Sometimes the smartest coach on the team is that 5’0” 90 pound freshman girl sitting at the end of the bench. She wore 54 because that house was way to big for the upper classmen and they were not going to wear it. This thread is called FORGIVENESS.

That freshman could not shoot it, was a bad ball handler, struggled to defend and was not very strong.

Still, that freshman was incredible, she had been to every basketball practice and game since the 3rd grade. She loved it and walked in with a giant smile every day.

She was a 4.0 student, she played four sports, (XC, BB, T&F, and Softball) she was in band and vocal, drama and FFA.

I forgot to tell you her mom was a parole agent for some of the toughest kids in the state.

In the middle of the season we had a Junior player get mad and walk out of practice. She quit in haste. She came back the next morning and wanted to come back. I told her I had to talk to the team.

As we sat in my room before practice many of the players did not want her back. For some it meant more playing time. Some others just didn’t like her. It was not going to be easy to get her back on the team, and to tell you the truth the Coaches didn’t want her back either.

As the upper classmen monopolized the conversation, I was about to call for a vote to see if we should take her back. ( God I was dumb.) All of a sudden that 90 pound freshman said something real soft. I told her I could not hear her.

She said quietly but with confidence, “There is going to be a time when we all want to be forgiven.” That little girl with the jersey that was to big and couldn’t play a lick was the best player in the room that afternoon. Heck, she was the best human in the room.

Of course we took that Junior back. Never, have I left it to a vote again for a situation like that.

Today that little freshman has a degree in business and theology. She is married and has two little girls. One play’s on the middle school team at the school I retired from.