The World Doesn’t Stop When Bad Things Happen So Why Should You?

As a lifelong follower of basketball and avid hoops fan, I've come to appreciate the important life lessons the game has to offer. When I was a teenager, I religiously followed the on court exploits of players like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson not realizing that the benefits would be more than just entertainment.

The life lessons of persevering through adversity, determination and hope were glaringly obvious when my eldest daughter, Vanessa became involved with organized basketball.  It provided me with a great opportunity to teach what I learned.  She was about nine years old when she started and played until her mid teens. As a “basketball dad”, I naturally was excited that she gravitated to a game that I loved. Despite this, I made a point of making it clear that the decision to start or stop was always hers to make.

During the practices, I used to sit on the sidelines and observe with the other parents as her coaches ran through various drills and plays. Despite knowing the game well enough to coach, I didn’t interfere with whatever instruction given by her coaches. I played a support role and left the “real coaching” for the car rides to and from practices and games. I remember one instance when Vanessa wasn’t feeling particularly well and experienced severe cramping just before practice started. I gave her the option of skipping out and taking a break but she insisted on going.

She got to about the half way mark when the pain of the cramping intensified and I noticed Vanessa really started to struggle and was moving significantly slower than her teammates.

Her inability to keep up slowed down the practice considerably and I could sense the agitation level in her coach rising. He perceived it as “lack of effort” or not trying on her part. My natural instinct as a parent was jump in pull her out of the situation and take her home but I held back and decided it would be best to let the situation play itself out.

At one point, Vanessa gingerly jogged by me during one of the drills with tears in her eyes. As I offered her water, I gave her the option of calling it quits. She declined and pushed on.

Her coach became infuriated and abruptly ended practice citing lack of effort by a "particular individual" as the reason. Vanessa was pretty upset during the “car ride” home and the tears flowed profusely the moment the door slammed shut. I have to admit that as I was consoling her, I was extremely curious about why she insisted on continuing forward with practice despite the obvious pain so I asked. She responded by simply saying, “I didn’t want to quit”.

Vanessa learned a very important lesson that day in perseverance and as a parent I couldn’t be any more thrilled. You see, the ability to fight the tough times is a skill that all children will need as they progress through their personal journey into adulthood and the earlier they’re equipped and understand its importance, the better.

One of the hard realities of life is that there will be days when things won’t go our way and you're going to want to quit.  Take heart in the fact that persevering through adversity and demonstrating resiliency will be the difference maker between you reaching your goals or not.  

I recently had an opportunity to listen to the incredible story of Kevin Rempel who's a member of Sledge Team Canada. You see, it was Kevin's dream to be a pro dirt bike racer but after an accident in 2002 that saw him fall from a height of nearly 30 feet, he became a paraplegic.

Despite being told by the doctors that he too would never walk again, Kevin wasn’t willing to take that answer. After months of intense therapy, he got back out of the wheelchair and back on his bike. In just one year, he kicked it over and went riding again.

His sledge hockey team has their eyes on  a gold medal from the next Paralympics in Sochi, Russia in 2014!  

Congratulations Kevin!

You can read more about Kevin's inspiring story by visiting his website.

Being resilient means bouncing back despite the number of times you've been pushed down and believe me, you will get pushed but at the end of the day you have the final call as to how far you'll end up because  nothing is truly over unless you believe it is.

The world doesn’t stop when bad things happen so why should you?










See you on the court!

Follow me on Twitter @TheAudman

The Slam Dunk Illiteracy Campaign!

I recently had the pleasure of participating in a powerful series of literacy and self-development seminars featuring former NBAer and Toronto Raptor, John Wallace that were designed to make a difference to Toronto/GTA youth!

The campaign ran from October 3-5, 2011 and reached more than 1,000 youth in that time period.

Wallace was drafted 18th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. He went on to play eight seasons in the NBA and and two in Europe. In 1998 he was the runner up of the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award while with the Toronto Raptors. John was also voted Community Service Man of the Year for his dedication to youth in the city of Toronto.

