It's that time of year again. My mind is busy with thoughts of drills, plays and intensity. From now until March I'm consumed with thoughts of my middle school basketball team.

I lost some talented and amazing girls this year, but my five 7th graders from the prior year somehow transformed into 8th graders at tryouts. They are real leaders on the team, but they're going to need a lot of patience as the others catch up. I think they're in a rush and forgot some of the basics. :)

Fifteen girls and five practices - there is never enough time before the annual Thanksgiving Day tournament. A brief defensive overview, a few skeleton motion offense drills and one out of bounce play will have to be enough! It is still early, but I hope to see more intensity in my girls. Their motivation shouldn't always be the coach, but their own desire to play the game.

My fear this year is that I will compare this group of girls to ones from last year. I hear the second year is tough that way or maybe every year is? It is difficult to start from scratch knowing that most of the learning from last year is lost and I will have to start again. With this new year I pray for a newfound patience, determination and enthusiasm.