One Voice

May 10th, 2018

Team

Team chemistry

Sacrificing self for others

Becoming a team

Brining the team's complementary pieces together

Every once in while someone will ask about where the name One Voice came from. One person who asked was my son Rob who asked, “Where did you get that name?” So for Rob and anyone else who wondered but didn’t really care enough to ask, here’s the story.

When Adam Ambielli, Eric Zobian, my daughter Becky and I were approached about starting a girls’ basketball program we began under the charter of LTAAA - Lebanon Township Area Athletic Association. The name was given by Tony Rotunno, a generous parent of one of the players in our boys basketball program. In 2006 Tony organized and paid to formally recognize the boys’ program and to enable legal protections as a non- profit. We operated as LTAAA for several years until the boys were well into their high school careers. LTAAA continued – as a girls program when we first started. As you can imagine we were often confused with LTAA.

Operating as LTAAA became more difficult as our program grew. So we decided to re-organize as a new non-profit in 2014. We needed a name. I thought of some of the programs in the area – Hoop Heaven, House of Hoops, Hunterdon Hoops - and couldn’t come up with the right alliteration. US Hoops / Hoops America, Hoop Nation, Hoop Dreamz……not much left to choose from. I decided that, rather than search for a catchy hoop something name I would try to come up with something that spoke to our philosophy of team first, and bringing a group of players with complementary skills together as a team. A team playing with one agenda – the team - rather than playing to multiple individual agendas.

Then I remembered a conversation I had with Becky during her college years. Back then I tried to make as many of her games as possible. Sometimes I’d drive her back to campus after an away game. On one particular ride we were talking basketball and listening to music. A band called the Wailin’ Jennys, a Canadian band my wife Dawn had grown to like, played in the background. One song began with a solo vocalist and added in layers of harmony as the song went on. It progressed from a single vocalist to three vocalists singing in harmony. Rather than three separate voices the vocalists came together as one voice – which was actually the name of the song. The lyrics were not about basketball but the metaphor was not lost on us. That day we talked about the relevance to her current team but didn’t think any more about it.

A few years later, and I’m struggling to come up with a name for our program. To be honest I was at the point where I didn’t want to put much more thought into it. I had a flashback to the conversation with Becky about the Wailin’ Jennys song. It seemed to fit. Lots of players, each with a “voice” of their own coming together to play with “one voice”. Each voice distinct and unique but enhanced by the contribution of other voices. It seemed a little corny but at the same time it spoke to one of our most important values. I put it aside for a few days and tried to come up with alternatives but nothing really clicked. So we went with it.

Playing with one voice is not easy. If you want your voice to be heard above the others it will affect the quality of the harmony. You have to be willing to let your voice be one of several voices that come together if you want to create the optimal sound. We have some talented soloists and they want their voices to be heard. But it doesn’t work that way in basketball. If you truly understand the game of basketball you know that, at its best, it is a game of harmony – 5 players (5 voices), playing as one; 5 soloists, not competing to be heard over the other voices, but blending their voices into one voice. In that sense One Voice is aspirational. It’s what we want to become, not what we are now. Even when groups become teams the process will soon go to rewind and you begin again. Being a team means you are always chasing it, always working on it. You never quite get totally there because thinking you nailed it is a sign that you haven’t. Players graduate, new players transition in, coaches come and go. You are always moving through the various stages of group development.

This is what we’re about. Working through the changes. It’s hard but not fatal. It can, in fact be quite rewarding. Last year was a tough one for the girls’ team. It was preceded by 3 outstanding years, which were preceded by a couple of tough years, which was preceded by 16 outstanding years. I think next year could be the beginning of several outstanding years – but only if we continually learn to play with one voice. If as a player you can relate to this, embrace the struggle. If as a parent you want this for your kid, support them in the struggle. We hope this is where you are because our philosophy is not negotiable. If this is not what you want as a player, or if you want something different for your child, don’t let our approach interfere with your dreams and don’t become an obstacle to those who dream differently – find something that meets your needs.

We’re going to be working on it. While our program philosophy is based on teamwork, it means little without a commitment from the players. That commitment needs to close the gap between where we are now and where we hope to be in November. For the younger players it means beginning to talk about it and demonstrate it now so you are better prepared when you get to high school and the dynamics change.

Attendance was excellent again this week. High school player attendance was much better as some players went above and beyond to be there. This allowed us to work on some of the things we identified as priorities earlier this spring. Middle school players continue to develop their skills in shooting, passing, dribbling and speed and agility. Thanks to Caroline and Jenna for helping out with the younger ones.

Bob Peterman