BeantownHoops Blog

I don’t want to admit it, but I will now.  I was a basketball snob.  In my younger days of playing and coaching, I had very little respect for the women’s game and always felt that it was a waste of my time to watch any basketball game that didn’t involve men.  About twelve years ago, my way of thinking began to change.  I can point to three specific instances where my lack of respect for the women’s game turned into a great liking for how they played basketball compared to the men:

1.  I was playing in a pick-up basketball game when three players on the University of Washington women’s team showed up.  It so happened that they were playing my team next and by no means would I allow my team to lose to them.  Not only did we lose, we lost bad.  While my team was playing one-on-one basketball, the girls were setting great screens, moving without the basketball and executing precise passes that led to easy shots.  I took the loss personal, but also realized that these women were basketball players who understood the game and played just as hard and physical as the guys do.

2.  I went to a professional women’s game and sat in the first row.  I couldn’t believe the speed and athleticism I was seeing.  Many people equate athleticism in our sport with dunking a basketball, but as we all know being an athlete requires quick cutting, timing, and the ability to do multiple things with the ball, which these players could do.

3.  When I was working the summer basketball camp circuit, before I was married with children, I was able to talk with many high school girls coaches who really helped me understand the importance of watching the women’s game.  I began to watch more high school girls games and I’ll tell you right now that girls teams run better sets and plays than most boys teams.  I picked up great offensive plays, out of bounds plays, and special situation ideas once I started watching more girls basketball.  If you are a coach and you want a new way to attack a man or zone defense watch a girls game.

I recently talked with Mansfield girls basketball coach Mike Redding to get his thoughts on the way the girls play the game.

Beantownhoops:  Coach,  I have seen a dramatic improvement in the quality of girls basketball the past ten years, would you agree with this statement and if yes, what things have contributed to this growth?

Coach Redding:  “I think Girls basketball had its first major step when they went to the smaller ball and added the three point line in the late 80’s. This second step of growth and development in this century is due to a number of factors. One is the great exposure that women’s college basketball is getting, as well as the WNBA. Girls who play for BC and UCONN have become household names thanks to ESPN and the other networks. The girls have great role models and they want to continue to play in college. I think off-season commitment is changing the game as well. Our girls play summer league twice a week, fall league once a week and their skills are improving drastically. Also, more female high school student-athletes are using the weight room, plyometrics and speed/strenth programs to improve their athleticism. I also believe youth programs are making a big difference, we’re getting better coaches, both men and women, who have played and want to teach the game to the next generation. There is no doubt that the effects of Title IX have created great opportunities for the athletes of this century.”

Beantownhoops: What is unique about the girls game compared to the boys that the common basketball fan does not see?

Coach Redding: “I believe that the foundation of the girls game is still based on skill and execution. Of course, the boys have great skills, but the boys game is more based on athleticism and getting “the ball the the rim”. Scoring points in a girls game depends on great passing, setting great screens, executing cuts while in a boys game you see more offense being “created” by individual players. As a coach it’s so important to develop all of the skills (shooting/passing/dribbling) and then integrate those skills with the right offense for your team. It really takes all five players to work well together to get good shots and
score points.”

I really do feel that the women play basketball in its purest form.  You will see many possessions in a women’s game where all five players touch the ball and a good shot is always taken.  If you really do love basketball, you have to enjoy and respect the women’s game.  I will be covering many girls basketball games this season and I know I will see quality basketball played each night.  Now, I hope you understand that this is not an article being critical of the way the boy’s play, but hopefully this will help those non-converts of the girls game appreciate it more. 

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I just got back from witnessing my first Fall League action of the year.  I went to the Medford Boys and Girls Club to catch the team I recently previewed, the Medford Boys, versus Somerville.  As I watched the game, I couldn’t help but think of all the things that bothered me about my teams playing in Fall Leagues.  My teams in Seattle always played in a Fall League while my teams in Chicago would not, but played in one big Fall Tournament over a weekend.  It always seemed like a good idea after the summer lull and not seeing your players who were on the AAU circuit all July and August and just watching your players lift and run in September and October.  Once the league began, that brief moment of excitement for me turned into sheer torture.  Let me elaborate:

1.  You can’t coach - as you sit there in the bleachers, you want so badly to call out instructions and to fix bad habits, but you’re just stranded there.  In addition, you hope that whoever is coaching the kids is competent enough to run the team and make the substitutions that you would want.

