Snowy Hoops and Sisterhood

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Using basketball as a passion, something that's fun, something they really care about, as an avenue to disciple, to mentor, to get to know people, to make relationships and friendships. And welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to here we go in the nest, the Emmaus Athletic sports podcast. I'm your co host, Shane Douglas. I'm here with, with Matthew Tomlinson. Matt, how are you doing today? [00:00:27] Speaker B: Oh, you know, I'm doing well. Thanks for asking. [00:00:30] Speaker A: This is not Matt, obviously. This is Alex May, the assistant women's basketball coach that we have here at Emmaus Bible College. Alex, welcome to the show. We're happy to have you. [00:00:41] Speaker B: Appreciate it. [00:00:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So, first time on the show, usually. I feel like you're one of the last coaches to be on. [00:00:49] Speaker B: I think so. [00:00:49] Speaker A: That's sad. [00:00:50] Speaker B: I got the short know. [00:00:51] Speaker A: That sucks. [00:00:52] Speaker B: You're like, man, we don't want to hear from you. [00:00:54] Speaker A: That's not it. That's not Alex. No, don't say that. That's mean. Even though will says it all the time. That's not what we. No. Uh, yeah. It's great to have you. Matt is away on a trip, so we have Alex filling in, which is great. We're excited. We're going to get to know her a little bit. We're also bringing back our whiteboard. I think it's eight. I feel like talking about the whiteboard is breaking the whiteboard's rules, but I think. So we just won't talk about it too much. Okay. Staying away from that. I think it is that. We'll start with that, man. Maybe it has to be like a half. I don't know. Whatever. Okay. Alex, how are you? Yeah. [00:01:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:01:43] Speaker A: Okay. That's the people. The people don't know you unless they go to the women's game or watch on the live streams, which, within our conference, very inconsistent, that is for sure. Or not even just our conference, but our play. Some people have it. We have it. Sometimes it might break. Even on our side, it might just break. And we just don't record the live stream. But I know a lot of schools, they either don't or it does break as well. But with all that said, alex, let's get to know you. Where are you from? Where are you from? [00:02:20] Speaker B: Let's do it. Yeah, I'm from the south, actually, from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. [00:02:25] Speaker A: Murfreesboro? [00:02:26] Speaker B: Yeah. Murfreesboro. [00:02:27] Speaker A: Where? Wait, I just came from Murfreesboro. [00:02:29] Speaker B: Did you? [00:02:30] Speaker A: Dude, traffic is terrible down there. [00:02:31] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. [00:02:32] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Why is. It's like the worst traffic ever. [00:02:35] Speaker B: The joke is it takes an hour to get from Murfreesboro to Murfreesboro, like, from one side of town to the terrible. [00:02:40] Speaker A: Why? [00:02:40] Speaker B: It was not like that when we first moved there. [00:02:42] Speaker A: Why is it like, it's just, like. [00:02:43] Speaker B: Just south of Nashville and that area is just blowing up? [00:02:46] Speaker A: It's wild. [00:02:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:02:47] Speaker A: We went down there for a soccer tournament earlier in the year, and easily the worst traffic I've ever experienced. And I just came back from Jersey and Pennsylvania area, well, actually New York area, so I did not like that traffic, but mostly because people in Jersey can't take left turns. Okay, but Murfreesboro, man, the traffic down there. [00:03:08] Speaker B: Yeah, it's not great. It's not great. [00:03:10] Speaker A: Okay, so you grew up in Murfreesboro and then kind of what brought you to the north? Tell us about yourself, your story. [00:03:14] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. So I'm actually originally, originally from Michigan, and my family moved to Tennessee, like, 18 years ago or something like that. So I say I'm yankee by blood, by southern by skin. Okay, whatever that means to you. You can interpret that. And, yeah, I ended up going to college back in the midwest, north in Chicago, and then I was back in Tennessee, and then I lived in Wisconsin for two years, and then back in Tennessee for, like, three months. And then the Lord brought me here to Emmaus, just back in. [00:03:47] Speaker A: So that's awesome. [00:03:49] Speaker B: Back and forth, back and forth. [00:03:50] Speaker A: And then how did you come to know the Lord? [00:03:52] Speaker B: Yeah, so I grew up in a believing family, have two parents that just really loved the Lord and were great examples for us. So we were in church all the time, and it was actually something that I didn't hate. I actually enjoyed being there, and I tribute that to just, like, the programming and different things like that, but just that constant hearing of the Lord and it being brought in such a cool way to my little brain, I just was like, what do I