To the best to my knowledge and recollection, one day out of the blue around September of last year I received an email from a dad from Eagle Pass inquiring about tryouts for our girls basketball team. Now to be honest and no offense to my wife, the first thought that came to my mind was "Eagle Pass?", is this a joke from someone we know. Needless to say I replied with a phone call within minutes of reading the email.
The conversation was short and one that I have had with parents plenty of times. Hey coach, I have a daughter, looking for a team and when are tryouts?
Little did I know, unlike the conversation, the Total Package Bri Soliz displayed in our first encounter was Huge. But right away I knew that I had a challenge in front of me. Anyone that sees Bri Soliz on the court will come around with the same conclusion, that kid has a lot of potential.
How many times have you heard that statement, "Full of Potential"? Yes that is great but how do you make her great and live up to that potential.
It starts with the Parents. And in Bri Soliz, her dad is an integral part of her life and basketball. She lives in San Angelo and used to play with a team that she clearly was the dominant player.
I didn't know that our paths had crossed before. The setting was in Frisco 2012, when the Islanders were making a run at the Nationals Championship. Bri Soliz and her dad were there. She played great for her team but her team came up way short. Instead of leaving home after her team was eliminated, they stayed to watch and learn as the tournament played out.
Aaaahhhh, which brings me to another ingredient in fulfilling potential. Sometimes you can't Play yourself into a player, you have to patiently Watch and Learn, Feel the emotions, Absord Knowledge, Get Hungry....
That's what exactly what Bri Soliz and her dad did watching the Islanders make it the title game.
And in the process, their game plan for the future changed and in turn, it made the future Islanders team a better, stronger team.
Anywhere and for any team Bri Soliz played in San Angelo, she was going to be the Main Gun. She was going to score her 20 points.
But that was not good enough for her and her Dad. Sacrifice, commitment and dedication are the next ingredients of fulfilling Potential. How many Parents will drive from Eagle Pass to San Angelo and back to San Antonio for practices!?!?
Bri Soliz and her Dad are great examples of what make the Islanders a special place.
Bri Soliz quickly bought an infectious upbeat demeaner to the teams. She is very strong spiritually and has a very strong Work Ethic. Again ingredients to fulfilling Potential. But its still not the final piece. Oh no, by no means.
Mental Toughness..... not only for the players but for the Parents as well.
I pushed Bri Soliz like no other. She is the second youngest of any player in the Organization. Yet she received a lot of tough love from the coaches especially from me. A lot of Parents driving all that while, used to their daughter being pampered and cuddled up to could have said and done a lot things detrimental to the team. I remember having a conversation to Bri Soliz's dad about what I planned to do to help her grow and develop. A lot of Parents would see it as demotion moving their daughter to another team in the Organization, Bri's dad saw it as an Opportunity.
As I pushed her tougher and harder, things could have gotten sour quickly.
Looking and Focusing only at Potential does just that. Focusing on commitment, dedication, sacrifice and work ethic will get you Results!!!
At PrimeTime Nationals, Bri Soliz was the youngest on the team. As an 8th grader she was playing against 9th/10th graders. Not an easy feat to accomplish. Along the way she held her own and displayed a maturity beyond her age. To top it off, she led the team and blew up and scored 20 points in one game. Which led all scorers in any of the 8 games played. That's impressive when you have the likes of Belle Tovar and Lexy Torres as your teammates. That's also impressive being only an 8th grader playing like she is in 10th grader.
But what is more impressive is that she could have Potentially played with her former team and possibly score 20 points a game and come up way short again, but she and her dad chose to sacrifice and play with a team they were cheering on just a year ago. Resulting in helping that very same team,the SA Islanders, get over the hump winning the Championship Title.
Because of Bri Soliz, her commitment, her dedication, her sacrifice, her work ethic, her mental toughness, I wouldn't mind if she tells everyone back home or anyone else for that matter that she plays for the SA Islanders, the San Angelo Islanders that is.
Bri Soliz is another example of what makes the Islanders a special group of ladies.