Blog 18: Third Answer

"You spend your life gripping a softball, but in the end it was the other way around the whole time."

EQ: what is the best way a girls softball team can win CIF (California Interscholastic Federation)?

Answer #3: Softball players are constantly practicing trying to perfect themselves but without the commitment set by themselves, practice won't ever make perfect.

3 details to support the answer (facts & example):

• Commitment involves tenacity which is the ability to continue on despite difficult circumstances or obstacles. For example, in April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson was one of the first male African Americans to play baseball and joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. Obviously at the time they did not except the fact that colors could do a white mans job just as well, or in this case better, and was given such a hard time but he stuck through it because he knew this was a passion of his. 
• Life skills can be learned through commitment to sports. Individuals can learn the value of teamwork. Understanding that when you are part of a team you lose some semblance of individualism. Being committed to your team, teammates and the sport is essential for overall success.
• Success does not occur overnight, it's an ongoing process. Some people and organizations who were exemplary in exhibiting commitment in their respective sports: Vince Lombardi (legendary football coach), Michael Jordan (superstar basketball player), New York Yankees (baseball team). These individuals and organizations are the perfect examples for commitment to winning and excellence. It is something that has been earned over several years of dedication.

Research sources:

• "Be Committed." Elite Sport Leadership Central RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. <http://www.elitesportleader.com/themes/be-committed/>.
• "ARTICLES." Sportsmind. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. <http://www.sportspsychology.net.au/index.php/articles/motivation/the-power-of-commitment>.
• "The 6 Key Components of Commitment." Janssen Sports Leadership Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. <http://www.janssensportsleadership.com/resources/janssen-blog/the-6-key-components-of-making-a-serious-commitment/>.

Concluding Sentence: These lessons can be transferred into life skills that coincide with relationships, business, and social matters.

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Blog 17: Fourth Interview

“The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.” -Robert G. Ingersoll

1. What are a few things that standout for you when you notice a player is committed to the team?
2. When losing a big game, how do you handle the team's emotions?
3. Does a coach's body language affect the way a player performs?
4. Can you describe a situation where a player showed lack of teamwork and what you did as a coach to resolve it?
5. Can you describe a situation where a player showed commitment to the team?
6. Describe your most effective effort to create or promote a positive image for your team.
7. Can you tell me about a situation that best illustrates your ability to work collaboratively with a diverse group of people?
8. As a coach what are some qualities you want your team to represent?
9. How do you make sure your players stay humble during a winning streak?
10. What are some things you do to motivate your team to do better?
11. From experience what do you believe is a skill a player should have when it comes to sports?
12. How do you get a play to do more than what they believe they can when it comes to their skill level?
13. How do you find the talent of each individual on your team?
14. How high do you set goals for your team?
15. How are coaches suppose to handle pressure under stressful situations?
16. How important is character for a player to have?
17. Is consistency important in coaching your team?
18. What are certain things you do to make sure your players are relaxed and ready for a game day?
19. Do you notice a change in attitude when a player is out of the field?
20. Can you name a time frame that you've noticed your players improve in the sport?

GUESS WHAT SEASON IT IS?

For all you guys keeping track on sports, it's SOFTBALL SEASON :-) which means I can get my mentoring hours on!

Jennifer, my mentor, and I have discussed the upcoming schedule for softball and the times I'm free and it looks like for the first month I will be going to practice every Tuesday and Thursday's. Not bad at all considering that I will soon be able to go Wednesday's too. Practice will take place at La Puente High School around 3:30 and no later because they should be on the field running by 3:45. I start next week and I actually can't wait to go because my best friend Karissa is on the team so these practices should be really fun.

I'm going to make a spreadsheet so that Jen can sign off every practice to confirm my hours as my proof.

Blog 16: Advisory Meeting #2

“I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed; and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying.” -Tom Hopkins

Answer #2: Teamwork! (were you really surprised?)

• Although there are many sports, softball in high school is the ideal sport that teaches teens the importance of teamwork because of the specific jobs each position has.

3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)

• "Talent without teamwork = trouble," said Jeff Jenssen, a well-team known expert in the area of team-building that done a lot of work with folks coaching softball. This is very true and it goes for all sports, teams don't win on talent alone. Talent gives you a greater chance of winning but doesn't really guarantee you anything. 
• Success is built on talent and teamwork. The team as a whole have common characteristics such as: 

1. Common goal shared by all like winning C.I.F.
2. Commitment
3. Complementary roles (various individuals taking pride  in filling specific roles)
4. Clear communication
5. Constructive conflict
6. Cohesion (players like and respect each other)

Success is not random, it just doesn't happened like this. It's the results of many things and one of them is: good and successful coaching.

• Learning to work as part of a team is essential to success in many other areas. Children have to learn to cooperate both at home and school. In school students are expected to work together without conflict and many teachers use cooperative groups to teach just that. At home children are expected to be part of the family team and help with chores that need to be done. And when they are older, these children may have a job that requires teamwork, only rarely does a person work in job that does not require working with others. Office workers have to work together to accomplish the tasks given to them. Construction workers have to be part of a team effort to finish buildings on time and on budget.

The research source (s) to support your details and answer.

