Coach Parker's Blog

New School Year!

coachparker14 — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:38:09 +0000

The new school year has started and it’s been an interesting summer.

Update on Jayce: Jayce is now 4 months old and today he has rolled over for the first time. He’s enjoying his daycare and the teachers love his easy-going personality.

Update on Leah: Leah’s on her 3rd year of teaching and is looking forward to starting up her business this year. https://twitter.com/#!/Leah_Suzanne By Faith Photography is something that she has really enjoyed and is very passionate about.

Update on Coaching: I just got back from Kingwood Park where I enjoyed listening to some very well known coaches from around the country. We’ve got some great guys coming back from last year. It’s going to be fun to work with “coachable kids” who will do anything we ask.

Update on me: The past month I’ve really tried to change my lifestyle for the better. I’ve been eating better- No fried food or fast food, eating less food, and working out every day. It’s really paid off and I’ve been able to move on the basketball court (my goal) better than I have in several years.

I hope to get more posts this school year since I slacked off so badly last year.

GREAT SUMMER

coachparker14 — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:32:46 +0000

It’s only half over and the best days are probably still yet to come, but I thought I’d update everyone on the many things that have been going on the very blessed Parker household.

Leah and I are all moved in to our new house and are loving the space. Every single day I wake up feeling like a king after living in a one-bedroom apart or dorm room for all but a few months of the last 10 years. Parking my truck in a garage over night is truly one of the coolest things (probably because my truck has been broken-in several times at night.) The dog and cats seem to really enjoy the space as well. Pip has forgotten what a leash is, because we can simple just let him roam in the backyard, rather than take him for a stroll several times a day.

Basketball has begun to pick back up. Leah and I were gone for several weeks in June and now that I’ve been back, open gym is beginning to get me even more excited for this coming season (99 days until it’s officially basketball season.) Our Junior Varsity coach found a head coaching position at Gatesville High School and so I’ve moved into the Junior Varsity coaching position. Good luck to Coach Shelton and the “Fightin Hornets.” I get to head into a season knowing my players, our strengths and weaknesses, and a team that already knows the system. I’m looking forward to this stage of high school basketball and really molding the work ethic and details of our players games. Our dedication has seemed to have picked up and that is exciting for our younger players who will now have better role models to follow within our program. We’ve begun to welcome Coach Bret Cockerham from Alvarado High School and I’m extremely excited to be working with what appears to be another dedicated basketball coach. We’ve switched our junior varsity team to workout during our 5th period varsity workout time, meaning I should have a free period to work with the incoming freshman. I do enjoy teaching the new kids what I feel is the most fun system of basketball to play, “run and gun.” Our varsity team appears to be one that will be very young but will have a few key veteran guys returning for their last season. Can’t wait to update you on our progress as the season approaches. If you’d like to follow the Southwest Basketball team this year, you can check their schedule out on my yahoo calendar http://calendar.yahoo.com/parkerwill@ymail.com/834110e8811618ac0ff6bf921f39dcbb?od=131

Leah and I were gone for a week and then an extended weekend this past June for some fun down at her family’s lake house. (Can I call it our family’s lake house yet???) We took out the jet skis and boat and then had a few chances to enjoy what I look forward to every single day of the year… river floating! We’ve gotten to be pretty experienced floaters and are looking to move up to professionals by next summer. Our cooler-radio is in the works and by next summer we’ll be jammin to the Zac Brown Band, Pat Green and several other favorites while relaxing in our newly purchased, comfortable, and relaxing innertubes that are complete with cup holders and neck-rests (I know you are all jealous!) We’re looking to purchase more tubes so that friends and family can float with us without having to spend a dime, but let us know if you’d like to join us. (For you fellow-floaters…we enjoy the Horseshoe on the Guadalupe…right between Canyon Lake and Gruene, Texas or the Comal in New Braunfels, Texas.) Here’s the view from a nice cool river, on a hot day, in the Texas Hill Country.

With that…I think I’m done with this post. Sorry it’s been so long…but once school gets back into full swing…I’ll get back into updating every couple of weeks or so. Have a great rest of your summer. Heading to the lake on Friday for 7 or 8 days of river floating! Can’t wait!

