Congratulations to the young men of the Tennessee Heat for being national champions for their division of the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships!
These boys have worked their tail off to get to this point. We started going team lifts in June, big team practices started up in September, and the season got underway in late October. These kids love to play ball, are always shooting around, having fun, working on their craft, hitting the weights, and practicing with intention.
I'm darn proud of em. They don't have it as easy as other teams, but also don't have it as hard as other teams either.
Being homeschool, the kids don't necessarily have a gymnasium they know they can show up and use at any time. They have space at community center of the First Baptist Church of Lebanon -- but sometimes there'd be other church events, church services, Zumba, and other Heat team practices going on.
The kids don't necessarily live close to each other nor do they play with each other from time they were tikes because there isn't the locus of a physical school pooling them together. But, luckily, a lot of the kids do live close enough together to play pick up ball every once in a while.
They also started out the season with two new coaches they had to get used to (me and Head Coach Joe Bond). But the kids are respectful, hard working, and trusted the process that Coach Joe put together to be a championship caliber team.
But the kids didn't have it that bad either. They have parents that are extremely dedicated and loving -- not all kids have that. They have a positive supportive environment around them (for the most part, from what I can tell!), helping them to succeed on and off the court. Not all kids have that either!
For me, training the kids was an extremely rewarding and educational process.
First, I never played basketball, so I had to learn a bit about the game and implement a program that would benefit a basketball team specifically. I feel like that went well!
Next, I wanted to make sure the kids stayed healthy. A key indicator as a strength coach isn't how many kids can dunk, but did the lifting help the kids stay healthy through the season?
I feel like that was a success as well. Here's a rundown of injuries that were reported to me.
Unfortunately, there were a two major twisted ankles -- landing on someone else's foot and twisting your ankle happens in the game.
There was one kid who had some patellar tendon issues -- he missed the rest of the season unfortunately.
Another had some low back tightness -- it didn't stop him, though, maybe he didn't dress for varsity one game (was a starter on 14U and 16U team tho).
There was another stud who fractured his thumb, finished the game, then just taped it the rest of the season.
Finally, I wanted the kids to be explosive, physically dominant, and confident going on the court. Having muscle on your body makes all three of those happen. Can you imagine the confidence you have after taking 100# in each hand for a farmer walk around the church parking lot?
All the kids put on size, but here is a great example of that.
The only reason I chose this kid is because I have the photographic evidence. All the other kids put this kind of size. It really shows all the work they put in.
The lifts that made that happen? Single Leg Squats with 50's in each hand. Pull Ups. Heavy Farmer Carries. ( We also did a ton of Bulgarian split squats, contrast jump training, pull ups, heavy rows, farmer carries, wrestling for med balls, lateral jumps and sprints).
Coach Joe has some big plans for the team and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. I loved going to their games -- travelling everywhere from Bowling Green Kentucky to Chattanooga Tennessee! I yelled my face off. Gave high fives. Talked kids down. Gave some pep talks. Warmed em up. And I really felt like I was part of a really awesome family.
I'm excited to be able to shepherd through a group of young athletes, train 'em right, give them the latest in training knowledge, and give them the coaching and opportunities I never had!
Let's go get 'em boys! Here's some highlights of their lifting sessions! I'm sure they'll look back at this and laugh, and I'll look back and shake my head about how my training method/style was then.