2.  Short courts - It’s probably just me, but playing on smaller courts doesn’t really tell me much about my team’s offensive spacing and ability to rotate and defend from help positions.

3.  Incomplete rosters - Without fail, every team is missing someone.  Players on the football team, church, work issues, sickness, it’s always something.  I think the worst thing is not having fall sports athletes there.  Those players come into the season so far behind that you almost have to start over when they get there.

4.  Lack of basketball knowledge with the players - How many times did you run that play in practice last season?  How many times did you tell them to move while the ball is in the air on defense instead of reacting once it is caught? How many times did you tell them to trap, hedge, or switch a ball screen?  And my favorite, how many times did you tell them to locate their man on a shot, make contact, seal him, and grab the freakin’ ball with two hands above their shoulders on the rebound?  I know all of you are going to answer too many times to count.  How many times did they do it your last Fall League game?

5.  Injuries - Just seeing a player go down in the Fall League is a horrible feeling.  Granted injuries are part of the game, but there is always something bad about it when it happens and it’s not even season yet.  I guess you can argue if they are going to be injured, better now than later.  I don’t like them period and when they occur when the play is less than stellar it makes you rethink whether playing in the league is the right thing to do.

I do see some benefits to playing in the Fall.  It definitely breaks the monotony of conditioning and open gyms against everyone in the school.  It gives your teams a chance to compete in game action and it’s just nice to see where other teams are at this point.  It would be great if state associations would just allow coaches to coach in a couple of fall tournaments and give the teams a better chance of improving in the off-season.  I don’t anticipate that happening soon so hopefully coaches across the country can find some benefit from these leagues that will translate into a successful season.

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I remember back when I was a junior in high school Michael Jordan released his first video, “Come Fly With Me”.  I must have watched that video a thousand times that year and one scene always stood out to me.  Michael claimed in the video that he was cut from his high school team as a Sophomore.  I found it hard to believe that he was cut from his team at all, but discovered later that he didn’t make the Varsity squad and was put on the JV squad.  It must have been one of the many motivating factors for him since his next video, “Michael Jordan’s Playground” was about a boy who was cut from his high school team only to make it next year through hard work and practice.  I was fortunate to be good enough in high school that I never really worried about tryouts and being cut, but I know for many other players out there today the prospect of not making your high school team is a possibility.  With a little more than a month before tryouts begin, let me see if I can help you maximize your opportunity of being on the roster.

1.       Your year in school makes a big difference:  If you are a senior trying out for the first time, you better be really good.  Most coaches don’t want to keep a player for just one season.  Your chances of making a team increase dramatically the lower your grade is in school. 

2.      Talk to the coach, NOW!:  Don’t just show up to tryouts.  Ask the coach now if there is a workout program, open gym, or planned workouts you can attend.  It’s also o.k. to ask the coach how many players return from last year’s team and what roles he or she is looking to fill on the roster.  If the coach tells you he really needs a defensive stopper, you better start working on your defense.

3.      Don’t assume anything:  If you are a junior who played JV last year, don’t assume you are going to make Varsity because you were in the program.  Much like the senior trying out for the first time, you have to be good and show the coaching staff that you can contribute as a senior.

4.      Start running:  If you are not in shape for tryouts you will stand out like a sore thumb.  One of my JV coaches would run the kids most of the first day of a three day tryout just to see who was in shape.  You have to run sprints, preferably on a basketball court, and time yourself.  The better running shape you are in the better your chances of making the team.

5.      Pass, Rebound, Hustle:  Coaches love players who do the little things.  Work on your fundamentals, especially passing and dribbling, for at least an hour a day.  If you show in tryouts you can pass well, block out and rebound, and hustle you have a good shot.

6.      Relax:  If you are tense and nervous during tryouts you will not look that good.  Most of the players who relax, work hard, and play team ball will give themselves a better chance to make it.

7.      Play to your strengths:  If you are not a very good shooter, but can defend well, focus on defense during tryouts.  Coaches only need so many scorers anyway so prove that you can play another vital role for the team.

The reality of the situation is that not all people are made to be on the basketball team.  You have to possess some athletic ability and an understanding of the game to play.  If you do and you follow the steps above, your chances become greater.  Remember, coaches have to make hard decisions during tryouts so your job is to make it tough for them to cut you.  Play hard, play smart, and be a team player and I know you can make the roster this season.

