RMAC Time!

Conference games start this week.  We will open on the road at Metro.  Game time is 5 pm -come and make some noise for the Rangers if you are able.

While our team is still a work in progress-we are definitely making progress.  Our mantra is to get 1% better everyday.  Every practice, every shoot-around, every game.  Our foundation has been laid and now we have to build on what we know and work to refine areas that we will have to count on during our 22 game conference grind.

Our team is made up of wonderful people who lead and respond to each other in an amazing way.  I can't wait to go on this ride with this group and see just how much they can accomplish.  I feel blessed to be a part of our RUWBB family.

PS:  Check out Tae'lor's new blog about her adventure in Holland.  She is wonderful writer!
http://taelordeepurdy.wordpress.com/

Road Trip!

RUWBB started our season on the road in Oregon.  It rained like crazy the first day but temperatures in the 30's felt like heaven compared to the single digits we had here in Denver.

Road trips are great for teams-especially early in the season.  Time away from campus and other friends allows us to focus on each other and the game we truly love.  There are a lot of laughs and loud music in the vans.  The players always seem to be able to catch up on some much needed sleep.

We were able to build on the great experience from our exhibition weekend and go 2-0 in our first regular season games.  As usual, there were many ups and downs and lots of things for us all to work on.  Our team was impressive in our resilience and ability to stick together through all of the momentum swings.

We play again this Saturday at 5 pm.  Our team is conducting a canned food drive and fans can receive $1 off admission for each can of food you bring.

Here is a link to our full season schedule.  http://regisrangers.com/sports/wbkb/2014-15/schedule

Game Time!

Tomorrow we will play our first games of the season.  They are exhibition games which means they don't count for anything but are played like real games.  Our players have been working hard and are ready to play against someone else, finally.

The early part of the season is usually filled with ups and downs as we mold our identity and work to establish our roles.  We have many worthy opponents who will test our toughness and execution.  We use these games to get us ready for our difficult 22 game conference season.

Playing games is the celebration of the hard work and commitment that our players put in day after day.  Tomorrow marks the beginning of a dead sprint from now until Christmas break.  We play 7 games in the next 22 days and then 5 conference games before taking a week off.

The coaches and players are ready!  We couldn't ask for a better group of people to be around and believe in each and every one of them. Come support us along the way.

I went to a conference this week for women who are college administrators.  The conference does an outstanding job of honoring pioneers in women's sports as well as those who are continuing to make a difference for our female athletes.  I found it very cool that many of these women got their start in the sport of basketball.

Whether they had been players or coaches or both.  Many of them lit up when they found out I was a coach and said "Basketball season is about to start"!  Even in the airport I heard one say, "Every October 15th I still get that feeling that I should be starting practice with my team".  

October 15th is our official start date.  We have 2 practices under our belt as I write this post.  Our team is excited and engaged.  Our leaders have done their best to prepare themselves and our team for the journey that is ahead of us.  We remind ourselves everyday to focus on the process.  It is in the process that we become a team, that we build the skills and chemistry that will lead to success.  In the process we will fail over and over and then learn what is takes to be successful.

Those outside of our team will judge us by the results on the scoreboard.  We will judge ourselves by a much higher standard.  Did we become 1% better everyday, did we stay in the bubble, did we learn to trust ourselves and each other?  Am I a good teammate, did I respond to failure productively, did we refuse to beat ourselves?

These are the questions we must answer during the process.  The results on the scoreboard will be what they may-but the answers to these questions are paramount to truly being successful on and off the court.

One of the many great things I learned at my conference is that 97% of top female executives across 5 different countries had ONE thing in common - they all played a sport when they were young!  



You can follow me on Twitter @CoachBain
Facebook at Regis University Women's Basketball Fan Club

Race for the Cure

Volunteering at the Race for the Cure is an annual tradition for our team.  The girls get up early and support the thousands of racers that participate each year.  This experience is always gratifying and moving for our team.  A reminder to be grateful for all we have and a time to admire those who have faced down extremely difficult challenges.

I want to take the time to recognize a friend of our program this year.  Jess Adams was a volunteer coach with us several years ago and has remained a fan of team from her home in Boston.  She was diagnosed last year with an aggressive form of breast cancer.

Jess didn't miss a day of work last year and managed to go through 12 rounds of chemo, two surgeries and 8 weeks of radiation.  Did I mention she has 2 kids under the age of 5?

So, as we getting ready to embark on a long a grueling season, I'm glad we choose to participate in events that helps us keep our perspective.  We are so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity to play a college sport.  Having the support of teammates and working together toward a common goal is a powerful and life-changing experience.  The difficulties and challenges are great.  There are times when we wonder why we are putting ourselves through the pain when it would be so much easier to just give up or give in.

At the end of a season or playing career, we look back at how far we have come and sometimes barely recognize the person we were when we first started.  Being on a team transforms us and brings to light qualities we did not know we possessed.  Our friend Jess had her team that helped her through her life-threatening season.  They inspired and transformed each other and none of them will ever be the same.

Please join us and support us as we get ready for our 2014 season.  Go Rangers!

Early Risers

Last week marked the beginning of our conditioning and fitness workouts.  Fall is an important time for a basketball team.  Not only do we get in shape-we team bond.  Something about shared pain brings people together.  Teammates find out a lot about each other as they file into the gym before the sun is fully up.  Sometimes it's hard to understand how chasing tennis balls around the gym floor and trying walk with really tight bands around your ankles is going to lead to hitting 40% of your 3 point shots.

Playing college basketball is a huge commitment.  We are running sprints on September 15th in order to have a shot at being in a championship game on March 15th.  Fall is the time when toughness is revealed and team cultures are formed.  Players have to ask themselves "how much do I really love this" because it is way too hard to fake it.  

I love this time of year and sometimes my smiles during a particularly grueling session are viewed as sadistic.  But I smile because I know our team is being transformed.  I know we are going through a fire that, if we embrace it, will make us resilient and unbreakable when we are being tested.  There is no glamour or fanfare this time of year.  No family or friends make the trip to be in the stands at 7 am to cheer for a perfect plank.  It's just you and your teammates, pushing each other to get better and leaning on each other to get through that last sprint.

It's when the championship dreams come to life.       

New Year's Resolution

I have never been one to commit to any kind of new year's resolution in the past.  Frankly, I think the whole thing is kind of silly.  Anything that I really want to do for myself-I will just do.  Plus, New Year's is a really busy and stressful time in the life of a college basketball coach.  We barely even notice there is an event going on (unless you mean watching more game film for the next conference opponent) and we certain don't stay up til midnight!

Now is the true New Year for coaches and teams.  We are excited and anxious to get started and bring our new players into fold.  Everyone has great dreams and expectations and we will all be asked to renew old commitments and make many new ones, as well.

One of the commitments I'm going to make is to stick with this blog for the whole year.  It's good for me to take the time to reflect on what is going on in the midst of the craziness of our season.  It's good to share with the people who care about us and love to have an "inside peek" into our day-to-day. Basketball is one of the longest seasons in all of college sports.  We will start going conditioning and preparing 5 days a week on September 15th.  Our season ends in mid-March.  We have many, many ups and downs, joys and sorrows, pains and triumphs.  Remembering to enjoy the ride and truly embrace the whole experience (good and bad) is sometimes very difficult.

So please, come along for the ride.  Let me know your thoughts from time-to-time and we'll see where the New Year takes us!

Coach Bain