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

Happy Thanksgiving!

Every year of my life since I left home, my mother has asked me if I will be coming to Thanksgiving.  My reply has always been, "mom, there is no Thanksgiving in basketball".  Of course I meanthere is no break. There is always a lot to be thankful for in basketball.  Many of our out-of-stater's had family come to them this last weekend to enjoy the holiday and the tournament that we co-host.  We were blessed with beautiful weather and two great wins!  Here is a link to the article http://regisrangers.com/sports/wbkb/2013-14/releases/20131130mtv8yc

The love and support of our families is so essential when we endeavor to do something difficult and ultimately pretty darn special.  We coaches appreciate all the families-near and far that help make our program something truly great.  The action on the court is fantastic but the relationships we build are the lasting legacy we all leave and that enrich our lives.

Next up-Metro State!  This Saturday begins league play-we will host the Roadrunners here at 3 pm.   We hope to see you in the stands.

Off and Running!

We played our first exhibition game last week vs Johnson and Wales.  The team came out firing and put up 101 points!  2 more exhibitions this weekend then we start playing for real.

Check out our game schedule at www.regisrangers.com and make a plan to come and see us this year.  Also, stay tuned for special promotions that will take place during most of our games. 

It's not all about me?

WIIFM is the station we find many people tuned into today.  For those of us who work with young people it can sometimes feel like a losing battle to get them to listen to anything else. WIIFM-What's In It For Me; 24/7 self-absorption.  

At Regis, part of the university wide mission is to look out beyond ourselves and find ways to enrich and embrace our community.  All students do a mandated number of service hours and our athletes go well above and beyond what is required.

The Race for Cure is an event our team has volunteered at for many years.  They love to be involved and remind the staff to sign us up every fall.  

So, here is what's in it for them -They leave campus at 5 am to head downtown; wait in the pre-dawn cold to get their assignment and head to their station.  Some of the glamorous tasks have included directing traffic where to park and picking up trash behind the participants. They love handing out water along the raceway and being greeters at the finish line.  After 5-6 hours they head home for a nap and then back to their homework.  

Every year our team relates how moving and impact-full the event is; watching others who have overcome a great challenge reminds them to be grateful for all they have.  This is a team-only activity.  Coaches do not go with them or plan it for them.

Here is an excerpt of an email we received last week from one of the supervising volunteers about our team.

Well, your group of women came to check in and all went fine until no one showed up to take them to their location. ...probably after 30 minutes one of your players came over to say that no one came to meet them.  Finally I asked if I could find the location of where they were going would they be willing to walk.   NO ONE GRUMBLED…no one complained…they just said YES. Had I been in their shoes I might have said “forget this I am out of here”.  Their attitude was greatly appreciated as well as their volunteering! 

I just wanted to pass along how much it was appreciated that they helped out and more important didn’t let the snafu on our part cause them to give up.

I'm very proud to be a part of a university that really does walk-the-walk and lives its mission. And of course I am even more proud of the heart of our team and the way they represent themselves and our program.  

Way to go ladies!

Team Bonding

The sun is back out and our neighbors begin the long road to recovering from our "100 year flood".   Our team camping trip to the mountains got diverted as we had planned to travel to one of the hardest hit areas in the state. 

We were able to stay safe and dry while spending the day talking about team culture, playing games and having a great lunch.  We ended the day playing laser tag-much less painful than our paintball adventure!
 
We continue to train hard-our season will upon us before we know it!