Italy: Day 1

I’m in Rome tryin to evade projections. There’s a tendency to absorb the expectaions and/or praises of an impressionable demographic. See, there’s these boys ages 9-17 who want nothing more than to be trained by  an African American, 6’5″, former college player guy from Los Angeles. It’s no diferent than what I wanted at that age. So the kids at camp hailing from places like Lebanon, Dubai, Northern Italy, etc. make it a point to display their swagger, their prowess their Americanness. There’s such a thing as American Stadard I guess, some benchmark of “I’ve arived” that is synonymous with the United States. I’m a bit confused when young men are striving to live like they think I live.

I’m confused because I wonder what images they’ve seen of Americans. Even more importantly, I’m wondering how much one week can actually impact young men I may never see again. On this first day of NBC Camp Italia, I’ve tried to avoid becoming that characture of a personality who kids remember as the athletic archetype who blows into a room, and wastes the opportunity to influence athletes toward healthy living and the Truth of God. The temptation is great regarding this. So instead of thinking I’m so awesome because these kids don’t see a slam dunk very often, I’m working hard this week to have meaningful conversations even if I have to enlist the help of a translator. I’m not the “man” but there’s always a dude inside of me sayin’, “Go ahead…Be the man Norman for just a couple of weeks. These kids have mad love for you.” Gotta fight the pseudo naivete. These kids want to be who they think I am and I can control that desire by being the real me. If they meet him, the real me, they’ll see a guy who has chosen to lead a life that alienates him from the popular worldview. If I had cue cards for the next two weeks in Italy they would have words like, ASK HARD QUESTIONS, DEMAND HONESTY, TEACH DISCIPLINE, MODEL SELFLESSNESS, HONOR FAITHFUL PEOPLE, SUBMIT TO VISION AND REQUIRE THE SAME OF YOUR ATHLETES…all of which should define a week’s worth of coaching even in Europe.