Dad breaks the silence

It has been very busy lately for us. Basketball season consumes not just me, but the entire family. I have always read from successful coaches that including your family is a must. They must feel like they are part of the program. These are coaches that were successful with their families and not just their teams. My goal is to be a great Christian/husband/dad first and then hope that we can have some good results on the basketball court.

It has been a joy to look up in the stands at home games and see my wife, son, dad, and mom. Last season was difficult because mom was not healthy enough to make it to games. It's been a blessing to see all of them there. It has also been fun to be walking around in the team room or coaches off and see Trey running back into that area looking for a "baaa" (ball). Usually by the time he leaves, has has two or three basketballs that he has borrowed from the coaches office to play with.

I try to make sure that I have time to speak to my family either before the JV game, or between the JV and Varsity game. I also carry Trey to see some of the kids. I believe it's important for them to see me being a dad. Many of our kids don't have great examples of strong Christian men in their lives and I feel like that is part of the reason God has placed me where I am. It is a humbling experience and one that has me spending a lot of time in prayer. I thank God for the opportunity and prayer for his leading.

Obviously, basketball/sports is a big part of the family life. I coach year round. Winter we are in season, in the spring we have several of our kids playing AAU, the summer leads us to team camps, and the fall is open gym and pre-season conditioning. There is no true off season. I thank God that I have a supportive wife that sees this as my mission field (which it is) and supports my mission. Trey has taken to basketball as well.

Recently we went to his first college basketball game. He has become a veteran of the high school games and as Ashley tells me, he said "daddy" and "ball" when they are driving to our games. We had the chance to take in a local college game and eat out with mom and dad. Trey loved it and really stayed into the game fairly well for a one year old. We did have to walk up to the concourse area occasionally and let him move around, but he hung in there and watched a good portion of the double overtime game. What a game to be his first. He also started to learn the family rule. You NEVER leave a game early unless there is some sort of emergency.


Trey didn't sit like this the whole game, but he did spend some lap time taking in the action.

What the heck is that white stuff all over the ground? We finally got some snow this week. Some people do not realize this, but teachers love snow as much as students. It is a great feeling to see the list of schools that are closed include our school system.

We got out in it a little, but Trey was moody and seemed more interested in his softball than the snow.

He was not really happy with the mittens either. I never liked them when I was a kid, so maybe this is in his genes.

I enjoy a little photography, with the emphasis on little. I guess it goes back to my days as a camera man. I worked for a video company and we did mostly outdoor sports video. (Fishing) I enjoyed being on the lake or river and finding good images of God's creation. These are a few of the pictures I was able to take in the snow.

Brandon
2 Cor. 5:13