do? How do I understand? How do I give my life to him? And so when I was eight, I gave my life to the Lord. I repented of my sin and invited him to be the Lord of my life. And then it wasn't really until my early teenage years that I fully understood what it meant to actually let him lead my life. So that time was, I was in 8th grade, I had a friend and teammate. She passed away. She was, like, twelve. I was 14. And that rocked my world. And so in that moment, it was like, okay, life is short, so I really want to live a life that glorifies God, and I want him to direct every aspect of it, and that's just what I pursued wholeheartedly after that. So, yeah, became a believer when I was eight, was baptized shortly after as that public profession of my faith, and then when I was 14 is really when I committed fully to just obeying as much as I could in my imperfection. [00:05:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you for sharing. That's very powerful. I've heard a lot of very similar stories. Obviously, Lord speaks to different ways through those people's stories, but of someone who is close to that person passing away and how that has really rocked their world, especially making that person seek after the Lord or seek after Christ and want his name to be known to others, but also to be known to themselves. So that's really awesome. Thank you for sharing. And you went to Moody Bible College Institute. Oh, my God. [00:06:06] Speaker B: That's awkward. [00:06:08] Speaker A: Well, maybe I said on purpose, disrespect the disrespect. Okay. Way to correct me. I guess you still got some archer in your blood. [00:06:17] Speaker B: Yeah, actually. [00:06:19] Speaker A: Okay. But they don't got a women's basketball team. [00:06:21] Speaker B: They. I. Yeah, that was quite a ride too. [00:06:25] Speaker A: Yeah. So you went to moody four years. [00:06:28] Speaker B: Yep. [00:06:28] Speaker A: And then what'd you graduate with? [00:06:30] Speaker B: Sports ministry. [00:06:31] Speaker A: Sports ministry. And then did you play basketball with being there? [00:06:34] Speaker B: I did. It was a little bit of a rocky road, so came in, played my freshman year, was injured, like, partway through my freshman year, started my sophomore year, and then my knee couldn't take it, so I had to rehab the rest of that season. Played all my junior year, and then senior year, they cut the program. [00:06:50] Speaker A: Dang. I'm sure you have gained a lot of wisdom from that whole experience. And then you went and did some ministry work in Wisconsin, and while being there, and as you said, kind of going back to Tennessee and back and forth, whatnot. A familiar friend, familiar face, name. Reached out to. Yeah. [00:07:14] Speaker B: Named Chris. [00:07:15] Speaker A: Okay. [00:07:16] Speaker B: Chris McHugh. [00:07:17] Speaker A: Just McHugh. Yeah. We don't call him Chris. [00:07:18] Speaker B: Oh, sorry. Just McHugh. [00:07:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:20] Speaker B: That's awkward. Yeah. Chris was a professor at Moody while I was there. He was also the men's soccer coach while I was there, and so I had some classes that he taught. And, yeah, we've just stayed connected, kind of like over social media over the last several years. I graduated 2018, so it's been a while. And after the residency in Wisconsin, he just called me and was like, what do you want in life? And I was like, ministry? I don't know what that looks like exactly. He was like, well, let's talk. [00:07:51] Speaker A: Oh, McHugh. And his talks. I love, uh, his connection with you. And obviously being here at Emmaus as the ad and the men's head soccer coach kind of brought you in the mix. [00:08:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:07] Speaker A: So now you're a full time employee here, as well as the women's assistant basketball coach. And you got it. That's history. [00:08:13] Speaker B: That's history. [00:08:14] Speaker A: How's it been? How's been that transition in life? This is your, what, like fourth month, fifth month or something like that? [00:08:21] Speaker B: Yeah, whatever. August to now is okay. [00:08:23] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't want to count, really, fifth or 6th month, whatever. How has it been? How's the transition? How have you really felt the community and the aspects of Emma's, the culture here in and outside of sports? [00:08:36] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I would say the transition early on was tough. Just, you're moving to a new place, you don't really know what to expect. You're trying to build new relationships, and that can always be a challenge. But I would say, especially when students came back, the place just was lively and just lightened up. And just getting to know some of the students, getting to know our players and stuff has just been super fun. It's brought connection in a different way than there was when I was brand new. Getting to know other coaches, other staff and coworkers has been huge as well. And the different events that you can be involved in help form those relationships even more than just like, oh, hey, what's up in the hallway as you're