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All teams at one time or another will have injuries, sickness, school problems, and foul trouble in a game that will force coaches to change their rotation and go to the bench. In my opinion, how prepared those bench players perform are a good measure of your coaching ability.  The bench players that you insert are not going to score 20 pts. a game for you when the play, if they did, they wouldn’t be on the bench!  If there is one thing I have learned in my coaching years is that you can’t neglect these valuable members of your team and you must do all that you can throughout the course of the season to prepare them for anything.

Playing off the bench is one of the hardest things to do in sports.  I can speak from experience when I had to do it in high school.   You’re not really warm, your faults are magnified, and you have to know exactly what is happening offensively and defensively in the game at the time.  I have seen many times where players come in and play nervous and make mistakes which cost the team.  Starters will make mistakes as well, but as a bench player you know that you’re margin for error is smaller.  I witnessed this first hand with my players in my early years of coaching and I felt it was the players not preparing themselves properly.  It wasn’t until I got a chance to watch other high school and college coaches practice did I realize that most of the blame was on me.  Here is what I have learned to help prepare your bench and fringe players so they can contribute in a positive way:

1.       Every practice drill must include activity for everyone:  Nothing alienates a bench player more than watching the coaches’ work with the core group while they stand and watch from the sideline.   The only time that you should have players watching is when you scrimmage 5-on-5.  Otherwise, any offensive, defensive, shooting, and transition drill must have everyone working.

2.       Mix up your line-ups in practice:  It is important that you don’t always have your rotation players drilling and scrimmaging against the non-rotation players.  If you do, you will never give your bench players a chance.

3.       Make every drill competitive:  It’s the only way that your bench players will know the intensity and pressure of a game like situation.

4.       Talk to your players:  Hubie Brown said in a clinic that he makes sure he talks to all his players individually every practice.  It doesn’t have to be a long conversation, but acknowledging them and just asking how their day is going goes along way in helping bench players relax when their number is called. 

5.       Control your body language:  When you do have to insert a bench player, at all costs, control your body language.  Covering your eyes, stomping your feet, and waving your hands in the air in disgust when that player makes a mistake, will only make it worse.  Every time a player sees you do that, their confidence takes a hit and they start to become tentative.  I know this is hard to do, but you must limit the amount of times you do this or else you’re making it too hard for the player to help the team.

I felt that as I began to implement these things the contribution from my bench became significant.  In fact, it helped turn seven man rotations into ten and gave me confidence that even the 12^th man could come in and do the job in opportune moments.  I’ll never forget two years ago when my team was involved in a four overtime game on Senior Night.  It was a great game against are rival school, sold out gym, and it went back and forth all night.  By the last overtime session, many players had fouled out and it was up to the bench to decide the game.  A pivotal point came with a minute and a half left and the score was tied at 91.  It was our ball and one bench player who rarely played set a great ball screen to free up the point guard.  The point guard penetrated, collapsed the defense, and kicked out to another bench player, who had limited minutes all year, and he drained a corner three, 94-91.  The next possession, we were running our delay game, when a junior who had played less than five minutes all season, drove the lane, challenged one of the opposing posts and made a reverse lay-up with 30 seconds left, 96-91.  Game over.  I know if I hadn’t prepared those kids all year, they never would have stepped up in the most pressure packed of situations.  You’re going to need these players at some time during the season, so don’t neglect them and get them ready.

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“Gentlemen, I don’t know what happened in the past, but I can promise you one thing, you’re going to compete every day in practice, you’re going to compete every game, and we’re going to play a fast break, uptempo style that nobody else in the league will be able to stop.”  I remember when I got my first head coaching job the reaction I received from the players when I told them this.  You could feel a buzz in the room and a new excitement infused into each player.  I wonder what the reaction would have been if I told them that we were going to walk the ball up the floor, try to keep the scores in the 40’s, and make five passes before each shot?  I have learned since that time, that both ways win basketball games and there is more than one way to be successful in our sport.  But I still believe that “playing fast” is a great way to get your players and fans excited and more importantly it is something I can teach to my players.

