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White: Sports have value beyond the court
Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White has spent a big part of her life on the basketball court.
Speaking to the Greencastle Kiwanis Club and local women's basketball teams Thursday, the coach shared memories and insights from a decorated career.
A woman who set high school scoring records, won multiple player of the year awards, led her team to an NCAA title and even played five years in the WNBA told her audience -- particularly the young ladies -- that the basketball wasn't the part that really mattered.
"More than anything, the lessons you learn in basketball are lessons you carry with you for the rest of your life," White said, praising virtues such as preparation, teamwork and accountability.
"Long after you finish playing, people aren't always going to remember the stats you had or the awards or the championships," White said, "but they are going to remember the way you treated them and the way you made them feel.
"The important thing is the effect you have on others."
It was as a fourth-grader, White said, that she first told her parents she wanted to be a college basketball player. She got the response many might expect from the parents of a dreamer, support mixed with tempered expectations.
But pick-up games with her dad in particular helped set the course for White's future success.
"My dad, who was also a coach, took it on himself to show me that you can't always will it to happen," White said. "You have to work to make it happen."
The work came in twice-a-week games with her dad and his friends at the old West Lebanon High School gym. Those games, where the young White wouldn't allow the men to treat her like a girl, gave her experience that far outweighed natural ability.
"I wasn't a successful player because I was a naturally gifted athlete. I was successful because I had a mind for the game," White said. "I credit those guys for that."
With a mind for the fundamentals she learned in those formative years, she's already a stickler for proper shooting technique from her three-year-old son, whose common response is that he can't make it with the right form.
"The fundamentals are what make you successful," White said. "It's not about being a great athlete or playing a lot of games."
The coach is also troubled by the increasing specialization she sees from parents of young athletes. As a youth, White played a lot of sports, lettering in four -- volleyball, basketball, softball and tennis -- during at least one of her high school years.
She even had thoughts of playing basketball and softball at Purdue until a coach thought otherwise.
"I think it's important to maintain a balance," White said. "It doesn't always benefit our kids (to specialize)."
What benefits our kids the most, though, is giving them a support system. Beyond her family, White said her success was a credit to the West Lebanon, Seeger High School and Warren County communities.
"The people around you are the ones who are really going to help you get where you want to go," White said. "I'm a community project and I don't think that can happen just anywhere, but it can happen in Indiana."
Many of the same fans who supported her at Seeger followed her to Purdue and eventually the Fever. They are still supporting her as the Fever coach.
Besides being a good opportunity for the Kiwanians to hear a dynamic speaker, Thursday marked a unique opportunity for several local women's teams -- Cloverdale, Greencastle and South Putnam high schools, as well as DePauw -- to hear from a WNBA coach. Afterward, White was gracious with her time, posing for pictures and signing commemorative 5-by-5 inch blocks of Purdue's old Mackey Arena floor for young people and adults alike.
White also did a special signing for Pat Aikman, the longtime Kiwanian and former director of the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Game. Since the 50th anniversary of the all-star game in 1989, Aikman has been collecting the signatures of Mr. and Miss Basketball honorees on a gold ball commemorating the event. White added her name to the likes of inaugural Mr. Basketball George Crowe, inaugural Miss Basketball Judi Warren and Milan legend Bobby Plump.
Even as a guest of Kiwanis, she tailored her speech to the young people, reminding them of things that would make them successful on the court and in life.
She recounted her sophomore year at Purdue, when the team had only five scholarship athletes (one of whom was on a track scholarship) and managed to win the Big Ten title.
"It really proved to me that you didn't have to have the best athletes to be the best team," White said.
The best team is the real key to success, in basketball or life.
"At the end of the day, you want to put a good team on the floor," White said. "And you're all in it together."