昀椀ve-year history. With Joe at the helm last year, his coaching prowess helped preserve that tradition, but they had made great progress. The greatest progress was personal—he and his daughter grew closer—after he learned a lesson. His daughter was the tallest girl on the team, but she was not a dominant player. He recalled how, at 昀椀rst, he pushed and pushed her—to no avail. He could feel them drift apart until he saw her writing a story about her basketball experience. That’s when he got the message. She did have talent—writing talent. That’s where her passion was. After his discovery, Joe committed himself to motivating and nurturing her writing skills, and their relationship grew. The team had a small turnout last year, and many of the girls who played had never dribbled a ball before. Realizing he was no basketball expert, Joe asked a friend who was a former college coach to teach the girls the fundamentals of the game. Joe focused on his strengths: motivating the girls, rewarding their progress wherever he found any and keeping them focused on their purpose—teamwork. For Joe, it was all about educating and celebrating. A highlight of last year was the awards ceremony that he held to celebrate the progress the girls made. He created an award for each girl with her name and her area of contribution to the team—Most Improved Ball Handler, Most Enthusiastic Player, Scrappiest Defender, etc. In front of her parents, each girl accepted her award—it was a huge deal. The buzz at school was so great that twice as many girls signed up to play this season—there was actually a chance that the spell would be broken, that the team might win. But even if they didn’t win, his purpose was clear: The girls were going to learn to play as a team and have fun—it was as simple as that. 7