I've known John for quite some time and he's always had a deep appreciation for the city of Toronto from his playing days and has always wanted to give back to the city in some capacity.

Wallace is the co-founder of a youth mentoring company called, Winning Because I Tried and is joined by his partner, Modie Cox to deliver inspiring talks to young audiences.

Important messages that are taught include:

• The power of hard work and perseverance
• The value of education and literacy
• Learning to develop confidence in your abilities despite obstacles

John and Modie have a true passion to help today's youth reach their full potential. They bot
h came from challenging backgrounds and are committed to sharing their experiences in order to guide audiences on the right path.

The SLAM DUNK ILLITERACY campaign has been receiving rave reviews from Toronto schools and youth organizations:

“Thanks a lot for today. The event was amazing. What you guys were able to do was amazing.”

Lennox Cadore, Arts Program Manager - Urban Arts Toronto

The campaign also featured a book that I co-authored called, "Basketball Talk, The Way It Should Be!" It's an entertaining baller and celebrity quote book that makes reading fun and some of the proceeds are being donated to some of their charities, Epilepsy Halton Peel Hamilton and the ErinoakKids Foundation.

Overall, with poor literacy rates, bullying and lack of motivation rampant among today's youth, John and Modie's presentation aims to connect with young people most as risk and make them accountable and inspired to break through their challenges.

If you're interested in having The SLAM DUNK ILLITERACY campaign come to your school or organization, please feel free to contact:

DaveandAudley@TheBreakdownShow.com

See you on the court!

Jason Kidd on Impact & Influence

Seventeen years after being drafted into the NBA, veteran point guard Jason Kidd earned the right to be called NBA champ after capturing his first title with the Dallas Mavericks when they defeated the Miami Heat in the Finals.


This future hall of famer was an integral part of the team and as Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle said, "He's just been a thrill and a privilege to spend time with."

Kidd is among the NBA leaders in a number of statistical categories including 3 point shots made, steals and assists. He's a coach on and off the floor and can always be relied upon to support the team with his leadership, stability and poise.

As is the case with most great players who's playing careers are winding down, Kidd is often asked how much longer he'll keep going before he hangs up the sneakers.

The almost 39 year old has gotten accustomed to addressing this question and recently said, "I feel great, and being around younger guys and working on my game, and them believing in me, helped me compete every day."


Hold up! What did he say??

Did one of the best point guards to ever step foot on an NBA court just say that the belief of younger players helped him?

With more then half of the 18 players on the roster having less then 10 years of experience many of his team mates grew up watching him while they dreamed of one day playing in the NBA.

How is this possible?

It's totally possible you see, Kidd's response clearly speaks to the type of impact and influence our actions can have on one another. If young players with no where near half the experience of the future hall of fame point guard can significantly impact his career to the point where he wants to keep going then there's nothing that stops us from doing the same with each other.

Regardless how long we've been in the game, what position we play or who we are, our actions can build confidence and inspire greatness simply by being an encourager and supporter.

See you on the court!

Andy Hill on Coach Wooden

Andy Hill is a motivational speaker and author who experienced a great deal of success as president of two media companies, CBS Productions and Channel One Network. While there, he was responsible for producing shows such as Touched By Angel, Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman and Walker Texas Ranger.

These shows were based on lessons he learned from Coach John Wooden as a member of three NCAA basketball teams.


An interesting note - Andy was one of the 13 players in NCAA history to do this.

It was fitting to have Andy back on the program as we continued to pay tribute to the life of Coach Wooden and his philosophies that made him special to so many people.

Their relationship was a unique one because Andy didn't develop an appreciation for his coach's teachings while he played for him. This was primarily because he didn't receive very much playing time and as a result, Andy became bitter and resentful and didn't speak with Coach Wooden for over 25 years after he left UCLA.

They later re-connected and Andy dedicated his professional speaking career to sharing Coach Wooden's philosophy and the power and wisdom of The Pyramid of Success.

