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HOW TO BUILD A CHAMPION IN SOMEONE

Ricky Byrdsong (1956-1999) was the basketball coach at Northwestern University.

The following passage is taken form his book, Coaching Your Kids in the Game of Life . . .

“I remember it like it was yesterday.
Tenth grade, Frederick Douglas High School in Atlanta.
Tall and gangly, I was pushing my way through the crowded hallway.
All of a sudden a big, booming voice pealed like a thunderclap behind me:

“HEY, SON!”

It was Coach William Lester. He was a big barrel-chested man, six feet, four inches. Besides being the junior varsity basketball coach, he also had a reputation as the school disciplinarian, so the first thing I thought was, uh-oh, somebody's in trouble.

He fixed me with his piercing eyes and bellowed,

“YEAH, YOU, SON!”

Weak-kneed, I started walking toward him. Oh my, what had I done?
I stopped in front of him, all six feet, five inches of me trembling in my shoes.

“Son!” he said, looking me up and down. “You're too big to be walking these halls and not playing basketball. I'll see you in the gym at 3:30 today.”

“But Coach!” I sputtered. “I've never played basketball. I don't have any basketball clothes or shoes.”

“Son! Did you hear what I said? I'll see you at 3:30!” And he walked away.

So I went.

And from that day until now, there's no question in my mind that everything that has happened to me since, becoming a basketball player, then a coach, raising my three kids, writing a book, is a result of that day when Coach called me out and said, “HEY, SON! YES YOU!”

Up until that point, I hadn't been a troublemaker, but I was drifting. I had no idea what my goals were or where I was heading.

Coach Lester helped me see something bigger out there. I remember when he told me, “You can get a college scholarship.”

When I said, “But I don't know how. I don't have it,” he said, “Yes, you do. I'm going to show you. I'm going to work with you. You can do it.”

And he was right.

I knew it the day I stepped foot on a college campus, scholarship in hand. He believed in me.

Many times since that day, I heard that big voice bellow, “Hey, son!”

I've thought, if only every kid had a Coach William Lester to believe in him, what a difference it would make.”

- Ricky Byrdsong

Dr. Rob Gilbet with Joe DePalma

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