Well, it has been a few weeks since my last post and that has been due to me being immersed in basketball. And the big time investment was in our first ever Country Bible & Basketball Camp in Waverly, KS. Waverly is where I grew up and my parents still live. We hosted the girls and the coaches at Peniel Bible Church & Campgrounds where my parents attend church. We then got access to the very nice high school gym for the basketball portion of the Camp.
We had a wonderful time. I keep telling everyone who asks, that the week was everything I hoped for...
- Gain a better understanding of God. My Dad taught daily bible lessons.
- Establish and strengthen bonds between girls.
- Increase our basketball abilities and knowledge. 17 hours of basketball surely did that.
- Have fun! With trampolines, water slides (highlight for the girsl!), movie nights, horses, pool party and a carnival, I think we did this well.
Throw in some wonderful meals provided by my wife Cindy, my Mom and my sisters (Donna and Becky) plus very minor injuries and I am not sure how we could have achieved more. The weather of course was a challenge, but we kept the girls supplied with a lot of water and kept the fans blowing.
I had wonderful help from my family as I have mentioned, but I also had superlative help from my assistant coach Diane Metcalf who besides helping coach during the gym sessions, conducted a warm up session each morning with the girls teaching them how to stretch and develop their core, taught them some simple but effective strengthening plans and was dorm mom to the upper classmen. Missy Grote was coach, medic, cabin mom, counselor, stat recorder and all around great help. I had several dads drive down to help out with the basketball portion: Greg Smith, Blake Welch, Troy Evans and John Adams. A good friend of mine also came down to help out Matt Schoenfeld. The Camp would not have gone nearly as well without all of this great help.
Let me finish by saying how wonderful your daughters were. Even in the heat they pushed themselves, they found the focus and energy to encourage others and there was very little drama. Each girl has found a place in my heart and it was so fun to see them grow and find success in basketball. When we had competitions - and we had a lot of them - I found myself cheering strongly for each of them to win. But even when they didn't, I found joy in seeing them improve and win on that all important battlefield of personal challenge. There will be challenges and victories, peaks and valleys this year, but I am going to love linking arms with these girls and enjoying the journey. Only 119 days until we start our season!