Click below to listen to my conversation with Andy as he reflects on his personal memories between he and the coach.

See you on the court!

Shane Battier - The Ultimate Teammate

The regular season has ended and the 2011 NBA playoffs are in full swing! After an 82 game marathon, the top 16 teams head into the post season for an opportunity to compete for an NBA title and a chance to solidify their names as among the greats.


It's an exciting time for basketball fanatics like myself because the level of play and intensity immediately gets raised a few notches. With the increased stakes, everything that happens in the game matters even more. Every basket that's scored has significance, every play is dissected and each decision a player makes on the court is made with the intention of helping the team win.

My good friend, Don Yaeger recently highlighted one such "Ultimate Teammate" in his recent Moments of Greatness newsletter.

On April 17, 2011 Shane Battier hit a game winning shot to give his Memphis Grizzlies their first ever playoff win in franchise history (16 years). That win propelled the Grizz to become the second team in NBA history to upset the top-seed in a seven game first round playoff series.


When you take a step back and look at the entire picture, it's makes sense that Battier is the one who made the shot. And the thing is that it's got nothing to do with the fact that he's a superstar because by today's definition, he isn't.

This former Duke product has never lead any team that he's played on in scoring, never selected to play in an All Star and plays a very effective game with little to no flash.


The reason it makes sense that he hit that shot is because throughout his entire NBA career, Shane has had a history of making the teams he plays on better.

Case in point:

• After his rookie season, the Memphis franchise finished with back to back 40+ win seasons for the first time before he was traded to the Houston Rockets prior to the start of the 06/07 season.
• The Rockets went on to have three consecutive 50+ win seasons before he was traded back to Memphis just before the trade deadline this season.

The 6ft 8in small forward has a reputation throughout the league of being a hustle guy that's willing to do the little things like diving for loose balls or drawing offensive charges against his opponents.

These little things or Game Changers (Hard Court Lesson #6) can be the difference between winning and losing.

If you're on a team or part of a group, you have an opportunity to be that "Ultimate Teammate". Regardless how big or small, your actions can contribute to the team's bottomline.


In sports, they're called, "glue guys" because of their ability to pull everyone together through selfless team oriented play and willingness to sacrifice their own stats for the good of everyone else.

Shane is one of those guys, how about you?

PS - Click here to subscribe to Don's newsletter.

See you on the court!

Making Dreams Come True

Being charitable and lending a hand to those around us is something we're all familiar with but helping so that others can meet their dreams takes the Good Samaritan philosophy to a whole new level.

The story of high school basketball coach, Jim Johnson and his equipment manager, Jason McElwain, (AKA J-Mac) is a great illustration of what this concept is all about.


On Feb. 15, 2006, Coach Johnson gave J-Mac an opportunity to play in the final game of the regular season by inserting him for the last four minutes.

And that's when a MIRACLE happened:



Jim Johnson joined me on HCL Radio to talk about the story that inspired the book, "A Coach and a Miracle".

As you'll hear from the coach, it's a story that provided hope and inspiration not to only those involved but to others as well.

Helping dreams come true does three things:

• It demonstrates kindness
• Reinforces the importance of our individual actions and the impact it can have on others
• Motivates people to help others.

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~Sydney Smith

See you on the court!

Bringing It All Together

You're probably not too shocked to hear me say that the game of basketball is much more than fast break dunks, slick no-look passes and the type of fancy dribbling that would make you think the ball was on a string.

In addition to all the great leadership lessons I've highlighted through Hard Court Lessons in the past, basketball also is a great way to bring people together.

Case in point, I turn to my man - Michael Evans of Full Court Peace.

In 2006, Michael went to Belfast, Northern Ireland with the goal of forming a travel basketball team out of a select group of Catholic and Protestant teenagers in the city’s segregated public school system.

Despite the violent conflict waging between Catholics and Protestants who were on opposite sides of "the wall", Michael recruited an equal number of players from each side of the divided community.

