Being the best you can be!!!

Hello readers,

Have you ever questioned your motives, or who you really are? Its not a bad thing because everyone has. Growing up trying to please your peers, doing homework because your mom or dad told you to versus doing it because you should, showing up 30 minutes earlier to practice because you want to be better than the next player. These are all things that we have dealt with in our lives as students-athletes. Being a student-athlete, comes with responsibilities, being a great student-athlete comes with even greater responsibilities. Putting in extra work to be the best you can be is something that you do out of self motivation, and a commitment to being the best you, that you can be. A average student-athlete, does just enough to get by and is satisfied with being average. Being a great student-athlete gives you multiple options in life, being average, could provide you with those same opportunities if your lucky, but why not give yourself the best possibilities to go beyond your expectations. Put in extra work in the classroom to get an A versus settling for a B, get to the gym 30 minutes earlier to get some shots up, or be ready to go when practice is suppose to start, grab a teammate that isn't as motivated as you and help pull him in the right direction, these are just a few things that could be done in creating a successful student-athlete. Grind now to make your future easier, this has been the ways of parents from generations and generations to come, make a family member smile, be the best you for you, and nobody else.....stamp your student-athlete title with a SELF MOTIVATED!!!!!

Wishing all the best to all student-athletes,

Blessings!!!!!

Happy Holiday's

Hello readers,

Hopefully everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving, I know the power of God was working at mine. I had the opportunity see family members, that I haven't seen in almost 10 yrs, as well as meeting some that I have never met, I have a beyond large family. With that all being said, I still did not forget to reach out to my teammates, fellow coaches, and other significant people in my life, to wish them a blessed holiday(no one's perfect so if I missed you, Happy belated Thanksgiving). God is great and more than enough to be thankful for.

A team, is made up of individuals, that all believe in each other, and hopefully shares a common goal. There are a variety of goals that are set from team to team, but eventually every team wants to be succesful. Remember success comes beyond the court as well, you gain valuable friendships, relationships, knowledge, education, among many other great things when being associated with a team. Reach out to a teammate, ex-teammate, old coach, etc..etc..., and wish them happy holidays, it is the recipe for respect and care in one another, which in turn helps a team to become stronger in support of one another.....Have a great holiday readers, and don't forget a team is a family.....God Bless!!!!!

Anticipation

Hello readers,

Have you ever been put in a situation, and before anything can take place, you have to wait??? Well its called anticipation, a anxious feeling that you have while you wait for something to get started. December 4th, has a significance to me, because it is the 1st chance I have to play as a professional back home, and over the years I have always wanted people who know me as a player, to have a chance to see me play professionally at home. After 5 years as a professional basketball player overseas, I have my opportunity to play home again, in front of family, friends, and new fans. This has been more than just a dream for me, but now reality and I am looking foward to showing how much I've grown on and off the court as a professional. I play for the Atlanta Aliens, a new franchise team, that joined the ABA(American Basketball Association) this year. I as well as my teammates, are looking forward to taking a new team, and making an impact on our community, as well as fans of basketball. The best part of basketball, is you, the fans of the game. Hope to see you at many games this year, and don't forget visit us at atlantaaliens.com, and purchase tickets using the promo code, OC24....see you there!!!

BASKETBALL NEVER STOPS!!!!!

Hello readers,

Basketball can be seen at its best at the NBA level, this we all know. Did you know that the Euroleague is the 2nd best league in the world? And then everything else follows, from Eurocup, to Euro Challenge, China, etc...etc... Most of us stateside will never have the chance to see these games without some kind of special cable programming. So what do we do? Well I have a pretty heart felt answer. There are children aspiring to be basketball players in the world, starting at the Rec. level, middle school, high school, with the hopes of one day being college basketball players. These are just a few forms of basketball that will continued to be played as we suffer the lost of services of some of the best players in the world. Instead of being down about the possibility of not having an NBA season this year, why don't you step out and support our future. Over and Beyond Basketball LLC, is my way of reaching out to youths that are hungry to improve there game, and become successful student-athletes, if there were ever a better time to uplift our youths, the time is now. Reach out to Over and Beyond Basketball on the web, @ overandbeyondbasketball.webs.com, to follow testimonies of players who are in the process of becoming successful, or already are successful at almost every level of the game. Not everyone can be helped physically, but we promise to have food for thought, in hopes that we can help reach out to players all around the world. Remember, just because we can't watch basketball on television (outside of college basketball), BASKETBALL NEVER STOPS!!!!!

Support the youth, make a difference

Omar Collington
Founder and CEO
Over and Beyond Basketball LLC
overandbeyondbasketball.webs.com

Proud to be a Bulldog!!!!