walking to lunch? Whatever. So hard at first, but then it's just been sweet. I heard someone say, like, emmaus gets in your blood. And I was, hmm, whatever that means. Okay. And I'm like, oh, I don't want them. [00:09:36] Speaker A: What does that think it's supposed to be good. That sounds, they, why are they getting in my blood? I don't want some of that. All right. Yeah, that's really cool. So you feel at home now a little bit, maybe? [00:09:51] Speaker B: Yeah, we're getting there. We're getting there. [00:09:53] Speaker A: Okay, that's good. Yeah, that's good. And being on the basketball team, the women's team, and working with Sharon, been a good ride, been good experience so far. Is this your first year coaching? [00:10:04] Speaker B: Not like coaching college, yes. But not coaching in general. [00:10:09] Speaker A: No. Yeah. [00:10:09] Speaker B: Okay, so this is probably, like my third or fourth year coaching. [00:10:13] Speaker A: And what's one of your favorite aspects of coaching? [00:10:17] Speaker B: The just development of players, the relationships that are built, the culture that is formed. I think those are, like, the big things for me. I love leadership development and spiritual formation. So that comes so naturally in sport. And this team in particular has just been really sweet to come in and coach because of the culture that they have amongst each other and that we get to lead and be a part of as well. I could go on and on. [00:10:47] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, we have time. Yeah. We're only like ten minutes in. Eleven minutes in. No. That's awesome. I honestly think, and I think we'll touch base on this later, but culture is a huge impact on the team and their performance. You can take a team of a bunch of b if you're going to grade players. Sure. Average b players and you have the best culture and they could beat a team of a plus. [00:11:17] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:11:18] Speaker A: Easily. Obviously not easily. It would be really tough game, but still, you know what I'm saying? So culture is a huge impact on that. You see that in a lot of professional sports. But before we get into more of that awesome. Getting to know you more, let's talk about the games this past weekend for the men's athletic teams. So we had three games. Correct. Okay. And do you know the. You were there. [00:11:47] Speaker B: I was, yeah. I watched our girls play and I also watched the two guys games. So unfortunately, it was just l's across the board this weekend. [00:11:58] Speaker A: It's tough. [00:11:59] Speaker B: Yeah, it really is. But good games. Good, solid games. The boys played Manhattan on Friday and lost by a decent margin. But it wasn't for lack of effort, I don't think. They just weren't hitting much. And Manhattan's a pretty good guys team. [00:12:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:18] Speaker B: And then we played Barclay on Saturday and we lost. [00:12:23] Speaker A: We as the girls. [00:12:24] Speaker B: We as the girls. Yes. And then the boys played Barclay after us and had a similar, so similar outcome. [00:12:32] Speaker A: Way to put it that way. That's great. [00:12:34] Speaker B: Diplomatic. [00:12:36] Speaker A: Yeah. So some highlights of that game, for sure, is to see Obi. Obi had a great game as a freshman coming in the first game against Manhattan, the conference rival of everybody. So kind of see him put up a career high of 19 points, which is really impressive. So really cool to see him do that one as a freshman, for sure. And I'm not sure if he might have started that game, but even if he didn't start, that would have been even more impressive. Having a career high of 19. [00:13:09] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. [00:13:10] Speaker A: And then also with the games, maybe you can speak more of this, but Anna Harwood. [00:13:16] Speaker B: Yeah. She had not a career high, but definitely a high of five, three pointers, I think, and 20 points, which she just went off. She was feeling it and her teammates were doing a good job getting the ball to her. And we were just like, that's going in. [00:13:34] Speaker A: Does she make all her points off of threes? [00:13:37] Speaker B: Just about. She had. Okay, no, another bucket and a couple of free throws. [00:13:41] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, she made 15 points of the threes and then. Wow, that's cool. [00:13:45] Speaker B: It was really. [00:13:46] Speaker A: Whatever. Flex on it. [00:13:49] Speaker B: No, we were really proud. It was really good. The scoring was fairly spread out, which is typical of our team this season. There were a couple that either didn't score or scored lower than they usually do, which is unusual, but it's a game. [00:14:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I feel like that has been the parts of the story of the men's or not the men's, but the women's. Two basketball team is like the small mistakes, small little errors that we have as a team that really translate into the final score. And that's really tough. You look back to the volleyball season and for the volleyball listeners, families, fans or