Today is another episode where we get to hear from a guest coach. Our guest coach is Andy Affholter. I have known Andy since 2002 when I became the Athletic Director for the high school & middle school, along with being the Head Girls' Basketball Coach, in Granger, Washington in the Yakima Valley. Andy was teaching and coaching in our middle school, and we immediately hit it off. Our philosophies on youth/school sports and coaching were so similar that we spent hours talking about coaching, teaching, leadership, & life.
Andy had been a very successful head coach prior to coming to Granger, and I knew that when I stepped down as basketball coach, I wanted him to take over. He promptly took our girls' program to being one of the elite programs in the entire state. He did it at a small public school without a lot of resources and natural born talent by outworking, outplaying, and "outteaming" schools with far greater size, skill, & talent. He coached great kids who bought into his messages about team, and he made Granger into a perennial state power.
His quote today is something I saw him use with his teams throughout my time with him, and it became a mantra for them. His kids understood exactly what it meant and knew they needed to live by it in order for them to be successful. The acronym "EWPA" became synonymous with the concepts in the quote. You will need to listen to the episode to hear what EWPA stands for.
If you would like to connect with Andy to find out more about how he instituted EWPA or how he built the successful team-first culture that he did, you can reach him in a couple of ways. His email address is affholtera@yahoo.com. His school email address is affholtera@gsd.wednet.edu. Or you can call the Granger Middle School in Granger, Washington and leave a message with the secretary to have him give you a call. You could also reach out to me, and I could put you in touch with him, too.
No matter which way you choose to do it, I highly recommend you reach out to Andy. He is a well-spring of coaching knowledge, and he has so many great ideas on building successful team cultures, that I know you will come away with something awesome after you connect with him.
For more information to help you on your road to becoming your best, check us out at SlamDunkSuccess.com or email me at scott@slamdunksuccess.com.
As always, our background music is "Dance in the Sun" by Krisztian Vass.