My 7th grade boys season

By Vinette Ly

There is so much I want to say and not sure where to start. This season has definitely been placed very high in my most accomplished in my lifetime. I am so proud of my team. The five boys that I saw at our first practice to the five boys I saw shaking my hand before I presented them our 1st place trophy have well deserved the 1st place title. These five boys have fought hard for that spot and improved so much.

We had our low points -- not even going to lie. In the beginning, we understood that with five players, we definitely have a disadvantage going into the games. We had to build trust very quickly. If one player decided to be late or does not show up we would have to forfeit, this made me very nervous. I knew how badly they wanted to win and make everyone who support them proud so I trusted them to be there.

Fouling was another problem. Early in the season, maybe our first three games or two we had to play with four players in the fourth quarter. This always made it easier for the other team to score.

Then we had the problem of not showing up to practice because someone decides to misbehave at school. With five players when someone misses practice it just makes it so much harder to practice. We knew as coaches we needed to do something for these problems to stop and we couldn't be at school with them to watch them. So James, John and I decided to make up rules or almost like punishments for the team if someone got fouled out or missed practice because of behavior. These rules were the start to our winning streak.

When our record was 2-3, we all knew that we had to win every game. They had a slow start at many games, but they always keep their fight and never gave up. They started to play as a team and motivated each other to play hard. In our championship game , everyone scored. They passed the ball to each other for fast breaks. They boxed out, and they made their free-throws and lay-ups. They proved everyone who have ever doubted or underestimated them wrong.

I am so thankful and grateful that I had the opportunity to coach. I am so happy to still be part of St. Mary's. Thank you everyone who supported us. Thank you everyone who helped us during practice. Thank you all the teams we played against because you made our team learn and become so much better. Thank you parents for giving me an opportunity to coach your kid. Thank you Bryan for giving me this wonderful opportunity. Thank you Justin, Jeremy, Miles, Michael Ng and Michael Fong for trusting in me to be your coach. Finally, thank you John and James for being EVERYTHING.

The smallest school with loudest and the biggest crowd. I heart you!!!

Thanks for reading.