Life Lessons Continued

It was a true privilege to play for the Taylor County Lady Vikings for four years, although only two of those were with THE Taylor County Lady Vikings. Just making the team was a great accomplishment in my eyes and I enjoyed every minute -- even during those years after losing the senior class that was so loaded with talent that it can't be adequately described coupled with losing a spectacular coach.

Reading the blogs does cause a lot of memories to surface. The power of the fear factor keeps bubbling up for me. As a freshman, I was totally intimated by the whole team and just worked hard to keep up. The fear of having Coach Carter address me individually kept me completely motivated. Lots of time at practice I wasn't sure at all what I was supposed to be doing, but I learned quickly -- as Edie stated -- don't throw the ball away.

Once we were working on a drill on how drive from the side of the foul line by stretching that first step. Patsy Ranow -- a senior that year who was quick as a cat and tough as nails -- was the guard that we had to drive around. The fear factor was truly working for me that day. Coach Carter said to drive around her so I did -- to the surprise of everyone, including myself. Coach Carter gave me a funny look and told me to do it again. Somehow I was successful again. He then asked me if my game uniform was so heavy that it was slowing me down in games. Of course I didn't realize the sarcasm -- I just knew that I was too afraid not to do what he told me to do. You can call it fear or respect, but I know at times it allowed me to do the impossible!

In spite of my complete fear of disappointing Coach Carter, I too have many life lessons learned from the basketball experience: when faced with a setback, keep your eye on the bigger picture (definitely learned the night of THE loss); it takes a team to win; fundamentals, planning, practice and hard work are the keys to success; win with class and face defeat the same way; always anticipate. When I see other successful teams, whether in sports or other activities, these characteristics are usually present. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to learn these lessons while having fun playing basketball.