After some time, and not without controversy, these two groups came together as one team, which was later named the Belfast Blazers.

The shared excitement for the game helped to foster unity and lasting friendships among the players and allowed them to “communicate their feelings through basketball.”

A New Project

Michael and Full Court Peace have now turned their attention to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and intend on using basketball as not only a way to unify but also give young people a safe way to pass the time.

The drugs and killings that take place in Juárez have given it the reputation of being the most violent city in the world with thousands of unsolved murders taking place every year.

I was honored to have Michael join HCL Radio to share his incredible story as well as let us in on how we can help become involved through the simple act of shooting free throws.

Check it out!



Full Court Peace’s mission is to use team basketball to cultivate and inspire enduring friendships between teenagers from rivaling communities in war-torn regions of the world.

Click here to listen to my conversation with Mike.

HCL Radio - Where developing leaders is more than just a game!

See you on the court!

The Foul Call

Getting fouled in the game of basketball and life are natural.

Fouls are those "not nice" things that can happen that throw us off our game plan, they usually appear in our lives in the form of adversity.

To best cope, we need to come to the understanding that the fouls will come and we need to learn how to leverage those experiences to make us stronger individuals.

The big difference between basketball and life is that there aren't any refs in life who'll blow the whistle and stop the game so we can get a break.

Stuff just keeps coming!

So, to move forward we have to play through the foul.

These day to day challenges may be tough to overcome but if we want a chance at winning then giving up isn't an option.

Joining me on the next episode of HCL Radio is a woman who understands this concept far too well.



In her latest book, Play Through The Foul - Basketball Lessons for the Game of Life, Vera Jones helps readers to better understand the importance of standing in the face of adversity and the kinds of things we can do to overcome them.

Vera said, "Life's experiences are meaningful despite whatever fouls they encounter."

As a former basketball player, coach and now motivational speaker, Vera`s unique approach gives her some great insight on how we all can deal with the challenges of the life.

Note: Free show reminders are available by visiting the show page and clicking on the "Remind Me" button.

Thanks for reading!

Takin' It To New Heights

New Heights is a non-profit educational organization based in New York City that uses basketball and athletics to help young people think about their futures from an educational standpoint.

But let’s get something straight here folks, New Heights isn’t just a basketball program.



Its clear and direct mission is to inspire inner-city youth to be the leaders and champions that our society needs them to be. New Heights empowers young people to be successful in high school, college and life.

I had an opportunity to catch up and chat with the founder and president of New Heights, Mr. Nick Blatchford.

Listen to the interview.

Thanks for reading!

HCL Radio Hits the Airwaves

Hard Court Lessons Radio makes its debut appearance on Monday July 20, 2009.

The blog has expanded into a talk radio program and will feature expert guests and discussion on the topic of leadership and leadership development.

The first episode is entitled, "The Wooden Way" and best selling author Steve Jamison will join the program.

Steve is America’s preeminent authority on the leadership philosophy of UCLA’s legendary Coach John Wooden whose basketball dynasty won ten March Madness national championships in a 12 year span.

But it just wasn't the championships that made him successful. Coach Wooden took young men and developed them into more than just winning players.

He built leaders.

The two have worked together for more than 15 years and Steve now shares what made this extraordinary man so successful.

Tune in to HCL Radio on Monday July, 20 2009 and hear about a man who believed that if you take care of the process, "everything else will take care of itself".

Hard Court Lessons Radio - where developing leaders is more than just a game!

Note: Free show reminders are available by visiting the show page and clicking on the "Remind Me" button.

Click here to listen to the episode.

Thanks for reading!

Audley

An Inspiration Named Tessa

During the fall of 2007, I ran a weekly basketball skill development program with a group of volunteer coaches for approximately 40 elementary school aged girls.

The girls were a lot of fun and had a great time. The coaches and I did everything possible to make the experience beneficial from a skill development aspect in a fun atmosphere.

They were all great to work with and one of the more memorable players was 12 year old Tessa.