“Sometimes a player’s greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team.” -Scottie Pippen

No playoffs but a new home!

coachparker14 — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:29:49 +0000

less than a month from closing

I’ll start with the house. Leah and are looking to close on our house at the end of the month…possibly May 1st. We’re super excited and find ourselves watching for decorating tips on television whenever we see a bathroom or kitchen that has a cool setup. Cheldan Homes have been very helpful and are an awesome company to work with if you’re thinking of a new house. I got to go in a few weeks ago and run some speaker wire throughout the house before the drywall went up and I must say after get a few drill bits stuck in the 2×4′s, our house is going to be rocking. It looks like they painted the inside today and are about to pour the driveway and sidewalk. Over the next week we should see the countertops installed, carpet laid, grass planted and fences put up.

Once the high school basketball season had come to an end it was time to reflect on our recent season and plan for an off-season. Our statistics were terrible from shooting percentage (2′s, 3′s and FT’s) to both sides of the glass (offensive and defensive rebounding). We’re going to spend lots of time with each player on their shooting and then really try to toughen these kids up with whatever we can think of in order to improve our game on the inside.

My Jayhawks got knocked out of the tournament early….and that’s all I have to say about that.

I’ve started playing in 2 basketball leagues in hopes to get in shape and prove to my wife that at one point I was at least decent at game. Although when you’re not in shape…it’s tough to prove anything. Maybe by June she’ll start to believe….

Well the wife is home and I need to get some work done around the house (catch up on some DVR’d material on TV).

“there are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”

“Championships are won TODAY!”

Basketball, Home, and Jesus

coachparker14 — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 02:08:41 +0000

It’s been a few weeks since the last blog and I thought after all that’s been going on with Leah and I, today would be good day to catch everyone up. The freshman basketball team hasn’t lost a game since our Thanksgiving tournament. The varsity team now has 4 freshman playing quality minutes and despite the absence of some talented young players, the freshman team has been able to handle anybody that crosses their path. 12 games in a row the guys have found a way to win and I couldn’t be more proud of them.

Leah and I have decided to take the big plunge into the house buying department. We’ve been researching our options: build or pre-owned, Crowley or White Settlement, three or four bedrooms, and many furniture and appliance decisions. We believe that taking advantage of this tax-credit is a great opportunity for us and the timing of being able to move into a house this summer just seems right. We are giving thanks to God for our many blessings and can’t wait to have many of you over for dinner and games. By tomorrow we will have hopefully decided on our lot and then the construction can begin.

We had a great message in church today. Actually a couple of great messages lately have really touched my heart and I’m excited about sharing my thoughts with you. The image of Peter denying Christ in the Bible was told beautifully by our pastor today. The focus on the single line “and the Lord turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22: 61) really stood out in my mind and I began to think about how would Jesus look at those of us when we let him down. I believe that when reading this story in the past I’ve always pictured Jesus as having a highly disappointed look on his face. Do we really think that Jesus would have a look of “I told you so” or even one that seemed to say “I’m ashamed of you?” I don’t think so now. I’m thankful for our pastor shedding light on this story in a way that I’ve never depicted it before. I’d like to think (and believe that this makes more sense) that Jesus had a forgiving look on his face. This “look” has had me thinking all day about what I believe (and who we all believe) that Jesus Christ truly is. As a Christian I feel that we are called to live a certain way. Striving to live as Christ lived may not be attainable by everyone or anyone, but is our perfect example to follow. I understand that this might not be understood by all, but as a Christian, trying to live as Christ lived should be somewhat of a goal. I’m reminded of my favorite poem (I’m not much of a poem guy but this one always does some good reminding).

When I Say I Am A Christian

When I say…” I am a Christian”
I’m not shouting “I am saved”
I’m whispering “I get lost”
“That is why I chose this way”

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I don’t speak of this with pride
I’m confessing that I stumble
and need someone to be my guide

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I’m not trying to be strong
I’m professing that I’m weak
and pray for strength to carry on

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I’m not bragging of success
I’m admitting I have failed
and cannot ever pay the debt

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I’m not claiming to be perfect,
my flaws are all too visible
but God believes I’m worth it

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartaches
which is why I seek His name

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I do not wish to judge
I have no authority
I only know I’m loved.

This last stanza really reminds me (as the this verse of Jesus looking at Peter will now remind me) that we need to be careful how we look at others, how we react to those who may let us down, and to remember that our job as God’s children here on earth is to forgive and love others no matter the circumstance.

I hope that you all have a great week and we can’t wait to show you pictures of our future home!

“Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up.” -Red Auerbach

Championship Week

coachparker14 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:11:12 +0000

Ended the year in style this time. After knocking off my uncle Ed in the Super Bowl of our family’s fantasy football league, it was time to head back out to the hardwood and see if my freshman boys and varsity guys could be ready to play after a long 7 days without practice. We challenged them over the break to find a place to play and most importantly run and shoot. Many found open gyms the week of Christmas and the extra shooting seemed to pay off as both teams made it to the championship game on December 30th. The freshman team beat a very competitive Harwood team on Monday and then beat Brewer and Paschal back to back on Tuesday to set up a match with Granbury in the championship game on Wednesday. Granbury had 8 players who played an excellent game but the run and gun style was just too much. 10 3-pointers and a nonstop press pushed Southwest to a 73-59 win (eighth in a row) and a Paschal Tournament Championship. I was very proud of their effort and below is a team picture with the championship trophy.

Freshman Basketball team with their Paschal Tournament trophy

After the freshman capped of a great tournament, it was time to get back to the varsity guys in their championship game versus an impressive Arlington Bowie team. The varsity cruised through the first 2 rounds of the Coca-Cola Classic tournament in Fort Worth with victories over Denton High School and Brewer High School of White Settlement. The Raiders met Austin LBJ in the semi-final and defeated the 10th ranked team in the state (4A) 70-68 in a nail-bitter. The Raiders had to turn right back around that day and face the 25th ranked (5A) Arlington Bowie Volunteers. Their all-tournament team members were 6’6 and 6’5. Our all-tournament selections were dwarfed in their picture after the game at 5’10 and 5’11. We showed a lot of heart and stamina in competing with what I thought was the best all-around team that we’ve played against this year, but fell short 85-75.

It’s now time to head back to district play and attempt to make the playoffs in what is always a competitive district. The varsity guys are now 11-6 (2-2 in district 7-4A). There are no playoffs for the freshman, but we’re going to give it our best to make a run at the district championship. Currently the team is 12-2 (4-0 in district). My beautiful wife has been taking some photos throughout the year and I added them on Facebook if you’d like to check them out.

I also ended the year by finishing up my 3rd book. Finishing 3 books within a year is a pretty big deal to a guy that is not a big reader. I want to recommend They Call Me Coach (John Wooden) to anyone who may be considering coaching, who is a coach, that loves basketball, or anyone that works with young people. John Wooden seems to be one of those guys that really did an amazing job reaching young men on all sorts of levels. This book really lets you know about how he used his model “The pyramid of success” to pull together his teams over the years and what led to so much of his success at UCLA (10 national titles). His strong emphasis on being spiritually prepared was very interesting and the different insights as to what was going on behind the scenes for so many of his soon to be Hall of Fame players (Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabar) really made the book worth reading. I’m turning into a guy who likes to read, I’ve picked up Bill Self’s book, At Home in the Phog, and hoping to finish that book by the end of the week and get started on one of Tony Dungy’s books. If you have any suggestions about biographies that are inspirational or about leadership, I’d love to hear about them.

Have a great start to the new year and keep in touch!

“Goals achieved with little effort are seldom appreciated and give no personal satisfaction.” – John Wooden

A great weekend!

coachparker14 — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:41:50 +0000

Leah and I had an awesome weekend! We decided to check out something that we’d heard on the radio on Friday night and it did not disappoint. For those of you in the DFW area, you must checkout Capernaum Village. http://tammylaneproductions.com/bethlehem-event-info.html The Night in Bethlehem experience is something you will enjoy and plan on going to every year. The people who run this have gone to amazing lengths to make this experience as fun and entertaining as any place I’ve ever seen. We started out with some pretty good food (burgers and chips) and then headed to the Candy Cane Carriage Ride that was probably meant for a wagon full of people, but one that Leah and I got to enjoy by ourselves. This place was not crowded at all because it’s only the first year of the event and not to many people know about it. This 5 minute ride was filled with lots of children singing and dancing the entire way (in the cold…I felt bad for them but they were having a blast) while the narrator told us the story of the candy can. You could tell that this cast of kids put a lot of time, energy and love into their performance. After we got back to the “Town Square” we both picked up a cup of hot chocolate that was topped off with marshmallow cream and I must say it was amazing. We took our drinks on a lighted path of Christmas lights and scripture that walked through the Bible and the prophecies that have come true. This path led you to the town of Bethlehem. The architecture, props, actors, atmosphere and even smells really take you back in time to the night that Jesus was born. The actors stayed in character the entire time that we strolled about the village on our way to the manger that was supposed to be a real life replica of the manger that Jesus was born in. All of this was well worth our ticket price but we were still just getting started. We topped off our hot chocolate and headed to the statue garden that I feel is like an awesome museum. The statues and architecture walk you through the Bible and will definitely leave you with things to talk about with whomever you’re with. Capernaum Village will become a place you want to return to every year and I encourage you to head out there before it becomes well-known. I’m going to encourage our Youth to plan a trip there next year and I hope you’ll think about going. I’ll post some pictures when Leah downloads them to the computer.