Hello readers,

It has been a great last week to be a "Bulldog", Renfroe Middle School won this weekend(boys), Decatur High School Varsity (won), Decatur High School Junior Varsity (won), and although they didn't win UNC-Asheville played a great game against the number 1 team in the country at the Division 1 level UNC. All the schools mentioned are the schools I attended in all my years as a student, and the mascot of all the schools are Bulldogs.......all my teams, have done a great job in opening up Bulldog season. I had a chance to attend all games in an array of ways, including Coaching, Mentoring, a Fan, and on TV. 2-0 as an assitant coach at DHS, 1-0 as a fan/mentor, and 0-1 as a television viewer. I am proud to see how everyone attending the schools that I had the chance to attend supporting basketball, and being hungry for success this season. There will be ample opportunities to support the Bulldog community. Its not the size of the dog that fights, but its the size of the fight in the dog, be confident, hungry, humble, and always wanting to get better......lets have a great season Bulldog Nation!!!!!!!!!!!

Proud to be a Bulldog!!!!!!

Coaching Basketball

Hello readers,

Last night (Nov. 10 2011), I had my first coaching experience in the US. Wow what a new and adventurous feeling. I had the luxury of coaching a few teams as a professional in Germany, and it was a great experience to be able to work with German basketball youth. The only difference is basketball here in the US has a higher value to our culture, than it does in Germany. A player is a player, and a team is a team, just a different name. With that being said, I have been working with Decatur High School for this 2011-12 season and am very excited to be apart of DHS basketball on the other side of the board. I played at DHS from 1998-02 and learned many things about myself and life, as I started my basketball career here. Well last night instead of a coach talking to me, I was talking to the players as a coach. To see the work they put in at practice night in and night out, to be in there ears trying to motivate them, to push them beyond there limits, helping them to see something in them that they may not have seen in themselves, is one of the best feelings I have had thus far, and it's only the beginning. All the running they do in practice, showed up in the 4th quarter of last night's game, as you could see which team was better conditioned. Being able to view the game as a coach versus a player, are to different point of views. I try to use my experiences as a player to motivate my team, and I from time to time jump in on sprints just to help try to raise the fun and competitive aspect of practice. At the end of the day basketball is a grueling, hardworking, grinding, and rewarding process. Regardless of what the season holds, I will always cherish this moment in my life as an assistant coach at DHS.

Hope to develop and hold a great relationship with my 1st ever team as an assistant coach, DHS Basketball 2011-2012!!!!

The Importance of Giving Back

Not everyone has the opportunity to make a difference in someones life, due to various reasons. If you had the chance, would you do it? We don't realize that something small to us can be of great value to someone else, even if it is just words of encouragement, or just being there. I have the opportunity to affect many lives and it is the best feeling that I have experience. I have been blessed to be able to be a basketball player with an extensive resume, and because I am in that position, I have been able to deal with kids on a role model level for most of my life. I accept this gesture with open arms in hopes that I can one day help a young man or lady be somebody in this journey called life.

This is my 1st season as an assistant coach at my old high school "Decatur High School". I had the opportunity to help lead my team in 02 to a shot at winning the Basketball State Championship for that season. Now I am on the other side of the team, coaching. It feels good to be able to share my story with the players of this 2011-12 season, and there is no better feeling than being apart of basketball on many levels. This is my blessing and this is what I feel God has blessed me with. This is just one of many ways I plan to give back and I thank my lord and savior for this more than wonderful opportunity.

Tonight (Nov. 9th, 2011) is the 1st time, I get a chance to participate in the public eye as a representative of Decatur High School, not as a student, but as a Coach/Educator, these moments are priceless and I'm looking forward to giving back to my beginning.

Decatur, GA

Plant you seed.........

Hello all,

Its been a very long time since I last blogged about anything, but I was inspired by a friend of mine to continue to share my thoughts and words with my readers. It has been a long journey throughout the years with life and basketball for me. I am blessed and happy to be able to say that I am going into my 6th year as a professional basketball player. There are not many people that have that opportunity to say that, and that's why I realize this is a blessing. I will continue to use basketball to help me realize what it is that God has in store for me. It was a reason why I choose to play the sport(basketball) to keep me out of trouble, there was a reason why I have been tested in all stages of my basketball career(high school, college, professional), there is a reason why I have been able to make positive connections to great influential people throughout my journey with basketball. It's bigger than me, its bigger than you, its bigger than us(basketball players) its about love, passion, dedication, hardwork, teamwork, determination, drive, etc...etc... all the things that I have been taught or learned through the game of basketball. I planted this seed a long time ago to accept me for me, and not worry about what people thought of where I came from, or who I was, and this seed has grown under all the things that I mentioned basketball has taught me. I feel like my tree has grown tall, and I am ready to help others like me grow there tree. I am blessed to be in this position and hopefully my words will be of some meaning to some of you, thank you for your time in reading my blog and I am happy to be able to continue to share this journey of greatness with you.

Coming soon......an interactive website with me Omar Collington, stay blessed people!!!