Most of the coaches I have talked to who do not like to run believe they don’t have the personnel to play fast.  Good point, but unless your players can’t dribble, pass, or shoot, I feel that any team can do it.  Let me first define what I feel playing uptempo means:

1.  I believe in running a numbered break (either primary and secondary) and teams must be looking to push the ball in every opportunity.

2.  All players must run.  On every basket, all players must be over half court (you see this alot when a guard gets a steal and there are still three players hanging around your basket) and more importantly if they are ahead of the ball constantly looking to receive it.

3.  Defensive rebounding, deflections, and steals lead to more odd numbered breaks for the team so it must be emphasized and drilled every practice.  Yes, even during shootarounds.

I remember watching the great Celtics and Lakers teams of the 80’s and how everyone talked about “Showtime” with the Lakers.  What the common folk didn’t notice was that the Celtics we’re just as good at pushing the ball up the floor.  The Celtics passed the ball up and finished with short jumpers or three’s while the Lakers we’re making fancy passes and ending them with dunks.  Both effective and both running an uptempo style.  It is also important to note that when these teams did not have an easy basket, they ran great half court sets and took good shots within the structure of the offense.  This is the hardest part for coaches to teach and players to understand, but it is nothing film and structured practices can’t fix. 

Again, this is not for every team and if your team is going to run it, you have to work on it constantly.  The biggest determining factor will be whether or not you feel comfortable enough to teach it properly.  One thing that has bothered me recently, especially in the NBA, is how micromanaged it has become.  Using the whole shot clock and running a set that takes 20 seconds to develop has slowed the game down and it is trickling down to the high school levels.  In my opinion, any team can play an uptempo style, whether or not you adopt it is up to you.

I always like to attend basketball clinics and watch coaching videos whenever I get a chance to help me understand the game better.  Even if I didn’t run a certain system or didn’t like a defense, I watched and listened just in case I faced an opposing team that did run it.  However, when I first started coaching, I always equated team success to coaching knowledge.  If a team was winning, their coach had to be great with X’s and O’s and could really teach the game.  This was pretty apparent when I would attend a clinic and you couldn’t find a seat for Roy Williams, Geno Auriemma, or Jim Boeheim.  But the minute the local high school coach or junior college coach would talk, plenty were available.  I was one of those coaches who only stayed for the big names until I attended a clinic at the NABC convention in 2004.

I was going to watch Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey speak, but I went at the wrong time and a junior college coach from Texas was speaking before him.  I figured it wasn’t worth going back to the hotel and coming back 50 minutes later so I stayed.  It’s a good thing I did because I picked up something that helped my teams tremendously.  For the life of me I can’t remember the name of the coach, but he talked on a variety of topics including something he called his Total Worth System. 

The Total Worth System (TWS) was similar to a +/- system in hockey.  If you don’t know, a player receives a + if his team scores when he is on the ice and a – if the other team scores while he is on the ice.  The point being is that you can tell how effective the player is when he is in the game.  With TWS, you didn’t take the amount of points scored or scored against, but you gave points for positive things on the court and you took away points for negative things.  The first time I used the system, I realized how important it was when determining how well a player performed in that game.  Many times after a game my coaching staff and I would have a general idea of how someone played, but without fail, after the TWS was calculated we found out that a player didn’t play as well as we thought or a player was better than initially thought. 

The coach taught a basic system where he gave points for makes, rebounds, assists, steals and took away points for missed shots and turnovers.  I love stats so I expanded the system to make it more effective for my staff and players.  Here is the breakdown of how it works:

2 point field goal made:         +2 points

2 point field goal missed:       -2 points

3 pt. field goal made:             +3 points

3 pt. field goal missed:                    -2 points

Free-throw made:                  +1 point

Free-throw missed:                -1 point

Offensive rebounds:               +2 points

Defensive rebounds:              +1 point

Assists:                                   +2 points

Marquette Assists:                 +1 point

-         When Coach Tom Crean was at Marquette he used this phrase to give credit to players who made a nice setup pass but it wasn’t converted to points. 

-         When adding these numbers together, I would add them to the assists column.