Although Friday night was enough to keep us satisfied for the entire weekend, we were fortunate enough to be given Maverick tickets by my sister and her husband Danny. Leah and I watched the Jayhawks remain undefeated at Chimmy’s while throwing down some of my favorite nachos and just hanging out. We then decided to head out early to Victory plaza for a little food and exploring since it was going to be Leah’s first NBA basketball game. We had some appetizers at Victory Tavern right next to the stadium and then were some of the first ones in the arena when they opened the doors. We weren’t planning on heading down to the court but as we stepped in to check out the view we just ushered ourselves down to the area where the autograph seekers were. Mark Cuban was shooting some hoops and when he finished came over to sign a few autographs. Leah stepped down and got her Jason Terry shirt signed and then got a photo taken.

J.J. Barrea and Darrell Armstrong came over and signed a poster that we had in our seat. Dirk was a no-show before the game but he was definitely there come game time. We journeyed to our seats and got to see Dirk put up 36 points ad the Mavs win in overtime against the Charlotte Bobcats. Thank you to Danny and Sara for the tickets!

This week we prepare for some big district games against Eastern Hills and Arlington Heights and then head to Houston for Christmas with Leah’s side of the family…Can’t wait!!!

Our new Christmas Tradition

coachparker14 — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:15:45 +0000

We sent out our Christmas cards before we received any this year and that is an amazing accomplishment. We are so blessed to have so many family and friends that send awesome Christmas cards to us that really touch our hearts and to those of you who send them each and every year…Thank you!

Leah and I have begun a new tradition in our lives and are very excited to tell all of you about it. First let me share the video that really started it all for me last year. This video stuck with me for an entire year and really got me thinking about what Christmas is all about.

I know that we’re just a single family and that what we give will not end the world’s clean water problem, but we know that we know lots of people, who know lots of people, who know lots of people etc. If a snowball effect were ever to take place what a great reason for it to do so. I knew that I wanted our family, friends and even world to start taking Christmas more seriously and that this could only happen by people speaking out about change. There are several great videos like the one you just saw at http://adventconspiracy.org/ I encourage you to please pass these a long and be praying about a change in the way you and your family may think about Christmas. I knew that for Leah and I, we wanted to give a full year of prayer and thought to this idea of changing what Christmas really is about. It was not easy and the explanations to some of our family was really tough. In the long run we know that God is speaking to our hearts about how we spend our money (and we’re not perfect in that aspect) and how we can help change the way we spend a lot of our time and money every year around a holiday that is supposed to be focused on celebrating the arrival of our savior Jesus Christ. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/advent

Here’s where I’d like to apologize for preaching but I don’t really think that I am feeling sorry for any of this. What a great thing to teach your children at a young age! What an awesome place the world would be if we decided to change what Christmas meant! The last thing I’m going to leave you with is the video of the organization that Leah and I have decided to join with this year. Instead of spending money on presents for our family and friends, we are going to take the money allotted for presents, and give it to Water Harvest International. http://www.whiwater.org/

I pray that everyone is as touched by this vidoe as I was.

Merry Christmas to you all!

“Anything that we have to learn to do we learn by the actual doing of it… We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate ones, brave by doing brave ones.” -Aristotle

Let’s get it started!

coachparker14 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:09:20 +0000

Well tomorrow we take on L.D. Bell to open the basketball season at the varsity level over at the WGAC! Should be a good test for us and we’ll need to look sharp if we’re going to have a chance against Cedar Hill next Tuesday night. We looked pretty fast against Keller Central in our only scrimmage and I’m hoping we’ll have a decent crowd to open the season.

Leah is very glad that football season is over and she can relax a little bit before the competition season begins with her drill team. We’re both counting the days until our trip down to Fulshear, Texas to visit Leah’s side of the family for Christmas.