She was a fantastic player but it wasn't her skills on the court that stood out, rather it was her love for the game.

You could tell just by watching her how much she enjoyed playing basketball. But what was even more significant was the positive effects her good nature had on others.

She made it fun for everyone and she seemed to never stop smiling.



In January of 2008, Tessa started to experience severe headaches which later was discovered to be a brain tumour.

This was the starting point of a difficult battle for Tessa. However, she never stopped smiling and maintained her positive spirit throughout the chemotherapy treatments.

She was so much of an inspiration that the staff and students at her school, St. David of Wales held a Toonie for Tessa walk to raise more than $3,000 for their friend.

The doctors gave Tessa a short time to live after two unsuccessful surgeries to remove the tumour were performed.

Tessa's strong spirit bravely fought the cancer for two years battle before she sadly passed away on May 17, 2009 at the age of 14.

Tessa served as an inspiration to many and will be missed by family, friends and coaches.


Thanks for reading!

Audley

Breaking The Press

A full-court press is a pressurized defensive style of play that is designed to trap ball handlers in the backcourt with multiple defenders.



The press is intended to frustrate and upset the opposing team and force them into committing turnovers as soon as the ball is inbounded.

Beating it and advancing the ball over the half court without a violation is a big challenge for many teams.

One effective way of doing this is to have a ballhandler inbounds the ball and as the defense approaches pass it back or reverse it back to the original ballhandler.

This "reverse" pass forces the defense to adjust as the ball is now moving in a different direction. If the passes are short and crisp and the ball is moved quickly enough, then the press can be broken.

They key is in the reverse pass.



The aim of the game may be to advance the ball ahead but there are times when making that pass back helps you move forward.

Such is the case in our daily lives. We're faced with so much pressures at times that we sometimes forget to re-assess our situation by taking a step back.

Stepping back provides a different perspective that separates you from the experience. It gives you a better view of the big picture which leads to more calmer well rounded decisions.



While the temptation to barrel straight through obstacles with our heads down is great, there are instances where a more cerebral deliberate approach is just as effective.

Remember, these six points the next time you're faced with a full court press:

1.Slow things down
2.Take a step back
3.Give your mind a rest
4.Look at things in there entirety
5.Plan your next steps
6.Take action

Thanks for reading!

Audley

Coaching

My first experience coaching youth basketball came when my daughter, who was 8 at the time started playing on an organized team.

I figured that I might as well be of use since I'd be hanging around anyways.



Coaching has been rewarding for me on many fronts and I can truthfully say that I developed a great deal personally from being involved.

Here are four things that I've taken away from my coaching experience:

Patience

You can never have too much patience - Each child has their own on/off switch and coaches have to identify the trigger in each to make them go. Learning a new anything takes time and a lot of trial and error.


Kids may not pick up something after the first attempt but a little repetition and patience can help a lot. Who knows, maybe they'll grasp it at trial #1000?

There's Always a Next Time
It can be real easy to beat yourself up for an in game decision after the fact, especially when the final outcome isn't in your favour. During the course of a game, there's all sorts of factors and consideration points that go into making a certain play call or substitution.

I've found that situations have a way of re-representing themselves so that we can get it right the second, third or maybe even the fourth time around.

Follow Their lead
Although you may be the coach, your players will ultimately guide the direction of the team and what you do during practice. If they don't grasp a concept or idea, be prepared to scrap your original plan and start over. Being flexible is key because you really need to be operating at their speed, not yours.













Celebrate Successes

A coach needs to be prepared to celebrate player's individual successes.I may not have won national titles or had a bucket of Gatorade dumped on my head for reaching a coaching milestone but I love the feeling I get when a player who I taught the mechanics of free throw makes the net sing. SWISH!!!

My coaching philosophy quite simply is to teach my players the right way to play the game. This means focusing on skill development, teamwork and having a good court awareness.

Oh yeah, let's have some fun out there!

Thanks for reading!

Audley