Coach Carter

So I have become head coach for the boy’s team and co-captain for the girls. When I volunteered I originally just wanted to coach the girls but the principle Micheal Burgland had his appendix rupture thus a boys coach was in order and Coach Priya was born.

I have had a lot of fun with them you should have seen me from the start I had no idea what their names were and some coach right. Running up and down shouting KID HANDS UP! NUMBER 14 NUMBER 14! PASS THE BALL. But after time I got it. On my Girls team we have Pauline, Joy, Danessa, Hope, Katherine, and Julie. For my boys there is Tyler, Yushiki, Hiroki, Damen, Joey, Raven, Jude, and Jether.  I feel so proud of myself.

So I titled this entry coach carter for a reason. My team is built up from 5-8^th grade and since this is still school grades are important. Now I’m never really a happy person when I come to the elementary school from the CDC ready for a game and I find out such and such can’t play because they were disruptive in class. So punishment is you can’t play for the first two quarters. This sucks for me because its usually my better players. But I accept it.

Recently though I myself had to enforce it. I came to the school ready and excited for the upcoming game when I notice one of my team members was balling (no pun intended) his eyes out. I look at the other boys to find out what happened and they whisper his grades. Come to find he is not allowed to play at all because of a situation dealing with a test he took that day. I felt sorry for the kid because to him this game was very important. So I go to Miss Tina to find what exactly happened. He had completed his math test that day without doing any of the working. So Miss Tina called him back to do the work and instead he just switched around some answers but still no working. She looked at me and said I’m sorry but it’s not fair for him not to do his work. So I go back to him pull him to the side and have a chat…so this part of my coaching is new, cause its mainly just lay ups, how to box out, jumping for the rebound, dribbling. Today I had to talk to my kid about his work and its importance. It was tough because he’s crying into my shirt because he doesn’t want to be seen and when were finally alone he kept his head in his shirt so I couldn’t see.  I explained to him that it was important that his grades are improved because basketball as good as he is at playing it will not help him in his future. I encouraged him to redo the test as Miss Tina suggested, and to take his time and not to be afraid to ask for help. I told him that if he does his best and focuses he could be finished in time to play the second half. So that’s what he did, he was able to make it for the last quarter. He was a great addition to my already tired team. But what I really enjoyed was the grade Miss Tina presented me after the game. She had graded it and he only got one wrong.  Im pretty sure he must have felt more confident when it comes to work after such a great improvement.

So it’s nothing as great as the real deal Coach Carter but I’m glad I can help out the few kids I play Basketball with. And yes it’s a bummer when they can’t play or they miss practice for study hall but at the end their getting prepared for a bigger world. And I think that’s a hard concept for them to learn because here in Saipan its almost if your born here your stuck here. So for at least these 14 kids I hope I can help change that way of thinking.