THE BOND THAT BECKONS

You can’t always see the difference you’re making if ever but you can sense when your attempts to make an impact are aimed in the right direction. With the help of some friends, I conducted a mini-camp at Sierra Vista High School this past weekend for about 25 basketball players, most of them high school aged. The kids were predominantly Latino but almost all of them non-whites. There wasn’t a rich kid in the gym but these athletes were early on both days, devoid of excuses and gluttons for working hard. It was like nothing I’ve seen and at the same time what I’ve come to expect from the Dons of Sierra Vista. Talk about talent deficits all you want but I’d rather talk about fearlessness and the hope I saw this weekend as I talked about character pillars like motivation and integrity. We had two emphases on Saturday and Sunday: #1 Check your motives for why you do everything and #2 Be the same everywhere, honest, responsible and committed to improvement. That was it and they got it. Words fail as usual with anecdotes about special kids from whatever side of the tracks people might say they come from. I don’t care about train tracks though. All I care about is that these kids never stop showing up early, barreling through adversity and competing until coach kicks them out of the gym.

How do you teach tenacity to teens who excuse themselves to go throw up during a workout and slide back into the gym undetected never making light of their momentary lapse? I got hugs from each and every one of the 25 when it was all done. We took pictures and played some 5-on-5 on the days kids are supposed to be anywhere but at school. It doesn’t take long to form a bond with a group of people when you feel called to them and vice-versa. Man I’d do this every weekend if my wife permitted and if I thought it would help unleash the attributes already housed in the heart of extraordinary individuals from cities like Baldwin Park, California.