Tara Molina has been an Islander since day 1 back when the girls were incoming 6th graders.
I first briefly laid my eyes on her when she was trying out for a team that my daughter played on before the formation of Leaders Express Organization. At the time I was hoping she joined that team. She didn't, which was good for the future of the Islanders.
I next saw her play against the Lady Hoops team. If anybody knows anything about girls AAU basketball, then you will know that Lady Hoops team was filled with the best players for their age group and then some. It was only when Tara was in 5th grade, but you could see her showing her tremendous skill set. It was if it was 1 player against 5,6,7,8 players if you counted the Lady Hoops bench.
Her skill set at 5th grade was higher than most High School girls is right now. Let me repeat that in case in didn't sink in. HER SKILL SET AT 5TH GRADE WAS HIGHER THAN MOST HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS RIGHT NOW!
When she joined the Islanders, it cemented our success for the future.
But not everything was perfect. Due to UIL restrictions, she couldn't play with the Islander team she was supposed to play.
She willingly sacrificed for the betterment of the Organization and played for the Islander team that had players still honing and developing their skills. She did this, all the while, with her trademark smile. And in doing this she had some spectacular performances against the likes of the Finest, Sophia Young, Jayhawks, Crossfire, Push the Rock and none more better than against the Lady Hoops.
The setting is a couple of years ago, in North Dallas. The Lady Hoops had combined with the Dream Team to form a National team. There was at least 7 D1 kids in that teams roster including our very own Belle and Vikki. We had a scrappy hard working team led by Tara and Sandy Ramirez.
What Tara Molina did in that game was one of the best AAU performances I had the joy of Coaching and seeing. It was in short.... wait for it...... wait for it....... LEGENDARY!
After there was no issue regarding UIL restrictions, she still had to wait for her time even after all those performances.The team was real guard heavy and she had to come off the bench for limited action.
On top of that, I was real hard on her to get better and not settle.
Any other player could have seen it differently. She could have gone and played with Any Team and probably started and received a lot more glory.
Tara Molina just wanted to be an Islander....
That's what makes this team special.
So fast forward to PrimeTime Nationals 2013.
She helped jump start the team by leading the team in scoring the first couple of games. And Yes I am still hard on her to push her to get better, and Yes she is still shy and way too modest about her game and Yes after winning the Championship, I could see her with her trademark smile.......
Almost as to tell the whole world,
Its Good to be an Islander!