Monson: Midnight Madness at Shorecrest is part practice, part tradition

As the days get shorter for everyone else, my days become longer. High school basketball season has begun and my Shorecrest HS Girls Varsity basketball squad just wrapped up the first week of tryouts/practices. We always end the first week with a tradition I started six years ago.

We practiced Friday evening from 5-7 p.m. Then, after a few hours off, the girls were back on the court from Midnight-2 a.m. for our Saturday practice.

A tribute to one of the most influential coaches in Washington history

It’s not just a basketball practice, but also our first goal-setting session of the season. I am a huge believer in the power of goal-setting and teaching techniques that can help translate those goals into action.

It’s the only practice of the season that we invite the parents to attend and they watched until about 1:20 a.m. Then, the other coaches and I take the girls into the locker room where we do individual goal-setting. We write down everything the girls want to individually accomplish this season. While we did that, the parents staged the gym.

They set up candles, turned off all the lights and set a circle of chairs around mid-court. The players and coaches then came out, joined their families, and did our team goal-setting for the season.

We even had a message for the girls from a very special speaker:

Like Coach said, Go Scots!

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