Coach Byrnes Breaks Down The Foundational Philosophy And Core Advice Driving The Basketball Team’s Culture This Season
The Stuart Hall basketball season is just getting started and the team is off to a hot start. It was an honor to talk with the coach regarding some of his philosophies and goals for the team and the players going into this season. It was also an absolute privilege to see his insightful answers. While emailing him, you get the sense that he deeply cares about both the team as a whole and his players as individuals.
In his coaching philosophy, he preaches the importance of working hard. He tries to challenge the team to “work as hard as humanly possible, and to play harder than our opponents for 32 minutes.” He wants the team to “take pride in getting into incredible condition and strength, and to be ready for any challenge the season may throw at them.” He says that “this is their journey, and it's my job to give them all the tools to be successful.” He wants them to “be comfortable being uncomfortable.”
To his players, he emphasizes the importance of taking advantage of opportunities given. He wants them to not “ever get outworked, out toughed,” and to “win every battle that evaluates their effort and toughness.” He also notes that his intent is for them to "go as hard as they can, for as long as they can."
When asked about a goal for the team this season, he voiced that he wants “every individual to be able to look at themselves in the mirror after every game, and be able to say they emptied their tank, and they played as hard as they could humanly play, every single possession, from beginning to end!” He mentions that if they do this on “every possession, in every game, the winning will take care of itself.” He believes that “we have plenty of talent on our roster to win games, but if we want to be special, we have to challenge each other every single day!”
He especially wants everyone to know that the team has “the opportunity to put on the Stuart Hall uniform for 25+ games, and that is an honor.” He remarks that “they represent every single student that has ever attended this school, and they need to realize that everyday is an evaluation and an opportunity to represent this school in a first-class manner.”
The community looks forward to an exciting season out of these Dragons and wishes them the best going forward into the upcoming games.
B Burdick