I just finished watching one of those "High School Athletics" movies…. doesn’t matter which one. It wasn’t even a particularly great movie, but it really doesn’t take much for me to love a sports movie, especially a high school or college sports movie.

This planning year has been an amazing year for me in many, many ways, but it also marks the first time in ten years when I haven’t been surrounded by students. I went back to Beacon this week (and more on that later), and I saw all the kids I really do care about, and of course, that included all my basketball girls and Ultimate boys (and Ultimate girls, too… even though I didn’t coach their team, those teams were such a close community, it felt like I did.)

And what I miss most, more than the classroom, is 6:30 am. I miss carrying the basketballs down the hill. I miss climbing the fence to get to the field. I miss layup lines. I miss end zone drills. I miss a group of kids on a cold morning getting out of bed and travelling to practice before the sun rises to get together and do something they love. I miss watching my players explain to people who just don’t understand that 6:30 am is our favorite time of day. I miss knowing that I was teaching Ultimate or basketball, but I was really teaching much more than that.

We’ll see what next year brings, but I know I’m not done coaching yet.