DEFINITION OF COMPETITOR = RISK TAKER

Here are some questions to decide if you are a risk taker, or to ME a competitor.

1. Are you afraid to lose?
2. When you play open gym, do you guard the worst player on the floor or the best?
3. When is the last time you tried something new?
4. What is the hardest obstacle you've had to overcome?
5. Who gives you your confidence?
6. Last but not least, would you go skydiving?

Now as a coach, I look for those risk takers that aren't afraid to take the program the next step, the unknown because someone has to be the first. You can't be the first if you are afraid of what it might look like. Anyone can come into a successful program, but only a few get to CREATE it!

I wonder what Neil Armstrong's answers would be to these questions before walking on the moon.

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It's a wrap!! pt 3

6) We are getting healthier late in the season which is almost unheard of. Sarah's knee is getting stronger, Jenny is working through her legs with toughness, and Katie can finally get down in her athletic stance. Our trainer found her a chiropractor and she can now move like before her injury!

7) Senior night clinches the third spot for the Big Sky Tournament; Mara Hoefer has her career high with her parents watching her for the first time all the way from Germany. Nubia Garcia breaks a 1,000 career points, and Anne Phippard his a time out drawn play to hit a 3 for all players to have scored. We head into tournament with great momentum.

8) Nominations are announced for Big Sky All Conference. Erica Perry is 1st Team, Nubia Garcia 2nd Team, and Katie Bussey Freshman of the Year. We feel the team is coming together with our new offense, getting healthy, and grasping our defense at the right time.

9) Open up tournament with NAU who was our most difficult matchup of the year. Erica does her damage, Nubia defends like the Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year makes HUGE baskets down the stretch to send us in to the semi final round.

10) Our season finished 2 games short of our hopes to a high octane PSU, but we feel that our inconsistent up and down season finished on a solid 6-8 wins to losses down the stretch. Given our circumstances, obstacles, we did not give up, but instead regrouped and found a way to make a competitive run. That is PERSEVERENCE.

After a 3 hour banquet highlighting the year with an amazing highlight video by Coach Scanson, here were the team awards.

Academics: 4 President's List (straight A's) Anne, Sarah, Jamie, Mara

Most Improved Academically: Jenny

MSU Excellence: Mara Hoefer

Team: Will be in Top 15 again this year nationally. 6 players All Big Sky Academic Team

Community Service: Erica

Awards voted by Team

6th Man: Jamie

Defensive Player: Nubia

Most Improved: Mara

MVP: Erica

Bobcat Pride (voted by coaches): Anne

Tyler, our radio announcer told a few jokes that I won't throw out, and had a few laughs and tears and recapped why it is so fun to be a Bobcat! You get challenged, you grow, you compete, you have a blast, and you have a complete student athlete experience on and off the court.

I will miss these seniors, but like I told them last night. The foundation that was once broke four years ago when they started with me in this program is now fixed. It is stable because of their hard work and ready for the next step!

Thank you to the 2008-2009 WBB squad. What a year full of memories that will never be forgotten.

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It's a wrap! pt 2

3) Started off the schedule with major injuries and limited practice time.

Our starting forward Sarah Strand was still rehabbing back from micro fracture surgery. If we pushed her any harder she may not make it through the year. Other reports of micro fracture injuries had been career ending.

We had high expectations for our freshman Katie Bussey to pick up some scoring load with the graduation of First Team All Conference and MSU 3 point record holder Rebecca Mercer. Katie had a huge setback with a bulged disk in her back and was also limited and held out for 2 weeks around Christmas. Her back was so severe that she couldn't get down into a defensive stance. Could we get her healthy enough to contribute and learn our system?

Veteran and 2nd Team All Conference Jenny Heringer has chronic compartment syndrome in her legs. Rotating her in and out of drills limited numbers for practice players and time for her to get her feel back.

Nubia Garcia gets a concussion in conference and MUST sit out of road trip to UNC. We lose in overtime.

Mara Hoefer gets pneumonia second round of conference and miss at least 2 weeks of play.

How do we as a staff move forward in practices with limited players and not over work those who are in every drill? How do we get enough reps for players to be ready for games but healthy enough to contribute? Are we going to finish strong enough to make a run?

