Basketball

For anyone who graduated from an Indiana high school prior to 1998, basketball means something different than those who came after.  Prior to that year, the state high school tournament was for all schools to participate in one tournament with one winner.  There were no classes and the story of "Hoosiers" was alive and well.  You played hard because you dreamed of being the next Milan high school, who beat a much larger school to win the tournament.  You played hard because it meant that you would advance in the state tournament, that you would have the prestige of winning a game in the state tournament.
I grew up in the era of a boom in college basketball and girls basketball in the state.  I saw Bobby Knight win NCAA titles and battle Gene Keady's Boilermakers.  I saw Stephanie White change people's minds about females in basketball as she wowed crowds while playing for one of the smallest schools around.  I saw Purdue women's basketball thrive and grown into a national powerhouse.  AAU basketball came into its own during my formative years as well.
In my little world, I didn't particularly care for sitting in front of cheerleaders at a game, so I moved over behind the bench when my dad would take me to varsity boys games.  I became a default water girl from about 4th grade until 7th grade while I played in the school leagues. As I moved into 8th grade, I was recovering from being cut in 7th grade (when I attended Greencastle Middle School) but I made the South Putnam 8th grade team.  I also was in band and played at the boys varsity games my 8th and 9th grade year.  After a forgettable year of playing JV as a Freshman, I was a varsity starter my 10th grade year and joined the boys basketball stat team, which continued until I graduated form high school.   I also coached my sister's 8th grade team and volunteered as an elementary coach.
I spent most of my free time shooting and playing pick-up games with my sister and anyone else who would join us.  Many nights were spent sneaking into gyms with my dad and my friends' dads to play pick up games.
As I entered college, I played one year of Division Three basketball at Centre College and then transferred to Purdue, where I spent a year just being a fan of my sister, who was still in high school.  After she passed away, I volunteered as a coach at West Lafayette High School and joined the Purdue statistics and athletic public relations team.  I continued to coach for three years at WLHS, then joined the staff at Eastern Hancoack for a year.  I ended up at Scecina as a coach for 6 years and most recently volunteered with my old team, South Putnam, when I moved back home and volunteered when my old head coach, Bill Merkel, took the head coaching position for one year.  To say that basketball is in my blood and I am an expert in the game is beyond fair.  The only thing I haven't done with this game is to be a head varsity coach.
The circle would have been complete if the timing of family needs were better.  I knew all year that Bill would only be coaching for one year, but I also knew that we were still going to have another child and that coaching and raising young children is beyond difficult.  I know that there is a season to everything... and I just need to be patient and wait to see if my season to finally become a head coach will arrive.  In the meantime, I know that I will serve as a resource for the local team and work on coaching my children to not only excel at sports, but at being a Christian and learning about all sorts of things.  I have given a lot of my life to basketball, but giving my life to the family takes precedence now.