• "Coaching Softball - What Makes A Championship Team?" Coaching Softball - What Makes A Championship Team? N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <http://www.softballperformance.com/coaching-softball-what-makes-a-championship-team/>.
• "The Power of Teamwork." Competitive Advantage: Sports Psychology and Mental Toughness. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <https://www.competitivedge.com/power-teamwork>.
• "Teamwork in Sports | Fullerton ASA Softball League." Fullerton ASA Softball League. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. <http://www.fullertonasasoftball.com/2013/06/13/teamwork-in-sports/>.

Concluding Sentence

• Teamwork is something that must be a high priority and given constant attention. Every player needs to understand how important it is for them to work smoothly together if they want to be successful. Each player must be dedicated to the whole team and be willing to act unselfishly. When challenges arise (as they always do), the team needs to have the resources, accountability and commitment to deal with them in a constructive and positive manner. A sense of teamwork will play an integral part in this. T.E.A.M. - Together Everyone Achieves More!

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

"Its supposed to be hard, if it wasn't hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

• I'm currently trying to get in contact with the softball coach at Southland's because I want to have more than one mentor in the subject i'm focusing on. Basically what I would do with the coach is what i'm planning to do with my main mentor Jenny which is help the coach out with practice, like an assistant, and practice with the girls, except not be on the team because I can't. I'd be asking questions to try and understand his method of coaching as well as his philosophy and compare it with Jennifer's. What I find cool about this is that Southland's coach is a guy and my mentor Jennifer clearly stated in my first interview that she hates when guys coach a girl sport because they don't understand the strengths and weaknesses of girls and hopefully I will get to experience that for my own.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

• It's exactly what my topic is and I'm basically just finding another mentor to help me compare coaching philosophies as well as methods.

3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

• Seeing the perspective of a guy coach on a girl sport and comparing it to a girl coach on a girl sport can help me see what girl coaches do differently than guy coach. I want to compare these two because maybe I would agree more with what the guy coach is doing and I would ask my main mentor Jenny why she doesn't do this certain drill like the guy coach and knowing her she'd give me a really long explanation as well as a book recommendation.

4.  Post a log on the right hand side of your blog near your other logs and call it the independent component 2 log.

• Done.

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

"Great teamwork is the only way we create the breakthroughs that define our careers."

LITERAL

(a) Statement saying: “I, student name, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”

I, Darlene Good, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work. (More to come though) 

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

My sources are the coaches at Southland's for the girls' varsity basketball team: Julius Johnson, Monica Martinez (a close friend of coach Johnson with prior experience), and Trish Milhiser (JV coach).

(c) Provide a digital spreadsheet (aka log of the 30 hours).   Post it next to your mentorship log.

Make it easier when checking this post: click here

(d) Explanation of what you completed.  

A huge thing that I feel must be said is that I filled in my first play for a game as well as told the girls which position to play and really play the role of a coach. 

INTERPRETIVE 

Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work. Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.

Mainly what I did was go to practice and lead a few or help the coaches with drills. When I say help the coaches with drills I mean, there are two main coaches, Johnson and Trish, and we'd split the girls into three groups so each coach and I had our own set or girls and we either had competitions on which group can do drills faster or actually split the girls so we each can do whatever we wanted with them.

When it came to the weight room I actually worked out with them because it's a way for the girls to see me as part of the team rather than just helping the coaches out.

All the schedules for practices and games are on a googledocs that's shared between the coaches and I. That to me is like another class blog that I need to be constantly checking on everyday to see if I agree with the schedule and/or if there's anything I would like to add or replace.

APPLIED

How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 

My independent component really helped me see the different perspectives on coaches for different sports and it gives me answers to research and pay more attention to during practices and at home. With two coaches involved now it helps me see the different coaching types within the same sport and I know for my actual mentoring it will give me a third perspective on coaching.

A specific example is the idea I call "C.T.C." which basically stands from "Character. Teamwork. Commitment." I came up with this because Character forms a Team and a team must be committed to the same goal. Not quite sure if the order will be that but my independent component actually helped me for this concept so I feel like this is a perfect example i've gotten out of being part of the basketball team.

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Reflection

"Passion and teamwork can turn a bunch of ordinary folks into an unbeatable, winning team." -Prakah Iyer

1. Positive Statement
I wasn't as shy as my last presentation and I think that was helpful. This isn't my last presentation and I can only get better from this.

What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
I really enjoyed the way my activity turned out and how people really participated/ wanted to come up and share their answers.

2. Questions to Consider
       a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
I understand I didn't mean time but I feel like what I did say was enough to cover the important grounds that I wanted to share.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
My activity definitely worked and i'm glad because I had to change it about three times for it to connect with my answer.

4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
I thought maybe I had enough to talk about for 10 minutes but I guess not and I talked way too fast so that didn't help at all so maybe just take my time and give more examples.

5. Finding Value
What do you think your answer #2 is going to be? 
Well I have this idea called "C.T.C." which basically stands from "Character. Teamwork. Commitment." and I came up with this because Character forms a Team and a team must be committed to the same goal. You can't really do one without the other and the order is still debatable but I really feel like these three things are constantly talked about/ shown in my mentorships.