REBOUND REED

A DOLLOP OF CONFIDENCE CAN DO WONDERS

We know ourselves from the inside, but others only from the outside. We’re constantly aware of all our anxieties and doubts from within, yet all we know of others is what they happen to do and tell us, a far narrower, and more edited source of information. We are very often left to conclude that we must be at the more freakish and revolting end of human nature.

We’re not.

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If you came across 12-year old Chandler Reed on the street, you’d think he was a cool and hip 6th?grader with his long blonde hair and shy but smooth disposition.

You’d figure that maybe he was a skateboarder / surfer dude by the way he holds his shoulders up and back and the strut of his walk. Armed with a contagious smile, he’s easy to like from day one.??

I first meet Chandler late last year when he was a NJB basketball player. Chandler had been drafted by the Division 2 Suns near the bottom of the last round.??Player drafts are held to form basketball teams that are organized by NJB policies, the basketball coaches, and an assigned league commissioner.?

Just prior to the draft, both new and experienced players gather on a Saturday and are instructed to dribble a basketball at full speed up and down the court, perform lay-ups at full throttle and fire off jump shots from 10 to 15 feet away.?

The coaches want to see if the whirling and jumping Tasmanian Devils can run, shoot and dribble while still chewing gum. The tryouts help the coaches to choose and determine his or hers teams. Team names are drawn and are usually based on NBA teams such as the Lakers, Heat and Spurs.

Basketball games are played at the Laguna Hills Community Center and Sports Complex Niguel Center in Laguna Hills, California. Basketball leagues and teams are based on the player’s gender and grade levels.

Matt Miller, a resident of Aliso Viejo and a family dentist by trade, was the Suns head coach. I was his assistant and the team’s official ball boy and mascot, as both of our sons were members of the team. This year marked our 3rd?year coaching together.?

Without fail, Coach Miller always made the effort, while not always having the time, to review with the team the timeless principles contained in John Wooden’s bestseller book,?The Pyramid of Success. This book is one of the most popular and effective motivational books ever to be published. By his own definition, Coach Wooden, the legendary and always-humble former UCLA basketball coach defines the 15 interlocking building blocks of the pyramid of success as being:

“Success is a peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”

At the start of the season Chandler was a question mark. You could see that he had athletic ability and was physically big and well coordinated, but he had to learn the basics of the game. He had never played basketball before. Teaching young players how to run, jump and play basketball isn’t easy and requires a lot of time and patience.?

I remember after the first several games our team was getting hurt because we weren’t getting enough rebounds. I had pulled Chandler aside during warm-ups prior to a game and said, “Chandler, do you see any player over there on that team that is bigger than you are?” After looking across the floor he glanced back and said, “No coach, I don’t.”??“Well then, I don’t know why you can’t get every rebound out there today, do you?” He smiled, nodded and said, “Yea, maybe so.”?

Just prior to the buzzer signaling for the game to begin, I grabbed Chandler by his arm one more time and said, “Chandler listen closely, if the Suns are going win today, you’re going to have to dominate and get those rebounds. Now don’t tell your mom I’m telling you this, but move your hips like you’re doing the Spanish tango when fighting for those rebounds, it’ll help get you some needed space.”?

Rebounding a basketball is one of the hardest things to do in basketball. It requires coordination, athleticism, personal drive and dog-eat-dog-I-can-do determination. It also requires one to be unselfish whether one is mindful of the act or not. Rebounding enables a team a second, third or even a fourth chance to score and can change the complexion of a game quickly. In NJB games, pulling down 6 to 9 rebounds a game is considered to be very good.

The Suns won that game as I remember glancing over to Coach Miller sitting next to me in the closing moments of the game as he was displaying his patented Cheshire cat smile as I said, “Chandler Reeds new name is Rebound Reed and this kid is going to be a 1st?round draft choice next year; he’s a rebounding terror.”

This 6th?grade basketball rookie, who had been drafted next to last in the last round, became a rebounding Tyrannosaurus Rex as well as a scoring menace for the remainder of the season. He began sweeping the glass backboards by collecting anywhere from 20 to 33 rebounds a game for the remainder of the season, which ultimately resulted with him being selected and awarded by the other coaches of the league to the league’s All-Star team.?

What was most remarkable about Rebound Reed was how his confidence expanded by each ensuing game. As his sense of worth grew, he began to settle down more as he became oblivious to the crowds watching the game. He became focused. I remember one game after the 1st?quarter had ended, the Suns were winning by the score of 5 to 4 with Rebound Reed scoring all five points. As he headed towards the bench for some water, he had a certain look in his eyes that I had not witnessed before. He had found his own unique way, by his own exclusive efforts, with his teammates awarding him by high-fiving him for a job well done.

Sports are great for everyone despite the age or gender at hand. Soccer, baseball, football, hockey, swimming, cycling, running, any sport that can generate competitive instincts, which automatically enhances self-esteem. Sports keep the Sprites busy, out of trouble, away from the Nintendo games and can instill a wellspring of confidence that can be applied to any walks of life.

The hardest part of coaching is when the season comes to the end and you have to say good-bye to the Sputniks at a Round-Table pizza awards night.

All of the extended practices, exciting wins and heartbreak losses culminate with everyone growing together as a single unit at the end of the season. As a coach, you begin to feel that the players are one of your very own, as you get as much of a thrill and satisfaction as the players do when they steal passes, sink high arching 3-point buckets or make opponents eat leather by blocking their shots.

Though the 2007/2008 Suns season ended with a second round loss in the playoffs to the Lakers, the enduring effects of Rebound Reeds personal drive will never leave him.

I have faith that Rebound Reed and each of his teammates will apply the positive principles contained in the?Pyramid of Success?that was taught and displayed to them so aptly by Coach Miller, to their schooling as well as other constructive endeavors they so choose to do.?

And that maybe, just maybe, they’ll read outside basketball’s boundary lines and one day have a natural desire that will come from within to coach, teach, and award others themselves.

Steve Sayer is a 41-year veteran of the beef / poultry industry and a food safety / FDA / OSHA / Humane Handling and GFSI consultant representing Sayer Consulting / Auditing, LLC San Clemente, California. Reach him [email protected].

WORDS OF THE DAY

Whenever, Chick "Chicky Baby" Hearn (Nov. 27, 1916 – Aug. 5, 2002) - the NBA Hall of Famer and former Los Angeles Laker broadcaster believed a Lakers victory was clinched, Hearn would say:?

"You can put this one in the refrigerator.

The door's closed,

the light's out,

the eggs are cooling,

the butter's getting hard,

and the Jell-O is jiggling.

"Generations of fans were brought to the NBA by the voice and vision of Chick Hearn,"

Former NBA Commissioner David Stern