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Building character though basketball

By Aim High Hoops

I am in the midst of creating a summer class for incoming high school students. The purpose is to teach personal and interpersonal habits that can help them be successful in high school.  The text on which we’ll base the curriculum, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens”, by Sean Covey, describes the “private victory” habits first, which young people use to feel comfortable and confident with who they are as individuals. Covey then moves on to the “public victory” habits, which help to create positive and productive relationships.  He goes to great lengths describing how human nature requires us to win that “private victory” first before moving on to the “public victory.”

What does this have to do with basketball?

How often have you heard a coach, player, announcer, or journalist talking about a basketball team playing (or not playing) well together? Playing together means that individuals on a team make a mental commitment to do what is necessary to help their team succeed.  A lot of times it means doing the tough things; i.e. taking charges, and the unselfish things, like making an extra pass to the “very open” teammate. 

It takes self-confidence to put the team’s success first, and it shows strong character.  Watching northern Illinois native and Butler Bulldog senior, Willie Veasley, is an illustration of character on display in basketball.  Here is a 22 year-old, who as averaged single-digit points for his career, yet is the winningest player in Butler history, and has now led his team to the Final 4 with a chance to be a national champion. There are games he has had where the stats are all but absent, yet he was one of the main reasons his team played well and was victorious. 

How can that be? Well, Veasley has enough confidence in himself that he is not threatened by the success of his teammates. He has worked hard enough, believed in himself all along the way, and has learned the value of working to bring out the best in his teammates for the good of the team. 

That is part of the package we offer at Aim High Hoops. Our training videos emphasize the values of conditioning (hard work) and confidence, two traits that will allow players to be successful within and beyond basketball.

Check back soon!

Billy Lewis & Jonathan Schneiderman

Aim High Hoops, Inc.

www.AimHighHoopsOnline.com

Time for the Madness!

By Aim High Hoops

March is here.  For basketball fans, this is the best time of the year.  It starts with high school playoffs, followed by the NCAA conference championship week, and of course, finishes with the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments. 

There is so much more that goes on during March Madness beyond the great basketball games.  The Madness represents so many different things for so many different people. Players, parents, coaches, and fans are all fully emerged into the phenomena, and there is nothing else like it.

From the players’ perspective, “bittersweet” is the best way to describe the Madness. Many are playing their last high school or college games before moving on to the next level, while even more have laced the sneakers up for the last time.  The few that can call themselves “champions” have completed journeys that began before they could remember, and that took thousands of hours of practice to achieve.  They all share a bond with friends and others that are only teammates, a bond formed from the time, sweat, and physical and mental challenges endured together throughout their seasons and careers.

For fans of all ages, March Madness is a time to forget about other things for a while and be a kid again, by sharing in the tears of joy and sadness with the teams and players they love.  What fans look forward to every year is the great competition and exciting plays, the last-second shots, and the clutch defensive stops.  They cheer for the underdogs… the George Mason Universities who shock the world and reach the ultimate pinnacle of college basketball, the Final Four.  They take off work on Friday and head to Peoria, IL, or Madison, WI, to watch the local high school playing in their first State Tournament series in the school’s history, and for those few hours, they are in a different world.  What these fans see in these teams that make it to the end is a culmination of hard work, sacrifice, a drive towards a common goal, and a lot of good fortune along the way!

Enjoy the Madness!

Billy Lewis & Jonathan Schneiderman

Aim High Hoops, Inc.