The little team that could. Just take one look at this group and you might not take them seriously. I mean after all most of them are smaller in stature than their counterparts. They laugh during games, make funny gestures to each other and have even been known to do a cartwheel or two in a game. Many opponents have looked down to the other end of the court during warmups and scoffed thinking they had this game in hand. But this was the little team that could.
This is a team that runs and presses with basically their starting five. The 6th girl sees spot action. But they chugged along this year taking every challenge in stride, smiling as they did. They make it to the State Championship, never a small feat, and low and behold their leading scorer and primary ballhandler fouls out in the 3rd quarter (no that isn’t a typo). No problem. Their 2nd leading scorer and really only post player (if you even want to call her that) fouls out early in the 4th quarter. Did I mention these two accounted for the majority of scoring not only in this game but the season as well?
No problem because this was the little team that could. Another small in stature but big in heart teammate, comes off the bench without having seen any significant minutes much less any that were pressure filled and she does her part. And did I mention the bench of this little team that could? The bench rarely saw playing time during the season, but they may have enjoyed the journey as much as those that did play. They were difference makers. They yelled, cheered, salsaed during made free throws, and willed the ones on the court to finish what they had started. Because this was the little team that could. And did I mention the 3 senior leaders, all playing their last basketball game of their lives? Again, look at them and assume and you will be fooled. What these 3 lacked in size they had in heart and leadership. They refused to lose (yes that is the name of my company and they embodied this name as well if not better than any one that I have coached. They were the engines of the little team that could. And last but not least were the coaches, that were the conductors of this team. Coaches that made sure they did everything possible to not have regrets but most of all coaches that cared and nurtured this “family”. And before you knew it, this little team that could became the little team that did.
Tami Matheny is a Mental Game Coach and Author of “The Confident Athlete: 4 Easy Steps to Build and Maintain Confidence”. She owns and runs, Refuse2LoseCoaching which provides mental coaching for athletes and teams at all levels. Follow her on twitter @r2lcoaching and Instagram @refuse2losecoaching.
For more information about “The Confident Athlete” visit: hhttps://r2lc.com/the-confident-athlete-4-easy-steps-to-build-and-maintain-confidence/. It can be purchased online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. For group discounts contact tami@r2l.mysites.io
For daily confidence tips, follow “The Confident Athlete” on twitter @tamimatheny and sign up for the monthly confidence calendar: https://r2lc.com/monthly-confidence-calendar-newsletter/