Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Recruiting Season

Yes, it is July and for those of you in the coaching world, it's a time to get your rear ends in shape, eyes wired, and GPS navigation systems ready. Jumping from gym to gym, I don't think any coach will argue that we may get lost from time to time.

Recruiting is constant year round, but in July it takes on a whole new life from 7:00am-10:00pm. July is also one of the most exciting times for coaches after getting to know our prospects on the phone, we actually get to watch them shine on the court.

This July, however, has been a little unsual for me as I am now only weeks away from delivery of our second child. Since it is forbidden in the medical field to allow travel in the last month of the trimester, I sent off my trusty assistants to the tournaments and stayed home to hold down the fort.

At first I thought this would be extremely hard as I love to watch the games in person, but I will admit there have been some great advantages of staying home. I suppose the first is being able to see all of our newcomers on a regular basis as they come in and out of the offices. I love seeing them connect as instant friends and watching the chemistry unfold with our returners.

The second advantage is recruiting in itself. With the advancement in internet capabilities two of the major summer tournaments are now on-line. So even though my staff has to wait until 9:00pm to watch a certain player, I can get a good night's sleep, get on-line anytime, put my feet up, and watch.

It almost sounds too good to be true doesn't it? I suppose the disadvantage is that the footage isn't quite as clear as it would be in person, but my son and husband aren't complaining as I have seen them more this month than any of the last four July viewing periods.

I suppose this summer I get the best of both worlds. That is until my contractions begin. Those of you mothers out there know that delivery is mainly the means to the end. I suppose for our athletes the closest comparison would be summer and fall conditioning. Although not the most fun part of the day for most, the results are always worth it in the end.

Coach Bin

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