whatever, I'm sorry if you're recapping this, but when we played Manhattan at home and we lost in three sets, but each three sets, we were only lost by a couple. Yeah, we lost all three sets. We only lost by a couple of scores. Points. And they were still, I think the turnover ratio or the error ratio was huge. Massive. And to think about within all the teams for sure, you make a couple corrections, like with the volleyball game against Manhattan, if they didn't make less than five less errors each of their games, each of their matches, it would have been. Or sets, I should say. The terminology is tough. I'm sorry. Goodness gracious. But no, you know what I'm saying. If they make five less errors in each of their sets, completely different game, that matches going to five sets easily. So you can look at basketball the same way of the turnovers as well as just some of the passing and the movement of the team. And culture is a huge part of it. Right. So that's interesting to see. But we do have a young team for the men's side and then the women's side. You guys got a mixture. [00:15:52] Speaker B: Yeah, we've got technically three seniors, so we will count Abril in that as well because she just wrapped up her basketball career in December. So four three that are currently playing, and that's huge. They are massive culture drivers for this team. And so it's exciting that the juniors on the team, or even the new ones on the team this season, get to take that and then live it out into next season. But that'll be a pretty significant loss when they graduate. So it's exciting to see what the next team is going to hold, but also this one's really sweet because of the makeup of it right now too. [00:16:34] Speaker A: That's really cool. I love that, especially the dynamic of seniors and upperclassmen have on the underclassmen and freshmen especially is huge. I look back to my freshman year. I wasn't a player, but just freshman year, like in the dorm floors, dorm halls and being a little fool I am. What had a huge impact on me was the upper classmen, especially one in particular, Elijah Barsonist, who was the captain of the soccer team and how he was able to pull me aside and mentor me was really awesome. So you see that a lot here at Emma, but I'm sure a lot of other schools for sure, but it's more driven within the smaller, biblically founded schools where you have students that pouring into one another, but more importantly faculty and staff pouring into students. So we have a discipleship program for that, which I've heard a lot of great things about. I'm in as well. So just another cool aspect of Ema. So it's a shameless plug, but we're always plugging. [00:17:36] Speaker B: Got to stay plugging. [00:17:38] Speaker A: Exactly. But no, I mean, we were talking about culture a little bit, how much culture has to deal with the team and how it affects the dynamic. So there is a new dynamic on the women's team a little bit this year. You guys have added some new players. How has that been? Has it been difficult? Has it been helpful? How are the upper class been pouring into them? You spoke a little bit about that already, but talk to us. Tell us about it. [00:18:04] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Well, I mean, any new dynamic is going to have its own challenges, but our girls have really risen to that. It hasn't stopped them from still being themselves, from still pouring in to the next generation of Emmaus women's basketball. So, I mean, even as much as we're going into a big trip this weekend in Kansas City to play a couple, and like, already I've seen our upper classmen eating lunch with the new teammates. I've heard they're working on rooms for the weekend and a couple of our upper classmen are like, put the new couple in my room because I want to get to know them. It's just like that. That's what's so special about I feel like Emmaus women's basketball, but especially this team, is the intentionality. They're like, we will let the court be the court, but on the outside, we want to make sure that everyone feels like, yes, this is where you belong. This is where you're supposed to be. And we're not just going to like, oh, yeah, welcome, but no, welcome. And check us out. [00:19:14] Speaker A: It's like they're using basketball as a passion, as something, a sport that they've played their whole lives or even just a short part of their life, but something that's fun, something they really care about as an avenue to disciple, to mentor, to get to know people, to make relationships and friendships. So, yeah, of course you want to compete and have success on the court, but of course, honestly, what really matters is the success off the court. And that can even be translated to how you treat one another on the court, especially opposing teams. [00:19:50] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. Yeah. Like you said, obviously we want to be competitive. We do want to win games. And I think we're getting closer and closer to having that dynamic that's going to do that easily. And it is like we talked about a second ago, just like, okay, there's a very small margin for error, and if you do that multiple times, then that