President Bob rang the bell to call the meeting to order.
We opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four Way Test.
Jack Windish presented the invocation.
Our songstress, Beth Russell, led us with Billiken cheerleader enthusiasm with the song, “When The Bills Go Marching In”. She graciously thanked Juli Niemann for allowing her to use it for today’s meeting.
After lunch and fellowship, President Bob again reminded everyone of the Blood Drive going on today. He noted how important this community service project was to our club.
He then continued with the following announcements:
* Next week’s meeting, October 24th, our speaker will be Ed Wheatley, co-author of the book “St. Louis Browns”.
* On October 31st, we’ll have Dr. Kelvin Adams, St. Louis Public Schools and the Young Citizens Awards.
* Lift for Life this past Wednesday was a success. He reminded us they are always looking for additional volunteers.
* Urban Chestnut this past Wednesday evening provided good fellowship.
* World Polio Day is October 24th.
* On Saturday, October 26th, we have a community service opportunity to plant trees and flowers at the Jewel Box in Forest Park.
* November 7th is the Veteran’s Day Program with the MAC. The board is sponsoring a table for veterans.
* Sunday, November 24th, is Rolling for Rotary Day at the Olivette Lanes. All proceeds go to the Welfare Fund.
* Check your emails for your quarterly invoice.
* Scribe volunteers are still needed.
* And last, but not least, President Bob announced that Joan Hecker with Administration Services is now the permanent administrator for our club. Sergeant-at-Arms, Dan Conway, introduced guests and visiting Rotarians. He lamented the outcome of the Cardinals in the NLCS, but ended up with great support for our other sports teams. His rallying cry, “Let’s go SLU, MIZZOU, and BLUES”.
Ken Schuman introduced our speaker, Lisa Stone, SLU Women’s Basketball Coach. And what a speaker she was!!
For those of our fellow Rotarians who were not able to join us this week for lunch, you missed out on a really over the top presentation.
To begin with, Lisa said the average age of her players is nineteen. She noted how different they are today than back in the day when she was playing. Even her young assistants approach the mentoring process differently ( loud music) as they interact with the players in small groups.
Practice starts at 6:00am for the team. Lisa’s day begins at 4:00am and ends at 8:30pm. Her early morning run requires total quiet time to “think”. No headphones for Lisa. She was emphatic……………Close Out The Noise.
She also stressed the importance of family time for herself and the girls. She works out the home visits whenever she can.
Some of her team rules:
1) Soft doesn’t survive. They need to be at 8 or 9 tough. No room for tears.
2) Little things win. They have to play unified which requires repetition, repetition, repetition.
3) Academics always come first.
Lisa has been coaching for 34 years and she is super excited about this team. She works her players hard and says criticism can make you bitter or better. She discussed her players and their outstanding individual skills. She wants to be the top team in the A 10. Very importantly, she emphasized that the recruiting process goes on everyday.
She summed up her talk by saying that as a wife, mother, teacher and coach, her role is to teach them, build relationships, love them, have them understand the importance of balance with family life, and learn to take time for themselves.
Questions from the floor dealt mainly with recruiting.
Lisa stated she recruits players who fit her system:
1) Ability to shoot.
2) Good academics.
3) Wants to be a Billiken.
She said she recruits locally, regionally, and some come from far away.
She invited us to come see her team play, noted they have a very competitive schedule, and said the home opener is November 6th.
The 50/50 drawing resulted in Matt Weiss drawing the Queen of Diamonds leaving $916.00 to be carried over to next week.
President Bob adjourned the meeting at 1:06pm.
Go Billikens!