Chase Her Example

It seemed like only yesterday I wrote about Morgan Griffith when she was in junior high.  It seemed like only yesterday when the discussion started about her breaking the career scoring record at Frankfort Community High School.  It seemed like only yesterday I was visiting the hospital with the rest of the family to meet her when she was born.  Morgan is my niece and I have been lucky enough to have a front row seat to her basketball career.  Time sure does fly by and what a ride it has been for her.

This week, Morgan hit a free throw to put her atop the career scoring list in West Frankfort.  I remember at the end of her junior year the speculation of when she would break the record was running wild.  The confidence in her to accomplish this feat was not surprising.  She is a well rounded, talented and a consistently healthy player.  The crowd was great that night, the fans were loud and the showing of love and respect for her when that free throw went in was heartwarming and filled us with pride.  Everyone loves a record breaker and a winner and Morgan is definitely that.

We are drawn to these types of people.  Its fun to watch a player get closer and closer to a milestone and we cheer them on.  Lets make sure we know what we are cheering for.  If you really knew her, you would know that she has career goals that reach far beyond basketball.  If you really knew her, you would know that she is on track to have her Associates Degree from John A. Logan College when she graduates high school.  The basketball scholarship she will playing under from Missouri S & T will get her into graduate school.  She is tremendous young lady that understands where she is going and how to get there.

I found this quote from Mia Hamm and I thought of kids like Morgan.  Her assault on the record books didn't start with actually breaking a record or when she was a starter her freshman year.  It started the day she decided to pick up a basketball.  We often see the end of career accomplishments and think that kid was a tremendous player.  But what many miss is the journey it takes for someone to get here.  The work, the pressure, the politics and targets on your back would make most buckle.  She has endured and now not only receives the accolades but it has been a vehicle to get her to where she is going.

If I have a message for Morgan and any other kid that takes this journey is to never stop being that little girl that first picked up a basketball.  Morgan refuses to stop learning, is always curious about the game and her craft just like the wonderment you see in a child.  It has made her a great basketball player and a great person.  She is ambitious and is blind to limitations and I'm not talking about on the basketball floor.  Always be true to that little girl that first picked up a basketball.

I want to thank Morgan for being a great example for little girls that choose to pick up a basketball.  I hope hundred of girls chase her record and her example.  It will only serve our community well and give us the right narrative to tell to our student athletes.  All too often we have to endure stories of great players that have bad approaches to the game of life.  They become headlines for the wrong reasons but today she makes headlines for the right reasons and is a shining example for aspiring Lady Redbirds.  With any luck, my daughter will join the chase.