WCHS Basketball Coach Speaks To DARE GraduatesMaking good choices was one of the things basketball coach Matt Moore imparted on Warsaw Community Schools and Sacred Heart sixth-graders Tuesday during their Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) graduation.
Warsaw Police Department Sgt. Lewis Fuller said DARE is more about decision-making skills. It’s not just about saying no to drugs. It’s about getting out of certain situations.
Moore, head varsity boys basketball coach at Warsaw Community High School, said when he thought about what he wanted to talk about Tuesday, he thought about coaching. In sports, you need to have a game plan to hopefully outmaneuver your opponent. Most of the time, the people who are successful have a game plan.
There were four things Moore brought up that students could use in their game plan.
The first thing is to begin with the end in mind. He said he wanted students to have a game plan and know where they wanted to go and wanted to be.
The second thing was be willing to make adjustments. It is something everyone experiences at times.
The third thing is your attitude and how the students react to things that happen to them. He said if the students make bad choices, there are consequences to them. There are also consequences to the good choices the students make.
The last thing is to continue to work through hard times even when the student is not winning. If they work really hard, then eventually it will pay off.
Moore also said the people the students spend time with influences how they are going to be.
“You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” he said.
He said if students are spending time with great people who are talking about doing good things, students will be influenced by that. If a student is spending time with people going the wrong way and doing the wrong things, the student is eventually will do the same things.
Moore said there are benefits to making good decisions. It will help students find their self-confidence, find their strength and allow them to know they can make the right decisions. Making good decisions will also allow students to find their self-worth and their value within.
Moore said he believes students will find a lot of happiness in their lives by making good choices.
Moore gave the students some suggestions.
He suggested students join a team because it allows students to become something bigger than themselves. He also said an important skill is learning to be on time and take pride in that.
He also told students to choose people to help make them better. He said to search for good relationships.
He asked students if they would rather have 100 pennies or four quarters. Moore said most people would rather have the four quarters. He is one of those people, having a couple people he can truly honest with. He suggested students find those types of people to be in their lives.
He also suggested being the friend the student really wants to have.