margin grows and it's just like, well, there went the points. And so we continue to figure those logistics out, but those can be figured out. The things that can't really be taught is like culture and character. Right. So that comes naturally and they'll both work together to, I think, see success on and off the court. [00:20:31] Speaker A: So we talk about culture coming naturally. And as a coach, in my opinion, the most important, obviously you want your coach to know the game. If you've played soccer your whole life, you know everything there is about know you shouldn't pull a Ted Lasso and know coaching another sport. Right. But you don't see that a lot. And what I mean a lot. I mean rarely. Right. Ted Lasso is a fictional character. That does not happen. But the thing is, honestly, Ted Lasso, like, you can kind of speak of that. I haven't seen the whole show, but I know the premise of it of a football coach in America coaching the Missoul Tigers d one college goes off and coaches a Premier League soccer or football, whatever, England team, a team that's the middle of the pack. Right. And how he has had an impact. I know the first season that he's a coach, they do really bad. And that really shows because he's a football coach coaching soccer. [00:21:37] Speaker B: Right. [00:21:38] Speaker A: But the culture and the impact they have not just on the field from building the culture, how it impacts them on the field to be a better team, but also off the field to be a better person. With all that said, culture is like, a massive thing. And you see a lot of professional teams and how they do culturally and where they are based off that. And I don't know. It's huge. Honestly, I kind of forgot where I was going with the Ted Lasso stuff. Holy my goodness. [00:22:15] Speaker B: Yeah. But to your point, Ted Lasso, he creates culture for his team, and the culture of our team is they care about their spiritual lives, so they're really intentional with that. They care about their academics, so they're really intentional with that. Whether they procrastinate or not, whatever, that's college. But they do really well. They're in their classes. Even when we're on the road, they're just, like, ahead in that way. And they care about their relationships. So there is, like, zero drama on the team. And if there is, they handle it right away, which is just wild for female sports in general, but sport in general. So we're not putting out fires all the time. If there is one, then we talk about it and we move on. And then it doesn't affect playing on the court. No one is being caddy or bitter towards one another. It's just like, no, we're moving on because Christ is more important, and you as a person is more important, and let's play basketball, and then let's bring others in with us to be a part of that. [00:23:25] Speaker A: And how do you and Sharon have a part in all? [00:23:30] Speaker B: I mean, Sharon and I have really different personalities, right? We have some different style of how we coach. But my goal and hope is to support her really well as she continues to just take the lead and man the ship of women's basketball. And so because we get along and we work out even maybe some of our differences that we might have. That is an example, I think, to even the team of, like, yes, you can have different personalities, and you can still coach well together. You can still have the same mission vision and be aligned. And if your coaches are that way, then that just trickles down. [00:24:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And I've been saying this to matt a lot in most episodes, and will always gets before this even we started recording, everybody will just, like, hounding me about the repetitiveness. Like, back off, dude. You eat peanut butter and honey, like, every day or whatever that or peanut. What is it? Peanut butter and chocolate chip. See, will. [00:24:36] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [00:24:37] Speaker A: We have a group chat. [00:24:38] Speaker B: Nice. [00:24:38] Speaker A: We have a group chat. And will sent a very well edited video. What, of him dunking? It was nice mid game. Not edited, I'll tell you. No, I meant, like, you literally just screen recorded the live stream. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. It's just kind of fun. That's good. Congrats. Thank you. Thank you. Shameless plug. You're not wearing your crocs either. Either way. Crocs right now. It is super cool. We didn't even talk about that. [00:25:09] Speaker B: I have fuzzy crocs that I wear in the cold haze. [00:25:12] Speaker A: There you go. [00:25:13] Speaker B: I think I do not have fuzzy crocs. [00:25:14] Speaker A: You need fuzzy, classic ones. Fuzzy lavender socks. Ooh. [00:25:18] Speaker B: Lavender haze socks. [00:25:19] Speaker A: Or lavender croc, like his coat, his little Hoodie, like, he wears lavender. What? No. Gosh. Hey, that doesn't count. That does not. Wait, am I missing something? Yeah, you are. [00:25:36] Speaker B: You can go back and watch. [00:25:37] Speaker A: Okay. I got you. That took me a while. Goodness gracious. Okay, I'm done with the croc top talk. Okay, now you got me, blanket, dude. Gosh. Mute