Bball Girl
10-31-2006, 08:13 PM
I don't know if many of you read the Double A-Zone blog, but recently Josh posted a letter that he received from the parent of a D1 player (with permission).
This is what it's all about and some parents do get it!
http://www.doubleazone.com/2006/10/note_from_a_parent.html
I received a heartwarming note over the weekend from the parent of a Division I women’s basketball player. With his permission, I’ve decided to post it as a guest blog.
I am tired of people asking me how much playing time I expect my daughter to get this year, what's her 3 pt average and the like. Like the students you write about on your blog, her life stats are what the student-athlete experience is all about. The opportunities to learn life lessons are presented many times each and every day to my daughter. They were all told in high school how hard it's going to be at college, how tough the practices and workouts will be, how you have to learn to manage your time, and they all learn it is even tougher than they were told. The stars of the student-athlete arena are the ones who learn how to handle this, learn how to make good decisions, learn the values of community service, deal with adversity, learn to understand the differences in leadership styles from coaches to professors and support their teammates who have the same struggles and obstacles to overcome.
My daughter plays for one of the most famous women's basketball players of all time. I could care less if Coach teaches my daughter how to make a proper bounce pass on a pick and roll. I do care that Coach is teaching my daughter about group dynamics, decision making, leadership, altruism, empathy, humility and winning in life. I care that my daughter learns to analyze and evaluate. I care that she learns about the relationship between risk and reward and when she graduates she has an innate understanding of the critical importance of having roles and responsibilities defined and understood by every member of the team at hand.
Yes, my daughter has stats. She maintained a 3.8 GPA the year her mother and grandmother passed away. She got an A on a paper she worked on at the hotel in Bristol while her teammates toured ESPN. My daughter has talked to the young kids at a basketball camp about being successful on the academic court. After her first year, she decided to take a dual major; she evaluated it, she analyzed it and said to me "If anyone can do it, I can." My daughter is a junior on the roster sheet but she has already graduated!
For those who get it, the experience can truly be priceless.
This is what it's all about and some parents do get it!
http://www.doubleazone.com/2006/10/note_from_a_parent.html
I received a heartwarming note over the weekend from the parent of a Division I women’s basketball player. With his permission, I’ve decided to post it as a guest blog.
I am tired of people asking me how much playing time I expect my daughter to get this year, what's her 3 pt average and the like. Like the students you write about on your blog, her life stats are what the student-athlete experience is all about. The opportunities to learn life lessons are presented many times each and every day to my daughter. They were all told in high school how hard it's going to be at college, how tough the practices and workouts will be, how you have to learn to manage your time, and they all learn it is even tougher than they were told. The stars of the student-athlete arena are the ones who learn how to handle this, learn how to make good decisions, learn the values of community service, deal with adversity, learn to understand the differences in leadership styles from coaches to professors and support their teammates who have the same struggles and obstacles to overcome.
My daughter plays for one of the most famous women's basketball players of all time. I could care less if Coach teaches my daughter how to make a proper bounce pass on a pick and roll. I do care that Coach is teaching my daughter about group dynamics, decision making, leadership, altruism, empathy, humility and winning in life. I care that my daughter learns to analyze and evaluate. I care that she learns about the relationship between risk and reward and when she graduates she has an innate understanding of the critical importance of having roles and responsibilities defined and understood by every member of the team at hand.
Yes, my daughter has stats. She maintained a 3.8 GPA the year her mother and grandmother passed away. She got an A on a paper she worked on at the hotel in Bristol while her teammates toured ESPN. My daughter has talked to the young kids at a basketball camp about being successful on the academic court. After her first year, she decided to take a dual major; she evaluated it, she analyzed it and said to me "If anyone can do it, I can." My daughter is a junior on the roster sheet but she has already graduated!
For those who get it, the experience can truly be priceless.