High School Girls Basketball

After reading Newsday’s “Girls Insider: Ward Melville Takes Big Step” I started to think about my two seasons playing girls varsity basketball at Ward Melville: 1998-1999 (record 0-12) and 1999-2000 (record 1-11). To a basketball fan (or any sports fan for that matter) these numbers lead to an automatic judgment that this team was a “doormat” for other teams to stomp on, but to me these numbers have much greater meaning. They mean jump roping as fast as I could, running “suicides” and doing defensive drills for hours on end. They mean pasta parties and dressing up for school on game days. They mean building friendships that still exist today and will likely last forever. Most of all; these numbers mean building character.

Those two basketball seasons at Ward Melville were tough, but they made us tougher. My junior year all of the seniors except for one quit and we looked up to that remaining senior. Instead of torturing or belittling our underclassmen teammates like many teams do, we took them under our wing and pushed them during practice in hopes of a better record the following year. Regardless of a lost game or lost players, the team would always come to practice the next day ready to work hard once again.

Don’t get me wrong; I am thrilled to know that the program I left behind 8 years ago is more competitive now and may even be on its way to a county championship game. However, having a winning record isn’t everything. How many high school “superstars” go on to play Division 1 anything? Not too many. What I did learn from those three hour practices and losing records was to never quit, to keep my chin up, to support my teammates no matter what, and to take losing in stride.

I plan to coach basketball one day and I will definitely want to win, but I will never be the type of coach that runs up the score just to prove something. I will be classy and teach my team what it means to be sportsmanlike because that is the type of person I have learned to be.

As coach of the Deer Park girls basketball team the Alyson Dzierzynski story about being an inspiration to all might be the best "feel good story" of this season, but it has been the best feel good story of my life. It has changed the person I am and has made realize what is really important in life. I know many coaches like myself who get so wrapped up in what we are doing that sometimes we forget the things that truly matter. I am the type of coach who always took the losses hard and would always take them home with me. While at home, I would spend countless hours wondering what could I have done different, watching film to the early hours of the morning. Now things are different. When Alyson Dzierzynski was diagnosed with cancer, I like many were shocked with such devastating news. They say something good always comes out of something bad. For me, I now realize that this is only only a game. While yes I love to win this year has taught me what truly matters and that is my family. The losses stay on the court, the game film waits until tommorrow. When newsday reporter Adam Ronis asked what has been the hardest part about the last couple of weeks, I gave him the typical metaphoric answer "keeping the team together" but in reality it has been getting home in time for bathtime and bedtime, the things that truly matter in life!