Time flies and it seems there is little time for reflection. I happen to be in the same location, on vacation with my family, this Fourth of July holiday weekend as last year at this time. With a moment to reflect, I recall from last year's trip the image of an internet site visited while killing time during a brief interruption in family activities. Hslive365.com, a new (to me) site covering high school home school basketball, was a reminder that great home school basketball teams existed and that ours, the Augusta Eagles, was not thought to be one of them.
Prior to discovering this site and its analysis of the competitive picture, our first experiences with the elite teams in the southeastern United States, including a losing record against such teams in our recently completed first season, had made us aware that we had a long struggle ahead to achieve excellence relative to our peers. Compounding the degree of difficulty, this site seemed to suggest that these southeastern teams that had given us more than enough to aspire to were not considered to be among the top teams in the nation. Adding to the uncertainty about the Eagles' prospects for success relative to the elite teams, the June summer league had just ended and many humbling contests were fresh in my memory.
Prior to discovering this site and its analysis of the competitive picture, our first experiences with the elite teams in the southeastern United States, including a losing record against such teams in our recently completed first season, had made us aware that we had a long struggle ahead to achieve excellence relative to our peers. Compounding the degree of difficulty, this site seemed to suggest that these southeastern teams that had given us more than enough to aspire to were not considered to be among the top teams in the nation. Adding to the uncertainty about the Eagles' prospects for success relative to the elite teams, the June summer league had just ended and many humbling contests were fresh in my memory.
One year and countless hours of skill work and challenging competition later, some lessons are evident. Goals, though they can seem unattainable at a given time, are important. A desired destination gives us something to work towards. Progress and improvement can be difficult to see during the journey, but once sufficient time has passed and considered reflection is made, it will be clear that a significant amount of hard work and time invested toward achieving excellence will yield results that are shocking and dramatic.
This Fourth of July, the Eagles are featured on hslive365.com as the champions of the East Coast Homeschool Basketball tournament. The team that just finished its June summer league with a very respectable 13-8 record can barely be recognized as essentially the same group of players that exited last June's summer schedule with far more losses than wins. It was hard to believe, one year ago, that these kinds of accomplishments would be realistic.
The challenge ahead of the Eagles in the next twelve months is as significant as the challenges of one year ago. The satisfaction that comes with improvement, transformation, and doing things that once seemed impossible drives us to practice and commit ourselves. To achieve the same level of improvement this year as we achieved last year may seem difficult to imagine today, but we have learned that dramatic improvement and change are the results of deliberate practice and perseverance. We will recall these lessons between now and the next Fourth of July.
This Fourth of July, the Eagles are featured on hslive365.com as the champions of the East Coast Homeschool Basketball tournament. The team that just finished its June summer league with a very respectable 13-8 record can barely be recognized as essentially the same group of players that exited last June's summer schedule with far more losses than wins. It was hard to believe, one year ago, that these kinds of accomplishments would be realistic.
The challenge ahead of the Eagles in the next twelve months is as significant as the challenges of one year ago. The satisfaction that comes with improvement, transformation, and doing things that once seemed impossible drives us to practice and commit ourselves. To achieve the same level of improvement this year as we achieved last year may seem difficult to imagine today, but we have learned that dramatic improvement and change are the results of deliberate practice and perseverance. We will recall these lessons between now and the next Fourth of July.
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