The Timeout We All Need

I don’t know about you but it’s hard to believe we are already at Christmas time and the start of a holiday break for many of us! This time of the year is always hectic but in many ways, Christmas time has a way of slowing things down for us—at least for a moment. In the middle of busy schedules, packed gyms, full calendars, and constant noise, this week gives us a chance to pause and remember what actually matters. This might be your faith (the reason for the season!), your family, your friends, or something else.

It has been a very busy stretch personally with my basketball team having a lot of games in a short stretch and a lot of things happening in my family. In basketball, the most important parts of the game often happen away from the scoreboard. It’s the relationships built in practice, the trust formed in huddles, the encouragement after a mistake, and the belief shared when things aren’t going well and having the ability to move on to the next play. No athlete or coach starts a season thinking about trophies or honors—they start by wanting to belong, to improve, and to be part of something meaningful.

To me, Christmas carries that same reminder into our daily lives. Christmas for my family won’t ever be quite the same as my beloved sister, Marianne, passed away suddenly 3 years ago on Christmas Day. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her and the impact they had on me. We had a great relationship and she was always excited to follow how my teams were doing and how things were going. Christmas will be celebrated but definitely with a twinge of sadness.

It’s easy this time of year to focus on what we don’t have—be it people we have lost, more time, more success, fewer stresses, different outcomes. The Christmas break gives us a chance to change our perspective back to gratitude. Just think of the people you will get to see, the conversations you will get to have, the moments that many will post on social media but plenty of other events and memories will stay with us far longer than any gift we receive.

As coaches, leaders, family members, and teammates, we often spend the year pushing forward—next drill, next meeting, next game, next responsibility. Christmas right now to me feels like a timeout. It’s a chance to regroup, breathe, and reconnect. In that timeout, the message should be simple: people matter more than a successful performance, our presence matters more than striving for perfection, and the relationships we have matter more than winning results of a game.

Just like in sports, the wins that matter most aren’t always obvious right away. They show up years later in character, connection, and shared memories. Christmas reminds us that investing in people is never wasted effort. It might seem like our time and commitment isn’t making a difference but it will always come into play, even if it is years down the road. It’s easy to question the impact we are having on others now, but hopefully the impact will be there later when the people we are with are able to understand it and put it to use.

As this week unfolds, my hope is that we all find a little space to slow down, to appreciate who we’re with, and to be fully present—whether that’s at home, in the gym, or somewhere in between. The seasons we are in will move on quickly, but the way we treat people and the time we give them will continue to matter long after your tree comes down and we move on to 2026.

Merry Christmas to you and your family and may you have a safe and healthy holiday season!

Coach K