Inches away from the girl’s face is where our freshman guard’s hand stayed while she was assigned to the task. We had asked her to deny the other team’s best player the ball and stick a hand in her face and oh how she listened. It was awesome to watch this freshman who a few weeks earlier had logged only a few varsity minutes all season. With a teammate going down with a season ending injury we asked her to step into a more active role and she rose to the occasion. We were facing a team who had beaten us less than a week earlier and we knew we had to slow down their best player. It would be a team approach as opposed to putting the entire burden on our lone senior like we had in the previous game.

So, when the freshman’s number was called, she went out on the court and was this girls shadow. Stalking her everywhere on the court and not just putting a hand in her face when she tried to shoot but keeping it there the entire time. It was an awesome sight to see. She went out there with the attitude that she would shut her down. She was guarding someone with more experience, and at this point more skill, yet at no time did she back down.

This freshman is one of those kids that’s a coaches love to coach. Her attitude is incredible in two ways. The first way is in the positive receptive way. She is coachable, open to changing her game to get better, and does everything with a smile on her face. She also has this fearless attitude; it is one that no matter what is asked of her she is going to go for it. She won’t back down from the pressure of a big moment and even when things don’t go exactly right, she keeps on going. There is no defeat in her just on to the next play to do whatever she can do to help her team.

I am sorry to say that this game was the last of our season. With the postseason loss we were sent home, but it was not for lack of effort by this freshman or the rest of the team. I was fortunate enough to get to coach girls high school basketball this season with great coaches and incredible players. It was sad to see the season end but great to see growth in the team and the attitude of a freshman asked to step up.

I hope you can take inspiration from this story and use it as motivation to bring a great attitude to whatever challenging task is facing you. Attitude is my word of the year. I will continue to bring you stories of great attitude I come across throughout the year. If you have any you would like to share with me, to pass on or not, please don’t hesitate to contact me.