yourself. [00:25:52] Speaker B: The snow. [00:25:53] Speaker A: There was a huge snowstorm that we had. [00:25:55] Speaker B: There was. [00:25:55] Speaker A: But what was I saying before? We just kind of got off. [00:25:59] Speaker B: You just jumped to Will. [00:26:01] Speaker A: I was going to say something important. I feel like. Okay, but no. Yeah, there was a talk about how I was getting on you, about repeating stuff. Repeating my. Yeah, no, something matt and I always. We'll talk about the snow, but something Matt and I always do talk about is similar to what you were just saying about how you and Sharon are, like, in know and have the right mindset and. Thank you, Will. Thank you. You're good. You listen. You're welcome. How you have the same mindset and how that has really impacted your team culturally. But know, as you're seeing on the court, as you guys grow as a team, the athletic staff from the ad McHugh all the way down, you guys are all, seems like, to me, all on the same page. And I love to see to. I've talked to each of the coaches, and I feel like I have. And to know your image of the team, what you want, the culture, the type of players. We're not just going for the best player. There could be a player who wants to come to Emmaus, who's the greatest, who's super good, honest, could be, like, NBA bound. But if they don't know Jesus, if they don't have a relationship with him, then this is not the place. And it's not that we don't want them to find God. We want them to find God. But this is a place for believers to come to be equipped and to learn more about him. The Emaus road, as it says in Luke, chapter 24 of walking with Jesus. If you're not walking with him. That's the whole premise of being a student here, is to walk with Jesus and to learn more about. So. And that's the image I feel like you guys in the athletic Department have with the sports program. Adopting the academic, the foundational beliefs of Emmaus into our sports has a huge impact on our teams and the culture here and only seen it grow since being a student here. [00:27:57] Speaker B: Good. I mean, that means that the right people are in the right places and moving things along in the missional right direction. [00:28:06] Speaker A: So we're pretty repetitive. We do talk about that a lot. And I'll try to stop will, but culture is huge. And what also is huge was the snowfall we just had. Oh, my goodness. [00:28:18] Speaker B: Wow. That was a good segue. [00:28:19] Speaker A: Thank you. I'm getting better at those. I think I'm pretty good. Yeah, it is. Especially as a podcast host, full time job podcast host. I'm joking. No. Yeah. So we had a massive snowfall in Dubuque. Normally the average snowfall in Dubuque is around 54 inches per year. [00:28:41] Speaker B: Okay. Wow. [00:28:42] Speaker A: And we just hit 25 inches in two days. [00:28:45] Speaker B: Great. Yeah, it was really fun. [00:28:47] Speaker A: So half of our yearly average, we got in literally two. Don't. [00:28:53] Speaker B: I'm new to Iowa. [00:28:54] Speaker A: You don't like. Yeah. Uh huh. Wow. [00:28:57] Speaker B: I'm used to like, lake effect, know? And so it's a little different. [00:29:01] Speaker A: What effect? [00:29:02] Speaker B: Lake effect. Like, when you live in Chicago, there's Lake Michigan right there. Even in Wisconsin, we are close to the Lake Michigan lake. Like, there's lake effect snow. It's a little different than. [00:29:13] Speaker A: Is it really? I've never heard of. Like, does it just like the snow is attracted to the lake? [00:29:18] Speaker B: Yeah, it's just a little less. [00:29:22] Speaker A: But I didn't know that existed. [00:29:25] Speaker B: You can look it up sometime. [00:29:26] Speaker A: Someone just dumped a bunch of snow on us in Dubuque. But that's fun. So you guys got stranded on your trip this past weekend? [00:29:32] Speaker B: Well, I mean, stranded might be okay. [00:29:35] Speaker A: You had to a different term. [00:29:37] Speaker B: We had to leave early. So our one day basketball trip for the weekend turned into a four day weekend. So I guess we did get stranded on the back end. [00:29:45] Speaker A: Yeah, the back end. [00:29:46] Speaker B: Yeah, the front end. We were like, hey, we're going to leave tonight instead of Saturday morning. This was Thursday. And so we told the girls and they had like 2 hours to do laundry, which was a mad rush, I heard, to make sure their stuff was ready to go. And then we hit the road and got in. Had a great time. Just chilling Friday morning, watched games all Friday afternoon. Our boys included, and then played Saturday. And as we were on our way home, we got the call saying, hey, you probably need to find a hotel for the night because roads are pretty slick. So we did, and we were glad because on our way home Sunday morning, we counted probably 20 something cars and trucks that had been spun in to the sides of the road. So we were like, yeah, that's probably a good idea to stay. [00:30:28] Speaker A: I know the men's team got strength. Did you guys go a separate way than the men's team? [00:30:31] Speaker B: We did. I think one of us went 21, went 80 or