“Little things and little people matter
because there are no little things or little people.
Everything and everyone matters.” -Hal Wilson
-A truth I tried to instill in my teams.
Part of the challenge of coaching today is getting people to see and empathize outside of their own experience. In the article linked to above, our administration and team joined together to support part of our family- our head custodian. As a player I was taught that the custodians and team managers are not our servants- that we should clean up after ourselves and I tried to do that with my teams. In my teams’ locker room we had what we called the “Pride Patrol” which meant that every day someone was assigned to clean the locker room- and not just the underclassman!
I have seen many schools rally around their own in adverse situations, but in this case it was especially meaningful to me because it was not a team member, but still a valued member of our school that we were able to help. Like most coaches, I tried to push the idea of the team as a family and in this case our family just got a little bit bigger.
I am happy to say that at last report Cathy, the custodian in the story, was doing well!
Until next time, Coach ‘em up!
Hal Wilson
About the author: After coaching and working with basketball teams at the college, high school, and youth level in a variety of roles for 18 years, I have returned to finish my Ph.D. in Kinesiology & Sport Studies. This www.CoachingBasketballWisely.com website is a way to share the coaching tips, strategies, and techniques gathered in a career in coaching. See more info on me here.
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