Do you ever have that someone that helps you through everything? My person is Mallory Singleton, or Coach Mal. She is the best coach, I have ever had. She was the assistant basketball coach for SMU and head AAU coach for Texas Express. Coach Mal is not the type of coach to only teach the skills of basketball. She teaches you how to use your brain and real life scenarios to contribute to the game. The bad thing about my season with Texas Express was we lost more games than we could count. It brought not only me, but the whole team down many times. The result of the losing made us play worse because we felt like we could never win, so we did not try anymore. We let fatigue get to our heads and began to jog instead of sprint. Coach Mal would yell every game, "Hustle! Talk! Hustle!!" Doing that way too many times led to a breaking point. She gave us a long speech in a full time out saying, "You can be the worst player on the court, but still contribute to this team with effort. If you're hustling to get your butt back on D, you sure as heck will have a better chance at stopping ball instead of jogging. Effort guys, effort. I am going to be like y'all this game, lazy, don't care, bad attitude, already know we gonna lose. Until the end of the game, I'm not saying anything, just remember effort, guys."

Everything Coach Mal said in that speech has been stitched into my memory forever. Especially the word effort. Not only does it contribute to basketball, but life itself. Without effort, you would be nowhere. It brings all A's to your report card, a successful job, and a wonderful life. I am so thankful to have consumed knowledge from Coach Mal.
I have not seen Coach Mal in ages and my days have been more dim due to not having her sunshine everyday. I miss her life lessons and goofing off in practice. That does not affect anything that she has said, though. Her knowledge still is stitched to my mind. I was so lucky to experience a great season with the Mallory Singleton. She brought hope to our team when we were in need. She always wanted us to succeed, even now. After the season ended with Texas Express, she quit coaching AAU and now is the head coach for Flowermound High School. Of course, I am a bit upset she can't coach me anymore, but absolutely happy for her new opportunity to coach. I am so proud of her and know she will take herself and team to success.