Blocks:                                    +2 points

Steals:                                     +2 points

Deflections:                            +1 point

-         I would also put these into the steals category so for every two deflections, I added them to steals

Turnovers:                              -4 points

Hustles:                                  +3 points

-          Hustles for me was defined as any charge, charge attempt, diving for a loose ball, or just making an effort play (sprinting back on defense or a great help and recover play)

The beauty of this system is that you can add or subtract whatever categories you think will fit your team.  One coach I worked with in Seattle was very big on setting proper screens.  I’m sure he would add “perfect screens” as a + category.  In addition, basketball is a subjective sport and the TWS gives players a concrete number, much like a golf score or a time in swimming or track.  Players will always talk about how many points they scored, but I have seen it where a player scores 20 points but has a negative total worth because he missed a lot of shots and had a lot of turnovers. 

I liked to keep my own stats and I would do the TWS after each game.  It is nearly impossible to do perfectly during the game so it will take some time and effort.  But I do feel it is a great tool that can help you, your staff, and players.  In fact, it was the one stat all my players wanted to know after each game.  They realized that total team play was more important than being the leading scorer.  I had a player who shot poorly all year, but he was one of the leaders in the TWS because of his defense and hustle. 

I was able to easily integrate TWS into Turbo Stats and also did it on a spreadsheet.  If you want a sample spreadsheet of the system from one of my former teams I would be glad to send it to you.  All you would have to do is edit the names and maybe change some formulas if you add new categories.  Please email me at webmaster@beantownhoops.com and I will email you a copy.

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It’s a question I have been asked a number of times during my high school coaching career.  An eager parent wondering why ten Division I schools are not knocking down their door with scholarship offers for their son.  As a parent myself, I understand the question is not always malicious in nature, but a majority of the time it is directed to coaches in that manner.  For some reason, a high school athlete not receiving a college scholarship is the coach’s fault and has nothing to do with the player.  Don’t get me wrong, a head coach is responsible for helping get the name of his player out there and making sure he does contact some coaches if there is nobody showing interest, but the bottom line is the player must possess the physical and mental skills to make it.  I have been privileged to coach six DI basketball players and four players who played other DI sports.  In addition, I have coached against countless DI basketball players in Seattle and Chicago and one thing holds true for all of them:  they all have had tremendous basketball skills, the physical stature necessary to play in college, and were fierce competitors (I won’t tell you what Derrick Rose and Brandon Roy did to my teams).

I’ve compiled a list of things for parents and players to help them understand the process better and help clear the air with their coaches about how this “scholarship thing” works.

For Parents:

1.      If your son or daughter receives a letter from a college, 9 out of 10 times it is a form letter from the university.  Basketball programs have huge databases (and budget) to send mailers out to players.  Your athlete can be put on the database in any number of ways, but again these are not scholarship offers, not letters showing high interest, but simply a way for the program to get their name out there.  In other words, it is just junk mail.  Sorry.

2.    If your athlete is receiving hand written letters and the assistant or head coaches have contacted their High School or AAU coach, the school is showing mid to high interest and a scholarship offer could be imminent. 

3.    Just because your athlete is playing on a AAU/traveling team it doesn’t guarantee any scholarship offers.  Back when I was playing in the late 80’s, there was one AAU team in the whole state, now there are hundreds out there.  Here is the general rule about playing on a club team:  if you have to pay for anything, your athlete is probably not getting a DI scholarship, if everything is provided, more than likely they have a very good chance of making it to the next level.  The reason being is that the big shoe manufacturers fully sponsor those teams and want the best talent available wearing their gear, thus, they (the colleges and companies) think if your athlete is on those teams they can really play.

4.     By the start of their Junior year, if they have not received any scholarship offers or high interest, it is time to start asking your athlete how badly they want to play college basketball.  More than likely, it won’t be at the DI level and your son or daughter need to start considering if they want to go to a DII, DIII, NAIA or Juco to be a student-athlete.

5.  Do your homework.  If you think your son or daughter can do it, be sure to do your homework on schools, the NCAA Clearinghouse and the scholarship process.  A good resource is Laurie Richter’s book Put Me In, Coach: A Parent’s Guide to Winning the Game of College Recruiting

For Players

1.      DII, DIII, and NAIA schools are very competitive and do not lack the skill that DI players have.  What I mean by this is that skill wise, there are definitely players at these levels who can shoot, dribble, and pass just as well as DI players, but the biggest difference at DI is the size and speed.  For example, two of my players are playing DIII right now and the starting center for their team is 6′7″.  At the DI level, you will see small forwards who are 6′7″ and centers who are 6′10″ and higher.  I think players feel that playing at less than DI is easy, but they will soon find the skill level is very high and these players are just as competitive than the higher level.  Also, these players at the “lower levels” were leading scorers, all-conference members, and in some cases four-year starters for their high schools.

