Welcome to "Tuesday Morning"—one publication that is not asking Congress for a bailout. At least not yet.

 

John Wooden is one of the greatest coaches that ever stepped on a collegiate basketball court. He did an outstanding job wherever he decided to coach. In his first year of coaching high school—Dayton, Kentucky—his team had a losing season. It was the last losing season he would ever experience, either at the high school or college level. In eleven years coaching high school basketball, his teams won 218 games, losing only 42.

 

In 1948 Wooden accepted an offer to coach the UCLA Bruins. It was not a promising job. At the time, UCLA was considered one of the weakest teams in the conference. The team didn't even have a home court to play on, and they had to share practice facilities with other teams at the university. In his first season, the Bruins won 22 games, losing only 7. The next year they won 24 out of 31 and won the conference championship. In 1964 the Bruins were undefeated and won the NCAA championship. In 1965 they won the title again. After one year without a championship, UCLA returned to win the NCAA championship in 1967, repeating the achievement for the next seven years.

 

As legendary as Wooden is, his quotes are equally priceless. Here is one I like:

 

"Much can be accomplished by teamwork when no one is concerned about who gets the credit."

 

Teamwork in fields other than sports is vital, if one wants to succeed. So, it should not surprise you that the theme of this week's epistle is "Team." Read on whenever you are ready. And then begin looking for a "team" to lead, or start, or join. 

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Team Player

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Team

Tom Barnard

 

rowing up on Garfield Street was like a walk in the park. Of the kids who lived on our street, I was the youngest. My brother, Chuck, was the oldest. He was three years and three months older than I. There were also the Driscoll brothers—Bob and Jack—they lived across the street east of us. Bill and “Butch” Minton lived across the street in a small apartment west of us. Then there was Bill Bainbridge and Stan Algots. And Sonny Holgate and Howard Willis. Finally, Sumner Hopkins and his mother moved into a house near us, but they stayed for only a short time. It didn’t matter. When we all got together to play, everybody was on the “team.” Nobody in our part of Garfield Street was excluded. Except the girls. They were not invited.

 

My brother reflected on those “good old days” this week. Here is how he remembered one of the games of playing street football in the early 1940s:

 

One of the great moments during my 'street football' days occurred at the time Sumner lived in the neighborhood. We were playing "three-on-three" and he was on the other team. I had been fascinated by Frankie Albert (Glendale High / Stanford / S.F.49ers) who was a master of the naked reverse where he faked a hand-off and hid the ball on his hip. On this one occasion, I took the snap and faked a handoff to Bob (I believe) who pretended to have the ball and went left. Sumner took the fake and I was going right before he realized I still had the ball. He was much faster than I was but because of a good head start I out-legged him all the way to the "goal line". There was a man who lived down the street who would come out and watch us play, and he was grinning from ear to ear when I beat Sumner. You never forget things like that.

 

As good as our “team” was, it never rose to the level of a UCLA basketball team. John Wooden was the most famous coach in America when he coached his championship teams at UCLA. But when he came to Westwood in 1948 for the first of his 27 seasons there, most of the “players” on our “team” had moved on.

 

John Wooden was a legendary coach. His words of wisdom can be found everywhere on the internet. “Coach” commented on what it takes to become a team in the Foreword to The Search to Belong, by Joseph R. Myers:

 

What is the secret to team? How do we lose ourselves for the good of the group? Gifted players who aren’t team players ultimately hurt the team, whether it revolves around basketball or business or the church. And great teams are filled with players who understand that the good of the group comes first. But this understanding and sacrifice happens only when each player experiences belonging.

 

Coach Wooden understood the importance of belonging, and he also knew the secret to belonging was being appreciated. He said, “All member of your team must know they’re wanted, needed, and appreciated. And it’s the leader’s job to help them experience value through their experience of belonging.”

 

How can a leader communicate to the “team” that each member of the group is wanted and appreciated? Here’s what I remember from my years of playing “team football” on Garfield Street:

 

·         Everybody was important. Age and talent were never measured in advance of a game. When we “chose up sides,” I was never chosen first. It didn’t matter. Being chosen last was better than not being chosen at all.

·         No one who wanted to play was left out. We never thought girls would enjoy “boys’ games,” but things have changed. If Title IX had existed then, we probably would have welcomed any girl who wore Levis.

·         Every effort was cheered. “Who won the game?” was never on our agenda. Playing the game was an end in itself. In this world view, participation was the sport. Everything else was irrelevant.

·         No trophies or medals were awarded. Being part of the team was enough. Sumner Hopkins and Jack Driscoll would later star on our high school track team, but in “street football” they were just regular guys.

·         Cookies and milk were served at the end of every game. Mom was best at this. She didn’t even need to be asked. She just knew that tired, sweaty boys needed something sweet after a hard game.

 

Wherever you serve in a leadership role (the home, the neighborhood, the school, the church, the town where you live), there are people who long to be invited to play the game. Participation is important to them. “Belonging” is everything. Everyone needs to feel appreciated. And instead of cookies, serve Krispy Kremes! Include the girls.