4) We hit conference to the most competitive balance in the Big Sky since I have been here. We started 0-3, and had to have a serious CHANGE of approach.

5) 3 overtime losses in the season we hit our fourth on the road at PSU who was undefeated at home and first in the conference. The turning point of the year, Erica Perry has a career night, and freshman Katie Bussey hits a game winning shot to turn the season around.

It's A Wrap! Part 1

We had our 2008-09 Season Banquet last night, and it was as fun as any.

Here is my quick recap of the year.

1) Selected in the fall to finish 3rd in the Big Sky Conference. Every year previously we had been nominated LOWER than what we finished. We had great expectations.

2) Took the chance of putting in a new offense called dribble drive motion even though we knew that our defense was most vulnerable. We, however, had the most dynamic point guard in the Big Sky for two more years, so getting her involved was a priority.

WIND OR BUG SHIELD?

Have you ever taken a ride in a convertible or on a Harley? It's one of the best getaways possible to have the wind in your hair, being out in the open, just taking in the beautiful scenery.

That's until a bug SMACKS right into your teeth, and you hopefully don't crash!

Well, I can't imagine being out in the "open" last night from my trip back from Miles City, Montana. On a four hour trip, I used my entire windshield wiper fluid and 3 stops to scrape the DEAD bugs from my wind shield.

I don't know if it's like birds leaving for the winter, but it seemed this spring was calling all bugs across the nation to literally head out to I-90 from 5:00-9:00pm. At first I thought it was merely rain even though my associate head coach who was also travelling with me said it was bugs smacking the windshield.

Then as I payed more attention I could see them coming toward me as if in a slow motion action movie right before their lives were instantly cut short.

If you have ever looked at one of those pictures that you have to gaze at for a while to see the picture unfold, it was just that as my eyes began to wander from the road to the thousands of insects starting to approach.

The good news is that I refocused, made it home safely. Unfortunately I feel bad about taking so many creature's lives in the process.

As I pulled into my driveway, I was extremely thankful to walk into the arms of my five year old with no bugs in my teeth.

Conclusion: Don't ride on a Harley or in a convertible on I-90. The scenery is just as spectacular through a window.

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Evaluation

That word seems so personal, but that is what coaches do. I am heading out to the east coast this weekend to evaluate, critique, observe, and watch every little detail of an athlete's game.

My job as a coach is to decide if a player is going to be physically good enough to play in our system, mentally tough enough to survive it, and emotionally passionate about this game so much that they would go above and beyond their competition.

Then the most important evaluation comes into play. What kind of person are they? Will they be a good teammate? Are they coachable? Are they of high integrity? Will they "fit" here?

Once we decide that, the recruiting begins. We know you. Now it's time for you to know Montana State.

Go Cats!

EASTER EGG RECORD

Now, some of us know the significance of Easter as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For a five year old, however, to comprehend the meaning of this day seems to be a little more difficult.

This is why I think the "Easter Bunny" was created. To believe that an Easter Bunny would bring you nice treats is hard to dismiss for any age.

My son is highly competitive. Where he gets that I have no idea. So when he heard about the Easter egg hunt he asked when and where!

So we headed to the Bridger Golf Course where our church organized one of the biggest Easter egg hunts of all time. You could see it in my son's eyes that he was ready to go. He had his basket, focus, got in his stance, and NO ONE was going to get more eggs than him.

If you want to see chaos, just watch 300+ kids running at the same time to pick up eggs in the fairway. Someone should have required helmets as it was going to be more physical than a rugby match.

The gun went off and the screaming began. In uder 30 seconds the eggs were swept up, my son's basket was full, and he was ready for more.

So we went home and created our own Easter egg hunt about a dozen times over the next two days, before church, after church, before bed. I would hide them. My son would hide them. My husband would hide them. I am pretty sure we broke a world record.

After the weekend was over and the energy subsiding we all crashed on the couch. As my son gets older he will begin to appreciate more regarding this unbelievable holiday, but for now, I am happy he didn't eat all of the candy in the eggs he found.

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