Chapter Twenty-Six

Team Building

“Coach is never going to find out,” they all said as my some of my teammates encouraged me to take them across the border to Ciudad Juarez for lunch. It was late on a lazy Saturday morning. We were scheduled to practice that afternoon. We took the “War Wagon” (as my friends and teammates called my mother’s Ford station wagon), that she generously loaned me on a regular basis. I just told her the team was going to lunch; I didn’t tell her where we were going. She would not have approved us in Mexico even though we had been there a lot for shopping and haircuts.

When we got to the restaurant, we loaded up on all the Mexican food we could afford to buy: tortilla chips, guacamole, tacos, flautas, enchiladas, beans and rice. A little bit of everything.

Not surprisingly to me, after lunch the often-unreliable car would not start as we got on our way back to town.  Guillermo informed me that you can’t tow a car back across the border. How he knew that I did not know. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to call my father that we need to tow my mother’s station wagon across the border. So, we finally got a guy to help us jump start the car for all the collective cash we had left over from lunch (which wasn’t much). The car started just in the nick of time. By the time we finally got back to El Paso, it was time for practice.

This practice session was early in the fall, prior to the beginning of our senior year basketball season. Expectations were not that high, and we were not yet totally focused and committed to all that it took to have a highly successful year.

We still need something to bring the team together and we were hoping that our trip to Juarez would do the trick. We just didn’t know whether it would work.

Dressed in our practice gear, we shuffled into the gym, our good-natured banter and the squeak of our sneakers echoing off the walls. As we began our ritual of pre-practice stretches, a wave of contagious laughter swept through us, causing giggles to bubble up uncontrollably. Some of us had had a bit of alcohol to drink with our meal. The atmosphere turned from jovial to hysterical when a sudden series of eruptions of thunderous farts sent all of us into fits of laughter.

Coach's patience finally snapped at the disruptive sound, his voice booming over the chaos as he bellowed, "That's it! Everyone pack up all your shit and go home! No showers, just get out of here.” He quickly went to his office.

Coach Goodwin did not say another word that day. He did not even leave his office as we got our stuff out of our lockers and filed out of the locker room to go home.

His silence even continued into the next practice. He let the assistant coaches run the practice. He did not ever mention our suspended practice session, but his silent message was clear. He wanted to see how we were going to respond to his disappointment. If we weren’t committed and if we were not going to take the pre-season seriously, we were not going to be successful.

Also, noticeable were the absence of Javier Contreras, Davy Rodriguez and Eddie James along with a few other players at our pre-season practices. Over time each of them had demonstrated their lack of commitment or difficulties being coached. Their sporadic attitude and motivational problems were their undoing. It appeared that either they had quit the team, or they had weeded themselves out somehow. Perhaps they had not been invited to return. However, it did not go unnoticed that our team was coming together quickly without them and that Coach Goodwin probably had something to do with it.

As our pre-season practices progressed, the absence of Javier, Davy, and Eddie left a noticeable void in our team. Coach Goodwin had made it clear that only those committed to the game and willing to put in the effort would be welcomed on the court. And slowly but surely, the rest of us were starting to see the benefits of this decision.

With each passing practice, our bond grew stronger, our plays became more synchronized, and our determination soared higher. We were no longer just a group of individuals playing basketball; we were a team with a common goal pushing each other to be better every day.

As we ran drills and practiced plays under Coach Goodwin's watchful eye, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the opportunity to be part of this team. The challenges we faced together only made us stronger, and I knew that no matter what obstacles lay ahead, we would face them head-on, united.

Even though Javier, Davy, and Eddie were no longer with us, their absence served as a constant reminder of the importance of commitment and dedication. Without them, we had to step up and fill the gaps they left behind. It was a tough adjustment at first, but as we continued to practice and play together, we started to see improvements in our game that we never thought possible.

Coach Goodwin's tough but fair approach was working, pushing us to give our all and show up not just physically, but mentally as well.

The day of our opening game arrived, and as we stood on the court facing our opponents, I could feel the energy pulsating through our team. We moved with precision and unity, each player knowing their role and executing it flawlessly. The final buzzer sounded. We had won the game easily, our first major victory of the season. The buzz around our team began to grow as we started winning games against tougher opponents. We were no longer the underdogs; we were a force to be reckoned with, at least in our own minds.