2.    How much do you really work on your game?  Playing basketball because its fun is not enough.  When you play in college it is a job.  Everything is analyzed and scrutinized by the coaching staff, the game is faster an more physical, and if you don’t perform, next year someone will take your place.  If you think you have what it takes, see if you do the following things right now:

• When you practice your shooting do you do it at game speed, do you count your misses and makes, do you shoot at least 500 shots a day, do you shoot off the dribble as well as spot up shots, are you really working?
• Do you work on drills that don’t involve shooting?  Ball handling, passing, and agility drills should be done every day for at least an hour.
• Is your idea of pick-up basketball an open gym at your local high school?  If you’re not going to a playground or rec center and playing against older players you’re not getting better.
• Do you have a lifting and stretching routine you adhere to each week?  If not, you better start.
• When you watch a basketball game on TV, do you watch the ball or everything else that is going on without the ball?  Start watching like a coach instead of a fan and your game will improve.
• If you’re not going to play at the DI level, but want to still play college ball you better have good grades.  Most of these schools are private and require very good grades and SAT or ACT scores to get in.  If you don’t, your only other route is to play at the JUCO level.

I hope that this article can help parents and players understand a little better how it works.  I’m not trying to be negative, but it is important to understand the realities of the business (yes, it truly is a business).  If you have any more questions that need to be answered, feel free to contact me at webmaster@beantownhoops.com.  Best of luck in your journey to college basketball.

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I was catching up on the latest news in my hometown of Seattle, Washington when I came across an interesting blog (Seattle Times UW Blog).  Tony Wroten of Garfield H.S. and the 13th ranked player in the Class of 2011, tore his ACL playing football and is out for the entire year.  In a city that takes great pride in its basketball this is a huge blow. If you didn’t know here is quick rundown of some famous Seattle players:  Jamal Crawford (Atlanta), Nate Robinson (New York),  Brandon Roy (Portland), Martell Webster(Portland), Spencer Hawes (Sacramento), Terrence Williams (New Jersey), Jason Terry (Dallas), Rodney Stuckey (Detroit), Aaron Brooks (Houston).

The bigger question is should Tony Wroten had been playing football in the first place?  The last time Wroten even played football was in the seventh grade when he decided to turn out again this season.  It is a question that every basketball coach in America has had to deal with at one time.  Does playing another sport hinder the progress of the athlete?  Will it be a distraction to the other basketball players who are running and working out in preparation for the season?

I coached at a school in Chicago whose focus is primarily on football.  As long as the football team was doing well, everything was right in the school.  I didn’t have any problems with the football coaching staff, in fact we got along quite well.  But I was always hearing rumors about people in the football program telling dual sport athletes not to play basketball.  They should focus on getting stronger and bigger in the weight room because basketball would make them smaller and if they wanted to play college football this was the only way.  I took the opposite approach and always encouraged my players to play other sports.  My only rule with them is that they had to be committed to basketball once their season ended in the Fall and until their season began in the Spring.  During the off-season, I asked them to communicate clearly with me and to be sure they were always doing something for basketball.  If they could not adhere to this, I asked them politely to pick one sport that they could consistently focus on and give 100% effort.  If it was basketball great, if it wasn’t, then they would have been more of a distraction then help to the team.

With the specialization of sports today and athletes playing year round, the day of the three-sport letterman is slowly going away.  However, I think coaches who are pressuring kids to play just one sport and are telling them that other sports will hinder their progress are doing kids a disservice.  As coaches, our job is to mentor, model proper behavior, and support the student-athlete.  By telling them that other sports are bad or they may lose their spot if they don’t focus on one is not the appropriate way to help an athlete.

I feel bad that Tony Wroten is out for the year.  He could have easily hurt his knee playing pick up basketball than playing football.  In fact, it happens all the time where basketball players get hurt in an open gym and have to miss a significant amount of the season.  Most high school athletes will never get a chance again to play more than one organized sport after high school (playing in a 35 and over basketball and softball league doesn’t count) so as coaches we should support them to do so.  I wish Tony and many other athletes around the country a speedy recovery and I hope they get to play their respective sports soon.
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