If you’re a frequent reader of these pages, you’ve noticed that I’m a big advocate of the idea that changing the world starts in our own communities.  First and foremost, I believe we can help the world by doing our best in raising our own children the right way.  Secondly, we can volunteer in our communities in areas that we’re passionate about to positively affect the lives of others.

A few years ago, my daughter expressed an interest in playing basketball on a team.  The parks and recreation league was looking for coaches and I tentatively volunteered as an assistant coach.  After a few weeks, it turned out that I was the only coach showing up for practice consistently.  By default - and whether I wanted to or not - I became the ‘head coach’.

The irony of me being a head basketball coach is quite rich. I’m not a good basketball player by any stretch of the imagination.  I was a mediocre player in middle school, and abandoned basketball for wrestling in eighth grade.

But my weaknesses in basketball are compensated by my ability to have fun with kids, and my creativity to come up with drills that keep their interest, while teaching them the fundamentals.  I’m now in my third year of coaching my daughter’s basketball teams and I’ve enjoyed every second of it.

By and large, our teams have won more games than they’ve lost, but that’s not what matters.  What’s important is that every player on the team gets better.  There’s a wide range of skill levels on second, third and fourth grade teams.  At the beginning of the season, some kids are not strong enough to make a layup, while others can shoot the ball from the free throw line (probably the girls with older brothers!).     

It’s a thrill to cheer on the kids that couldn’t make a layup at the beginning of the year, and watch them make a shot in one of the last games.   You can see the glint in their eye as they run back on defense, it’s the kind of glow that will last them the better part of a week. 

What a joy it is to see a kid begin to dribble equally well with both hands as the year progresses, or to watch a kid who formerly was afraid of the ball begin to rip rebounds out of the moshpit in the lane.

What greater reward is there, than seeing a kid discover a passion for a game that’ll give ‘em a positive outlet in a high school that might be filled with bad crowds and tough choices.  What greater reward is there, when a former player sees you at a school function, and gives you a hug or you hear a mom say their daughter continued to play basketball but really misses Coach Ralph.

Most times, when you volunteer, you end up making the world a little better.  In the end, the person you benefitting the most is yourself.