforms, socks, and sneakers on time is a win!
In this one particular game, we were winning by 25 points. The game was clearly in hand and the second stringers were in. They were working hard, but got turned around during an inbound play. Coach popped off the bench and yelled for a time out. He enthusiastically gathered the kids around and instructed them on how to correctly run the out of bounds play. He did it with passion and fire and acted as if the game was tied.
The boys ran back out on the court and executed the play he just instructed, leading to two more points. The coach applauded them, yelled good job, and the game moved on.
I was reflecting on this moment. He could’ve just let it pass. He could’ve just let it go that the boys screwed up the play. He could have laughed it off to boys being boys, or that it didn’t matter because they had won the game anyway.
Of course it mattered. He wanted them to do it correctly. It was important that they ran the play as it should be to get the outcome they wanted. This is an incredible lesson also in addition to being a great basketball player.
Coach wanted to run the play correctly and he wanted the boys to know that they needed to run it correctly regardless of the score.
I think as we continue to guide young people in our various leadership positions that we continue to model doing things correctly. Even the smallest of things, because those precious eyes are watching us.
Great job Coach Neidig and Coach Newton for imparting these important lessons on these young men. I’m sure these moments will come back later in their lives so they get it right! Well done.
Keep surviving and thriving friends! #SurviveThrive
