How does Coach Pennington build more than just a successful team? Coach Pennington has been coaching for thirty plus years now. For his first time coaching a girls basketball team, he hopes to create an environment where all girls can grow and have fun. He is taking on the responsibility of coaching the girls basketball team because of his daughter, and it's a great opportunity to help out kids. He hopes to teach the girls the values of right from wrong. "I just want to get better everyday. Everybody focuses on the game results. I want us to focus on daily wins and not just if we’re going to win or lose games," Pennington said. He wants the girls to get better everyday and only focus on the wins and not the ones they have lost. Pennington doesn’t want the girls to stress, worry, or get hung up on the thought they lost a game. Instead he wants them to learn the value of winning a game and being proud of that win. When he coaches, he values being a good example not just to his players but his community was well. "Just being a good role model. I want to be someone that they can look up to and I want to come back one day and still be part of the program," Pennington said. Setting a good example for those around him is the key to building a successful team for him. When it comes to his primary expectations for his players regarding attendance, attitude, and academic performance. His principle is having a superior GPA in the school. "Our goal is to have the best GPA in the school. I really don’t go by the rules, but we have a standard. You’re going to do everything. What we do is do the right things everywhere, every day. So I just want them to understand that. It's just like raising a daughter. I want them to build, I want them to know the difference between right and wrong," Pennington said. Not really being a rule follower, he has his own standards he prioritizes his players behaviors. Pennington wishes to help them learn the importance of their actions whatever they happen to face and help them practice discernment. The typical practice structure Coach Pennington respects for the team is everything being messy. “Very messy, I want it to be as messy as possible. That’s the best way to learn,” Pennington said. He does not have a specific structure for practice days, instead he likes it just to let the day fold out by itself. He finds film are the best way to give feedback to the team throughout the season regarding their progress. "Film; going over film, some are visual learners that help them see their mistakes,” Pennington said. Instead of him just telling them what they did wrong, they can see their mistakes and learn on their own. Then they can go out and work on it. It's a good way to fix the issues the team might have. Pennington builds confidence and resilience in his players after a tough loss or a bad performance by always being positive and just making it fun for them. “I’m always positive and I want them to have fun and I want them to grow and not worry as much about the result. I know that’s what everybody worries about, but I just don’t,” Pennington said. Pennington knows not everything can be perfect, especially in this world. He is aware that everyone tries to make it perfect all the time but he doesn’t find himself being like that. Coach Pennington builds more than just a successful team, valuing his daughter and just wanting to be a rodel model for the girls. Wanting them to improve everyday no matter if it's on the court or off the basketball court. Without having them stress or worry about the results of the games, He wants them to have fun throughout the basketball season. Pennington creates more than a team off and on the court to their daily lives. By: Anneliesse Mora