NYC and College Trips by Red Shirt Joe

It was a real pleasure to spend the day on Thursday with Kayleigh (Director), Kelly (Sports Director), Jon, Efrain, Loeb, and Joe (Purple Shirts).  Generally spending eight hours with anyone during a day is something I try to avoid, especially in the confines of a fast-moving van.  In this case, I enjoyed the company immensely.  What made the day enjoyable was how comfortable everyone was with each other.  I think that getting away does that, which is why I think that trips will be a great tool going forward to get to know our home teams better.

We first made our way in to Manhattan.  We arrived a bit early, so we ate at one of my favorite pizza places.  Here is a picture of Kelly mashing food into his face and Kayleigh apparently carrying on a conversation with a pizza pie.

From there we headed to the BCNY building in lower Manhattan to meet with three representatives from the clubhouse.  I was impressed with the questions and answers that each of the Purple Shirts offered--they knew that this was a business trip first and foremost.  We then got stuck in some rush hour traffic, but the guys did get to meet some of the BCNY high school students from Queens who are using the Project Coach curriculum.  One goal for me is to get BCNY to come up to Springfield--I think it'd be great for the Blue Shirts to share their coaching experiences with other students in different locations.  From there, we headed north to lovely Bethlehem, CT where my dad had cooked up a great meal.  Jon Cotto can sure eat.  Then it was back to Springfield.

Sunday was equally enjoyable.  We met Liam at UMASS and he led a tour of his old stomping grounds.  We got some pizza delivered to the basketball courts near the dorms, which is where this happened:

College!

Today, several Project Coach members spent a few hours working in Morgan Hall on their college applications and college essays.  The room bustled with activity.  Several Smith students volunteered their time to work with and advise the blue shirts as they began the college process.  Owen brainstormed ideas for his college essay.  Besides being a great coach, he also helped build a house with his class!  Loeb and Efrain started thinking about transferring to their target schools.  Lai'shaa worked on her essay, and she's only a sophomore!  Priscilla started her common application, and she's only a junior!  This kind of initiative is so impressive, and important to staying on top of a complicated process.  A big thanks to the Smith students--Anna, Perry, Glendean, Julia, Haley, Dena, and Carlie--for working with us today.  And now, a college-themed quote to send all of our readers on their way.  A prize for the first commenter to name the movie that this quote is from*:

"You know, a lot of people go to college for seven years."
"I know, they're called doctors."














*Prize is the satisfaction of being published on the Project Coach Blog.