whatever. [00:30:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I know the men's went through Cedar Rapids, which was really bad. And then you guys went north through Ames and then through Waterloo. Cedar falls. But, yeah, you guys probably took the better route, that's for sure. But you guys both got here Sunday. [00:30:50] Speaker B: Morning, Sunday round lunch. Yeah. [00:30:53] Speaker A: Okay. So not too bad, but still, fun weekend, I guess. Just girls trip. Yeah. [00:31:01] Speaker B: Thankfully, they enjoy each other's company enough that they can handle that and then come back and still live with each other. [00:31:06] Speaker A: And it definitely helped team morale and culture. [00:31:09] Speaker B: And culture. [00:31:11] Speaker A: So I love to hear that even with the addition of some new players, that the team hasn't really changed much and honestly has just, you would say, kind of sparked more leadership within some players, especially with Abril being a leader of the team that retired. Retired is a better word. She did retired, so her leaving last semester after graduating, that these girls, other girls have stepped up to kind of fill her role, even though I'm not saying they weren't leading already, but knowing that her absence, like someone else is going to have to pick up that. So you would say everything has gone pretty well, then? [00:31:48] Speaker B: I would say so, yeah. [00:31:49] Speaker A: That's awesome. And I kind of ask a lot of coaches what their pitch or kind of like maybe what they're looking forward to. Maybe a little bit of both. And you honestly have had your own women's basketball pitch in the culture conversation, which I love. But what are you looking forward to? Growing the women's basketball. I know this is an interview and this kind of sound like an interview, but what are you looking forward to? Being a part of the Emmaus women's basketball program with Sharon and growing it. Like, what's something that you guys are looking forward to that you're seeking out or you're excited for? [00:32:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I think just stepping up our recruiting game a bit as we move forward is something I'm looking forward to. I think we've got some really good possible candidates coming in recruits for next season and just continuing to partner and work together to spread out as much as possible and find those girls that are like love the lord, want to be intentional about who they are and their academics, and then also enjoy the game of basketball and want to play and be a part of something that others that are like minded. And so I think the recruiting aspect is just going to pop off. I think that we'll continue to know how each other work and that will continue to mesh even more and we'll continue to stay aligned because we both have just the vision of we want to glorify God and we want girls that want to be a part of the program that also want to glorify God. So to both be on the same page about that is just huge. And so, I mean, being a part of Emmaus women's basketball means that you're going to be cared for. You're also going to have people that care for you as teammates, and you get to compete as the level grows, we're going to continue to compete at a higher level. [00:33:46] Speaker A: Honestly, that vision is a pitch of itself. Yeah, that's awesome. That's really cool. If you had to say in a couple of words along with your vision right there, which, honestly, I see that, I hear that I'm inspired. I want to come play women's basketball. I can't. I can't. The only thing stopping me know shooting a what is, what is your people? Why should a young woman come to Emmaus and play basketball? [00:34:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:19] Speaker A: For you and sharon, I mean, it'll. [00:34:21] Speaker B: Be more than a couple words, but. [00:34:23] Speaker A: Let'S hear it, though. [00:34:24] Speaker B: I don't think I could do it in just like, that's fine. Okay, great. I appreciate it. Okay, so my pitch would be, if you want to be developed in a way that's different than other places and you want to play, be a part of building something, this is the place to come. It's just different in that, like I just said, you're going to be cared for in a way that is just more intentional, Sharon. And like, we're both single young adult women, so we get to give a lot of time and attention to our girls. That's different than someone who may be married or has kids because we just have different schedules. And not saying that that's better or worse or whatever, but we just have a different attention that we can give because we don't have those families or spouses or whatever. So that's cool in its own way. And then also just like, yeah, we both love the Lord. We are intentional about our girls loving the Lord and protecting the culture that they have. And then we also want to compete at a high level and continue to get better. So it's just like all encompassing and that wasn't super clear. But no, I love it. Hopefully it makes sense. [00:35:48] Speaker A: No, I think to me it does make sense. You guys have the time for the girls to really pour into them, to mentor them. You want people who