Seasons Over

Often times, people look at coaches wives and utter the words, “I know you’re glad basketball season is over!” And I often times want to say “what season?” The season is never over for basketball, or any sport for that matter. Even after “the on court season”, we still have travel/recruit season, training season, or walk around the house and talk on the phone season. A common misconception is that each sport has a season and though there is a playing season, the season is never over. You may ask how players and coaches prepare themselves to play the season, and my response is “Coaches now have to figure out who is a practice star and who is a game day star, long before ‘the season’ begins”.

On court season is the season where everyone gets to see if the team, a coach has put together, will live up to expectations. It’s the season where you cheer your favorite teams to conference championships and possibly NCAA tournaments. It’s the time coaches get to see whether or not their hard work and dedication has paid off. It’s when families watch their coaches from the stands and cheer as hard as possible, for a winning season.

Travel/recruit season is the season when coaches are able to go out and see players that they are interested in, play AAU ball. This time is spent determining whether or not that ‘star player’ they’ve been scouting, is good enough to play on their team the following year. It’s the time they spend on the road, away from their families and sometimes as a vacation. Many of these trips require coaches to leave on Thursday and not return home until Sunday, at the earliest. They map out their trip to plan how many players they can visit within a close radius; to maximize the weekend. Coaches spend all day and night in gyms, watching the players that were on their radar and also discovering players that have not yet been recognized.

Training season is the season where coaches put all the puzzle pieces together. This is where they spend time figuring out who will be their starting lineup during the season, who they will red shirt for the next season, and who reign as the star of the team. This is also when coaches spend countless hours figuring out which plays to run. This season usually takes place in the summer and right before on court season. Coaches will watch countless practice films, from previous seasons, to identify ways to build a stronger team than the previous year. They are always brainstorming ideas to keep fans happy, while also proving to themselves that they still have “it”.

Walk around the house on the phone season, is an all year around season. This season is when coaches get their leads on the next big athlete and when they have endless conversations with the other coaches about games, future players, and different plays. This is the season when coaches have conversations with their players about what is expected from them during the upcoming season. Coaches are at home pacing the floor, being oblivious to their kids bouncing off the walls and their wives just trying to make it all work; during this season. This is the part of coaching most people don’t know about. It is the time when the coaches phones are glued to their side because every call is an important call. This is likely the realest and most difficult season for families. As a coach’s wife, if you don’t understand this part of the season, you will struggle to understand the other seasons that come within “the season”.