Jim Burson blog The Coaching Connection: Beat Your Drum Louder; www.jimburson.com

Beat your drum of change to make the best even better.

Summer basketball EYBL for Nike has ended this weekend with the crowning of a new champion, the Oakland Soldiers!

The Augusta Peach Jam is the premier event of the summer. It is the best: the best players, the best traditions and all of the best coaches in the country

How can you make the best better? In our lives we often get comfortable with our exercise habits, our eating habits, our learning habits , and start to get a little soft, gain a few pounds and lose touch with the new generation.

This is a constant challenge for Nike as they want to continue to be number one. To be the best you must beat the drum of change louder and louder and accept the challenge of the distant drums of great competitors.

To keep the EYBL, the Elite Youth Basketball League, fresh and exciting, Nike must draw from past successes and yet challenge itself for new creative changes that keep its drums beating louder and louder and keep the programs getting better and better.

The drums were beating loudly through social media and the newspapers at the Peach Jam.

The Augusta Chronicle featured three players. The first was just an eighth grader last year but as a rising freshman he is a starter on the Boo Williams team! No, he is not a giant at 5′ 8”, 160 pounds. But he plays like a senior already. His name is Zion Harmon and is someone to keep your eye on. He is beating his drum with his great play!

The player making the most noise and beating his own drum with his outside shooting, spectacular dunking, rebounding and blocked shots is 6′ 11” 230 pound rising senior Marvin Bagley III of the Nike Phamily team. Marvin is ranked number one in the country by most scouts. Whenever he plays the crowds create a buzz that drums up great enthusiasm for the Peach Jam.

The third player featured in the Augusta Chronicle is Bol Bol. Don’t you love the name? His father, Manute Bol, played 12 seasons in the NBA but died in 2010. Bol is currently ranked #3 in the country. He has not selected a college yet, so let the recruiters beat their drums. The loudest drum wins! Bol is 7′ 2” tall and he loves the three-point shot. He plays for EYBL’s California Supreme and is a rising senior at Mater Dei HS.

Are you beating your drums in life? Don’t give up or give in. You must have confidence. Prepare yourself daily, be a constant learner, develop great relationship skills. Then, as you beat your drum toward your dreams, if others are beating their dreams for you, what a great sound you can make together.

Make your best better.

DRUM ON!


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