The Revolving Door In Ramla Israel!

So many people think that its all fun and great for professional athletes to travel abroad and experience new cultures but the truth is.... Just as great as it seems we also have to deal with things that are so foreign to us when it comes to this profession. Where o where do I begin? In this profession its both tough on the coaches as well as the players to perform to the best of their abilities due to different circumstances. Well since I've been in Israel(3 short months) I have had 3 coaches! When I arrived my head coach (formerly my assistant coach from 3 years before) was demoted to assistant coach and another coach was brought in! This change occurred all because we lost one game that we should have won and because we didn't have morning practice 2 days in a row! The next coach that they brought in was someone who coached a team that was in last place in the league! That went well for a while until we came up on the task of winning the Israeli Cup. Our opponent was our arch rival Ramat HaSharon(featured Kia Vaughn, Sheri Sam, Laine Selwyn, and Ambrosia Anderson), needless to say it was a tough battle for our team that became even tougher when I went down early in the 3rd quarter with a shoulder injury. My team fought hard while I was out of the game and came back from a 17 point deficit to bring the game within 6. Here's where all the mess starts to happen... Im sitting on the bench in obvious pain but yet cheering my teammates on and Ive got 15 people( obvious exaggeration) in my ear telling me to get back into the game. Im telling them what is a one arm bandit suppose to do out there. Their only concern was to win the game, so me being the person that I am, I enter the game still in pain but just going to hush all the people! I get out there and my teammates start calling plays for me and on top of that I STILL HAVE TO GUARD KIA VAUGHN! O my gosh, I make it thru the game but of course my teammates are concerned about my arm but others are concerned that we didn't win the game! There's no time to ponder on what went wrong in the game because as soon as the buzzer went off to end the game our newly hired head coach quits unexpectedly! So now Im hurt and we have to sit and wait to see who will be our next head coach and we have the next round of the playoffs starting in 2 days! Well after the game I take it upon myself to ask to see someone about my shoulder and weigh my options! Of course they always tell us that nothing major is wrong just rest for a few days, I sit back and think about all the hard work that I put in to get my shoulder healthy after surgery and all the games that I missed this past season in the WNBA and make another tough decision and decide to sit out! This news is like a natural disaster hitting Ramla Israel, I have the fans telling me that Ramla wont take the championship if I dont play, and the organization telling me that I will be good enough to play even if Im not 100%! I stand strong to my decision and I dont play! Well now that my head coach has quit and I've made it clear that I will protect myself and not play, the team must decide who our next head coach will be.... well what do you know, my assistant coach(formerly my demoted head coach) is not back in the driver seat! Who would have ever known? Here comes my second job, I turn from player to assistant coach!

We are heading into the first game of the five game series against Ashdod(features Natasha Lacy, Christi Thomas, and Ashley Walker). We are clearly the undersized opponent in this one and everyone has lost faith in us because Im not playing, but I have all the confidence in my team and I know that even though Im on the sideline in jeans I can still contribute! So my team takes the floor and Im looking at our opponent and it seems to me that they think this will be an easy game because we are a man down..... NEGATIVE!!! We jumped out on them early and smashed there hopes of an easy game, they fought back and even regained the lead but that didn't stop us! My duties as an assistant coach was some substitutions and helping calm players down and giving my advice on how to execute on offense and defense(one of my many leadership skills I learned in Detroit studying Katie Smith and Deanna Nolan)! The game goes on and its coming down to the wire... we have about 1 minute to go in the game and we are tied, I have a player at the free throw line shooting 2! She misses the first one and everyone gasps, there is a small problem with the announcer on the microphone, he's screaming in the mic every time we are on the free throw line! Everyone is calmed down and the announcer is relieved of his duties, we shoot the second free throw and its good! Time out is called, My player that missed the free throw is crushed about missing, I simply walk over to her and say no worries we are about to get a monster stop and we ARE going to win this game! She looks at me like yea ok, time out over, they get the ball and what do you know the ref calls a traveling violation, our ball! Im jumping and screaming and nervous all at the same time.. my team is poised and get to the other end of the court and get fouled! We are shooting 2! We make both free throws and now we are up 3, Im thinking we cant go into OT my team wont survive, I look at the scoreboard and realize we are up 3 and if we foul they will shoot 2 free throws and I start screaming FOUL FOUL FOUL! No one hears me, but at the last possible second Noelle Hears me and foul Natasha Lacy just as she's on her way to the basket! Whew close call! She steps to the line for the first one CLANG, she misses it! She makes the next one and we advance the ball, they end up fouling and we knock down to more free throws! WE WIN, WE WIN! My first game as an assistant coach and we win a game that the odds were against us! Wow what an amazing feeling! Now that we won that game I have the task of rallying my girls for another win at home!

I just relived that moment in this blog!! I've learned many lessons in my life and I know that the things that I have experienced from sitting on the bench and learning from great leaders like Katie Smith, Deanna Nolan, Rick Mahorn and Cheryl Reeve will make me a better player and a better leader as I enter a new chapter in my career! TULSA HERE I COME!

P.S. My shoulder is doing good.. Sitting out is a precautionary measure! Definitely have to make sure Im healthy for my first season in Tulsa!