Bison Update

Seeing as we had our Bison Christmas party tonight, I thought it was appropriate to give you the update on how things are going with the team.

Knowing all the hard work the core group put in this summer we were optimistic about that being our foundation for the day to day work throughout the season. We started the season off knowing that the first two months were going to be about trying to define our style of play and getting the girls to buy into a system that required everyone to embrace their role. By making sure all the girls were coming in fit and ready to play we thought we could avoid the injury bug that usually hits by the end of the first month. Well that was replaced by wrong-place-wrong-time injuries - but as much as that was hard to deal with for a young team it gave a good opportunity for players to step up earlier that expected. Overall the preseason was full of growing pains but there were some moments of promise and validation for the hard work the players had put in - although we finished 1-7 it had a positive feel that we were working towards wins.

We than had 6 regular season games for the first half schedule - with a good balance of competition. Starting with a home series against Alberta, it was a good eye opener of how far we still had to go, but we had some great quarters in which the girls executed the way we need to to win.

We than traveled to BC to play against Fraser Valley and Trinity Western. As a coaching staff we went into that weekend with the mentality that being the first travel trip and a young team, we would let the girls figure out how to respond to adversity on their own. The first day and night was tough for everyone (we lost badly by 42, having more turnovers than shot attempts!) but it was a great growing experience and the optimistic in me has to believe that it will serve a purpose in the future - if it already hasn't. Than we got our first win the following night with a great total team contribution in a close, competitive game against Trinity Western.

Our third weekend was a road trip to Brandon that was theme - The Business Trip. "Take our job, our opponent and our game plan seriously - get in and get out." Although we struggled offensively we managed to get the job done, while adopting the Tebow mentality (reference to NFL quarterback Tim Tebow - that winning doens't have to be pretty).

We finished off the first half with a home and home series with the University of Winnipeg. Again the injury bug played a role in our team dynamics but girls stepped up and allowed us to have a game plan that made this a none factor. We battled hard in both games but we came up short in one quarter in each game, that saw us on the losing end both games.

Officially we finish the first half 3-5, good for 6th place in CanWest East.


The underlining themes that need to be addressed for us to have more success in the second half of the season:

- finding a way to RESPOND to adversity with a positive attitude

- feel excited to be the underdog and have belief that we can compete with any team in the country

- faith that everyone's role is equally as important and having an authentic/positive attitude towards it

Highlights for me from a coaching perspective:

- girls that committed to the summer program were stronger, faster and better understood the culture we want to create

- the off-court commitments have been attacked head-on and with enthusiasm

- the chemistry on the team, as a whole, is the best I have been around the past 7 years I have been here and girls seem comfortable to be themselves

Seeing girls individually have success on a daily, weekly or monthly basis is the most rewarding for me and what keeps me wanting to get back to the gym everyday. Just based on my nature I need to do a lot of detailed planning and have a grasp on everything that could potentially effect our ability to have success, but that does have a receipt for stress. For now I'm learning the ups and downs of this coaching gig, but on the basketball court is where I still feel the most confidence and have peace of mind that it is somewhere were I can make a difference, so I will continue to get out there as much as I can, in any capacity I can.

I should take the time to thank everyone who have continually been supportive of my choice to coach at this level while still being in school. Whether you have been understanding to the fact that on some days all I can talk about is basketball or that my emotions can be dictated by a ball going into a hoop, or just being there for me to vent. You know who you all are and I could never say it enough - THANK YOU!!

Keeping my goals and expectations reasonable but ambitious, I continue to be appreciative of my opportunities and not take them for granted.

"Faith. Focus. Finish." LF

Mich (-11)