This was an exciting season for our Arlington Heights Youth Basketball Association’s Spurs! One of my favorite hobbies is coaching youth sports, and I just wrapped up a fantastic season coaching a great group of sixth grade boys, which included my youngest son Theo.
The Spurs won their division, fought incredibly hard and made continual improvement after every game. I am eager to see how well they will all perform next season. The Spurs won 10 of 14 games for the season and were always a force to reckon with.
The Spurs were an all-around team that shared the ball and looked for the open man. We had a great time learning and running a motion offense, where every player was part of every play in every game. Everyone scored throughout the season, and everyone cheered their teammates on every time, making this a fun and uplifting season.
The Spurs’ road to victory started a little slowly, with an edifying loss against the Thunder. The Spurs came back strong with six wins in a row, against the Grizzlies, Hornets, Knicks, Suns, Bulls and Cavaliers. The guys fell short in Game Eight against the Warriors, but put up a respectable fight for a final score of 26-22. Game Nine against The Celtics proved to be another demanding match-up, and I was proud they pulled it out 42-40. The Spurs came back determined, and won their next three games against the Mavericks, Suns and Wolves, before finishing the regular season with a defeat by the Raptors. On December 12, The Spurs played against the Thunder, securing the Red Division victory with a final score of 33-29. The Spurs played hard against the Warriors, the White Division champions, finishing their season with a tremendous effort that made everyone proud, with a very close final score of 37-35. I feel privileged to be a part of the lives of these young men and I respect their determination and sportsmanship this season.
An outstanding job to all of our incredible AHYBA basketball teams, and congratulations for doing a great job out on the court! Special thanks to Vicki Shiakallis for being my assistant coach, Clayton Sadler for being the scorekeeper, Curt Adams for his help coaching and keeping the clock, the referees and all of the rest of the parents and families for raising such coachable and enjoyable kids!