Our church softball league has come to an end for me even though we have 2 games tomorrow night. For those who’d like to critique my batting stance…

Will at bat

Leah wants to make a baseball card out of this and so I’ll sign them and pass them out later. We didn’t end the season with a very respectable record but it was a lot of fun and I think we’ll have better luck in the spring or next year now that we have an idea of where to play certain folks.

Also thought you would enjoy the leftover picture from the stockyards that Leah forced me to take…

I'm your huckleberry!

Missing all you guys out there and I hope you all have a great week. I’m going to go and finish watching the Cowboys get shutout for the first time in 90+ games. Unbelievable!

“Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them — a desire, a dream, a vision.” -Muhammad Ali

Hard Work!!

coachparker14 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:36:13 +0000

I can’t believe it’s November already and I’m pumped about our first game being two weeks away. Crazy! Leah and I helped out with our church’s “Trunk or Treat” on Saturday after a full day of practices at the school and it was a lot of fun for everyone involved. Our band is heading to the state competition in San Antonio today and will compete tomorrow. We’d like to wish them all the luck and congratulations for being the first band from Fort Worth to make it to the state competition. They work extremely hard and put in lots of time practicing and I only hope that my basketball guys can see how it has paid off for them.

I try and tell my players that they need to find something that they love, that they would want to do all day everyday (if they could), and something that they can continually push themselves to be better at. If they truly want to be an artist, then spend time painting. If you want to be a rapper, then listen to music and do all you can to learn about the business and what you need to be doing right now to be successful. Be the best at whatever it is that you decide to do. Competitions for jobs in this country, state, and city are very tough. You need to be able to do something (a skill or talent) better than anyone else. There’s nothing wrong with not going to college and taking a job right out of high school that maybe doesn’t pay the big bucks like we’d all want or that we’re told will make us happy. To those people who chose to take those jobs, I’d say be the best at your job. Take pride in what you are doing right now and always be striving to be the best. Basketball wasn’t meant for everyone and you may really enjoy playing it, but play it for fun if your mind is not going to be completely committed to the team and the game. There are a lot of recreation leagues out there and lots of ways to get involved if you’re not going to dedicate the time, energy and heart to a team that’s trying to accomplish big goals. “Hard work” is stressed in our program and that’s why we break our practice and game huddles with those two simple words. We don’t break with “win” or “defense” like many teams choose to do. We make sure that our players understand that it all comes down to hard work. Work hard every single day to get better. If you’re not getting better….well then you’re getting worse.

Again congratulations to our awesome band and have fun in San Antonio. Bring back the gold.

“If you don’t have time to do something right, when are you going to have time to do it again?” – John Wooden

1 WEEK!!!

coachparker14 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:11:23 +0000

One week until basketball season officially gets underway at the high school level. Our varsity team is still very inexperienced but are very hungry to do well. They play with a lot of emotion and will again be fun to watch. Our junior varsity is filled with a lot of question marks??? With some of the younger players possibly moving up to the varsity level, many guys will get an oppurtunity to contribute. My freshman team will have very high expectations coming off of a city championship last year. Many talented athletes coming over from the football team in a few weeks will join the fifteen or so guys that have been working out since August, and it will be very exciting to see them come together.

Tomorrow morning Leah and I will head to Lufkin, Texas for the funeral of her step-mother who has been battling a brain tumor for an extremely long time. The few months that the doctors gave her to live turned into a miraculous few years and although the last few months were very rough on their family (including two young boys), the family will definitely be celebrating an awesome life of an amazing lady. We’ll turn right back around in the evening and drive home to what will hopefully be the beginning of a great weekend.

Fantasy football update- This weekend I will play Leah in two of our four leagues that we are in. We got roped into two leagues at the last minute and for those of you planning to get in on the fantasy football league stuff or even join more leagues next year….be careful…it’s rough managing any more than two or three. Leah is 0-1 against me this year but 1-1 lifetime as she beat me last year to knock me out of the playoffs (not bitter at all even though she could have thrown the game, still have been a top seed, and we would have had a better chance at keeping the PARKER BOWL trophy in the great state of Texas). It’s going to be tough to pull for all my Atlanta Falcon players (Matt Ryan, Tony Gonzalez, Roddy White, and Michael Turner are all on one of the two teams) against the Cowboys this Sunday, but I hope it’ll be a great game to watch.

Well it’s time to head home and go catch a movie with the wife. Couples’s Retreat at the movie tavern! Have a great rest of your day and I’ll leave you with a little Rick Pittino-

“When LOVE and DISCIPLINE come together you have great chemistry.”