Another season of Mongoose basketball is done and, as usual, it goes by like the wind. In mid-November, a number of wide-eyed hopefuls showed up at the gym, hoping to be part of our program. As it turns out, it seems we coaches made the right decisions in whom to keep, as we managed to assemble as fine a group of young men as we could ever have hoped. These players were, to a person, among the most conscientious, respectful, coachable, and all-around decent group of young athletes I’ve ever had the pleasure to teach.
As in most years, one of our biggest challenges was having multi-sport athletes so, in response to unavoidable absences, we added a number of players from last year’s team to fill out our roster in all of our tournaments and they, too, are a cherished part of this season’s positive experience. We finished 9-4 (excluding those first three games where we were in the wrong tournament), winning a couple of gold medals in the process but, most importantly, we improved every time out. By the end of the season, we were playing so unselfishly and working so hard to do the things we were taught (well, mostly, anyway), it almost brought a tear to my eye to watch.
On the topic of parents, let me say how much I appreciate the support from all the parents and caregivers, but I especially want to acknowledge the superb effort that the multi-sport athlete parents made to get their players to our games whenever they could, which often meant driving considerable distances with very short turn-around times. Basketball is a team game and that team definitely includes all the parents and other caregivers, who helped not only with transportation, but with stats and other things we asked. It wasn’t hard to see why this particular group of kids have been so well-raised.
This season was bittersweet for me personally, as it is my last one at CK. Many of you know that we will be relocating to New Brunswick this summer for our next adventure in life, so I’m doubly grateful for the type of team and experience we had this year.
As always, a person never accomplishes anything good by himself. I always run the risk of missing someone in these but it’s a chance I have to take, so here goes:
I have run out of superlatives for Coach Niehoff. Coach D: you know exactly how I feel about you and how much love and respect I have for you. After these past few years, your place in my heart is so entrenched, it’s hard to put into words (which is really saying something for me). I can’t wait to watch your future unfold.
Coach McCarroll: boy, did you ever come through every time we needed you this year. I can’t thank you enough for making my job easier and I know how much the boys enjoyed your infectious enthusiasm on the bench. It has been a pleasure to get to know you.
To Mr. Boyson at CK: thank you for everything you do to make coaches’ jobs easier and for allowing us to build a particular kind of program, based on the Mongoose System, at CK. To Coaches Drabiuk and Fleckenstein at U of A Augustana for teaching me so much about the game and for being the beacons of basketball in our community. And also to Mongoose alum Kurt Niehoff (“Tiny”), who was always willing to lend a hand with stats when he wasn’t busy leading his own school team to victory.
The final and forever thanks go to those of you who are very much a part of who we have been, even if you’re not here in person. You are each in my heart every second that I participate in this sport: Coaches Brock, Recurt Kyler, and Szekely, the gurus of Mongoose in Louisiana – it’s hard to describe the positive impact you’ve had in this place you’ve never been; my high school coach, Ric Bender, who continues to be a dear friend and whose example of what it means to be a coach and a man inspires me to this day; and, finally, my family: my daughter, Jill, who makes me proud every day and my beautiful wife, Michele, who has not only tolerated this basketball thing over the years, but who has come to embrace it. My deepest love and appreciation to all of you.
Coach (Ob)Iwanus