want to build something. Here's the thing. A lot of people are not going to become professional athletes. Why go to a program that's already super good, but why not come to a program where you're starting something, you're creating something, a legacy. Right. And you guys have started that here. You guys are starting it here. Yeah. [00:36:22] Speaker B: Well, we're even restarting because I know in teams in years past, they've kind of had that. They've hung the banners, they've had really good, high quality players that also love think, you know, Tiffany Williams as an example, the number one example that comes to people, she's a dog, but people like her that they love Jesus, they care about other people and they want to play ball and can. And so the mix is just like, yeah, that's why you want to come here. You want to build something so it can have that platform of being really great. And then you also want to disciple each other and those that follow. And the domino effect just should be a really cool pull. [00:37:05] Speaker A: And I can speak on that as I see so many of your basketball girls in your office talking or hanging out or. It's just so much, so many times, every time I walk by your office, it's literally like the basketball team is in there. [00:37:19] Speaker B: There might be one or two on a given day. [00:37:23] Speaker A: I love that. And if you want a school, if you want a school like that, you want a culture like that for your program, for your sport, you may as to the know. And it's not just in your office, Alex. It's in honestly all the coaches office. So it's really cool to see that of so many people, every time I pass a coach's office, there's a player in there talking to them. So it's really cool to see that. [00:37:46] Speaker B: It's not because they're in trouble, it's because they just genuinely want to hang. [00:37:50] Speaker A: It's true. It is so true. I love it, man. It's crazy. [00:37:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:54] Speaker A: So that's pretty much all the time we have. But we do have some upcoming games this weekend. Before we go, what are the games? You know, the games this weekend. [00:38:06] Speaker B: I'm pretty sure our boys have the same schedule, but we play Ozark Christian on Friday and then Calvary on Saturday and we are heading to Kansas City and Joplin. And then the boys also are playing the same team, so they'll play after us. [00:38:22] Speaker A: Yeah. You guys have a long road trip coming up. [00:38:26] Speaker B: We sure do. Another one, hopefully only three days like it's supposed to be and not four or five. [00:38:33] Speaker A: Yeah. So you said you're playing Ozark and then. Yep, yep. So men are playing the same game. So Ozark will be Friday and then Calvary on Saturday and then we'll see how that goes. A lot of conference play. This is a conference season or part of the season, so kind of see where we stand against Ozark Calvary. Haven't played them yet. We see how we stood against Manhattan Barclay, but we still have a couple more rivals to play against, four to be precise. So excited to see where we stand with the rest of the competition and conference. [00:39:04] Speaker B: Oh yeah. [00:39:05] Speaker A: Looking forward to seeing you guys coach, seeing you coach on the sideline more and how you impact the girls on the team as well as this community and the culture here at Emmaus. So thank you, Alex, for joining us. Also for anyone listening, if you are interested in being an athlete, go to our athletics page. Fill out a recruiting app. If you're interested in coming to Emmaus, fill out an application, send in an info request. Honestly, comment on this video. We've had people do that before of commenting. Look, Matt's calling me. Wow. He knows. He knows. He knows his time. So fill out a recruiting app. Visit us on Emmaus.edu on our main website. We have a discovery Mayus weekend coming up with a concert by Shane. And Shane will be there. There we go. Also, will will be here this fall, so join him and many others in coming to Emmaus and learning more about the culture here, as well as walking with Jesus and learning more about the word, as well as getting a professional degree. So also watch concerning him and the other podcasts on our Emmaus YouTube channel with many other content. I believe they just had one with Bruce Henning, which was really awesome. A professor here at Emmaus that just recently the Lord led somewhere else, which is great, but he had a massive impact here on the community. So look out for those episodes of concerning him as well as more stuff with the podcast and our reels. Give those a quick like a subscribe. Is that what they say, will? Yeah, sure. But thank you for listening everyone. Alex, thank you so much for being here. We still need a name for this budy, so please comment. Do you have a name for him? [00:40:49] Speaker B: It has to start with an e. [00:40:50] Speaker A: No, it doesn't have to. Okay, we'll work on it. [00:40:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:53] Speaker A: I don't like Eddie, but. Everyone, thank you for listening. Thank you, Alex. And it's a great day to be an eagle. See you next week.