Seasons like the one being experienced by the Apalachee High School boys basketball team are never easy.
They aren’t easy on the players. They aren’t easy on the coaches. They aren’t easy on the fans who follow the team.
However, there is one thing that can be said about the 2010-2011 Wildcats: they are not giving up the battle. How can one determine this? It’s simple really. All one has to do is watch head coach Kevin Morris in action.
One of the more intense coaches you will see, Morris treats every game as if it was the most important he has ever coached. He’s always up, always ready, always set to put everything he has into the contest.
Watching him in action last Friday against Winder-Barrow High School it was clear this is the way Morris is. Sure, it was a game against his team’s in-county rival but that really wasn’t the reason Morris was cued for action. He’s that way every game.
Has this season been easy for Morris? Of course not. However, Morris deserves credit for the way he is handling it and handling the way he approaches it.
“We are just trying to get a little better with each practice and with each game,” the long-time Wildcat mentor said Sunday night. “This is such a young team. Many should really be getting experience on the junior varsity team but here they are having to learn at the varsity level. It’s makes it tough.”
Morris has not gone into a shell either just because the team is losing. He is still just as intense as he would be if the team had one loss instead of one win. The coach does not deflect questions about his team or the season he is having. He has not conveniently forgotten his role as a coach when it comes to dealing with the media. He answers each question and always praises his team for the good and talks about what needs to be improved upon in the next game.
The coach knew this season would likely be a rebuilding one going in. Youth dictated as much. However, Morris probably didn’t foresee it to be quite this much of a rebuilding project. It has been tough at times even though his team has been competitive in most games.
“Early on we knew we would have to throw them in and let them learn to swim quickly,” Morris said earlier this season. “It’s not the ideal situation but the one we are facing.”
With each passing game, however, the Wildcats get a little better. They gain a little more experience.
It’s all about the long-time goal of the program, which is to get back to winning and winning at a high level. Morris has been a part of the winning in the past. He wants to be a part of it again in the future. If this young team can stay together and keep working, then the winning will continue.
Chris Bridges is the sports editor of the Barrow Journal. Send comments about this column to cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
