Dear Literary Loves,
Oh my beejeeesus! You have to read this memoir about Pat Summitt, the former head coach of Tennessee's women's basketball. Frankly, it should be required reading for every education major in the country because it's really a meditation on how to teach effectively.
First, I liked this woman from the get-go because she's southern. That means that she doesn't put up with a lot of nonsense and she says what she thinks with a no holds barred attitude. She grew up with several brothers and played basketball with them which undoubtedly is why she was such a good defensive player. She didn't grow up with riches either. The family lived and worked on a farm. This is a woman who regularly raked hay into bales, drove a tractor, planted the garden, and milked the cows. I know some semblance of what this is like in that I spent almost six summers on a tobacco farm during my teen years. Her father moved the family across the county line in order for Pat to be able to attend a high school where she could play women's basketball. Interestingly, at one time, girls only played half court basketball; people didn't think we were strong enough to play a full court game. Well, it was Pat's mission to put an end to that and she did. She additionally played women's basketball at The University Of Tennessee at Martin and went on to play for the USA women's Olympic basketball team. At the age of twenty-two, she was recruited to coach women's basketball at The University of Tennessee.
The job of being a basketball coach really came somewhat naturally to her: she held all her players to the same high standards she set for herself both on and off the court. Did she learn skills from more veteran coaches? Of course, but sometimes, what you do in life is in your blood and that was the case for Pat Summitt. When she first started coaching the women's team was still playing in the university gym while the men's team played in the arena. I mean, she drove the players to other schools for their games!. And it was never a jolly ride home if the team lost because Pat really hated losing. She did learn from her losses though which is always the sign of a first class teacher. There were so many players that she discusses with so many different idiosyncrasies. Some players made it under her and if you couldn't take the heat or buy into the first class program she wanted to build at the university, you left. And she held her players to high standards off the court as well. She didn't like it when one group of players really liked to go out drinking the night before a practice. It didn't set the image she wanted to build of a first class women's program. So when the players showed up the next morning for practice, Pat had put trash cans in all four corners of the basketball court and she ran those players until all the liquor and beer came right out of them. I'm serious. What a way to remind kids of the bad health effects of drinking.
Pat also brought former players back to the university as assistant coaches. Lord, if they had met her standards as a player then you know they would make it as an assistant coach. Sometimes, the assistant coaches could provide the motherly touch that Pat couldn't provide and still maintain control and respect of her team. Eventually though, after the birth of her son Tyler, she learned to develop personal relationships with her players such that they didn't want to disappoint her. She held her players to a higher standard when it came to academics and basketball which is the highest compliment a coach can receive. There were times when Pat came across other coaches getting in her face or coaches that attempted to sway potential basketball recruits by putting the Tennessee basketball program down, but she didn't return the favor. She didn't stoop to low levels.
Eventually, Pat Summitt developed rheumatoid arthritis along with an Alzheimer's diagnosis. She hung in there, kept her job, got the best medical minds working on her case, and took care of herself as well as her basketball program. She would later turn some duties over to her assistant coaches and she eventually turned coaching duties over to a former player and longtime assistant coach. She didn't leave the Tennessee basketball program though because she continues to contribute in any motivating way she can. What a woman. What a coach. And what a seriously grand teacher. I highly recommend this book. It would be required reading in my classes and really should be for anyone wanting to eventually become an educator.
Till my next post,
Grace
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