Episode 214 – Leading the Broncs with Hayden Hatfield
Hayden Hatfield is the head coach of the Jackson Hole High School basketball team. A year ago at the age of 25, Hayden visited Jackson Hole and fell in love. Determined to move to the valley, he kept his eyes open for the right opportunity. That opportunity arose a year later when the Broncs basketball team started their search for a new head coach to revitalize their program.
In this episode, Hayden and Stephan discuss mentors, leadership, The Masters, coaching, local sports, being a lifelong learner, and the importance of connecting with your community.
Find the Broncs basketball schedule at TCSD.org
This week’s episode is sponsored in part by Teton County Solid Waste and Recycling. Fall Clean Up is around the corner for residential yard waste collection, beginning the week of October 31st . For more details about this year’s Fall Clean Up and Pumpkin Smash event visit TetonCountyWY.gov. More at @RoadToZeroWaste.JH
Support also comes from The Jackson Hole Marketplace. The Deli at Jackson Hole Marketplace offers ready-made soups, sandwiches, breakfast burritos, and hot lunch specials. More at JHMarketplace.com
Want to be a guest on The Jackson Hole Connection? Email us at connect@thejacksonholeconnection.com. Marketing and editing support by Michael Moeri
Transcript
You are tuned into the Jackson hole, connection, sharing, fascinating stories of people connected to Jackson Hole.
Stephan Abrams:I am truly grateful for each of you for tuning in today and support for this podcast comes from:
Stephan Abrams:You know, reading and learning helps me, fill my mind with ideas and perspectives from other people and.
Stephan Abrams:I enjoy sharing those quotes with you from reading them.
Stephan Abrams:I haven't read anything from this author before, but I did search out this quote and it's leadership is about recognizing that there's greatness in everyone and your job is to create an environment where the greatness can emerge.
Stephan Abrams:And that's from Bill Campbell.
Stephan Abrams:And Bill is actually referenced in this podcast by the gentleman, I'm about to, I.
Stephan Abrams:And you are listening to episode number 214, and my guest today is Hayden Hatfield.
Stephan Abrams:Hayden is a soon to be father.
Stephan Abrams:He's a husband.
Stephan Abrams:Lifetime learner and the head basketball coach for Jackson Hole High School.
Stephan Abrams:Hayden had the great privilege of growing up in the South and also attending with frequency, one of our nation's premier sporting events, which gave Hayden the opportunity to see top professional athletes performing at their best.
Stephan Abrams:so he's gonna share that with you.
Stephan Abrams:And with the right mentor guiding Hayden, he had a few of 'em, He was able to find his path and learn what it means to be a coach and.
Stephan Abrams:After learning from his mentors and being a lifelong learner, Hayden's carrying that forward in applying those skills that he learned from his mentors as the head basketball coach at Jackson Hole High School and Hayden is coaching students on important lessons to be successful on and off the court, and, in those students future.
Stephan Abrams:I think you're gonna enjoy listening to Hayden today
Stephan Abrams:Hayden, thank you for joining me here today at the Jackson Hole Connection.
Stephan Abrams:it's, awesome and I appreciate you taking the time to sit down and talk with me.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:No thanks Ste.
Hayden Hatfield:Uh, really, really excited to be on here and kinda share a , little bit about what we're doing.
Hayden Hatfield:You're, you got it.
Stephan Abrams:Well, because I like to connect people.
Stephan Abrams:I, I always like to start with you sharing your background of where were you born and where'd you grow up.
Stephan Abrams:And I also am gonna ask about the flags, cuz I get to see what's behind you right now.
Stephan Abrams:Oh.
Stephan Abrams:So, I'm gonna have you share about those flags, but tell us where you grew up and where you were born, and then how'd you land out here in Jackson?
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah, it's kind of a long, long story.
Hayden Hatfield:originally I'm from Decatur, Alabama.
Hayden Hatfield:another one of those southern trans transplants out here.
Hayden Hatfield:grew up there, went to college at a small school in Charlotte, North Carolina, Queens, University of c.
Hayden Hatfield:just by chance,, kinda, you know, knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.
Hayden Hatfield:wanted to get involved in sports.
Hayden Hatfield:they had a really good sport management college program.
Hayden Hatfield:I was just up and rising, kind of starting out.
Hayden Hatfield:and so I decided that'd be great for me.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, I got really lucky cuz I decided basketball would be my kind of, and when I got there, I didn't know a ton about the basketball program.
Hayden Hatfield:but I got on as kind of like a student manager, probably my sophomore year.
Hayden Hatfield:And, got really lucky that the head coach, his name's Bart Lundy, he'd taken them to like their division two school.
Hayden Hatfield:He'd taken them to four or five elite eights in the, uh, ins NCAA division two.
Hayden Hatfield:so I got really.
Hayden Hatfield:that I got on, you know, learning from a guy that had a lot of success.
Hayden Hatfield:he was a head coach at High Point before that.
Hayden Hatfield:so a really good basketball background, taught me a ton.
Hayden Hatfield:and, you know, some of the stuff that he, he does and taught me, we still do here at Jackson, Jacksonville High School now.
Hayden Hatfield:So, stayed with me at that all that time.
Hayden Hatfield:he's now the head coach at Division one, University of Wisconsin.
Hayden Hatfield:M.
Hayden Hatfield:So he's, he's done really well for himself and I got very fortunate that I got on with him early on in my career.
Hayden Hatfield:kind of like, you know, it's all about who you know.
Hayden Hatfield:And, I got really lucky that he was that
Stephan Abrams:guy.
Stephan Abrams:Sounds like a great mentor.
Hayden Hatfield:Absolutely.
Hayden Hatfield:He really good guy.
Hayden Hatfield:he's had a lot of successful coaches come from his tree too.
Hayden Hatfield:Um, I think there's three, two or three division one coaches now from his coaching tree.
Hayden Hatfield:And so some of the guys he connected me with kind of propelled my career from there.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, when I was there at Queens, I started working basketball camps for a guy named Buzz Williams.
Hayden Hatfield:he was at Virginia Tech at the time.
Hayden Hatfield:kind of became my, you know, number one mentor.
Hayden Hatfield:taught me a ton of stuff.
Hayden Hatfield:the, the main takeaway and it kind of propel.
Hayden Hatfield:From just being a, you know, young kid who liked basketball.
Hayden Hatfield:I wanted to coach into being kind of a leader.
Hayden Hatfield:would be, you know, he taught me that if you're not reading, books, you're not learning and you're falling behind.
Hayden Hatfield:and so he's the guy that he reads about 60 books a year.
Hayden Hatfield:math wise, I think that's about, little more than four a month, I think.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:so.
Hayden Hatfield:, You know, I'm nowhere close to that, but I try to, uh, you know, learn from him and do that too.
Hayden Hatfield:Read a lot, get different experiences from other people who've done the same stuff or that I'm trying to do, you know?
Hayden Hatfield:so from, from, you know, that coaching tree I got on, college staffs at Troy University, which is South Alabama for the, for those of you that don't know.
Hayden Hatfield:and then I got on, finally, my last college stint was at.
Hayden Hatfield:Mercer University, which is in Macon, Georgia.
Hayden Hatfield:very fortunate too, the guy I got on with there, got on his staff as Bob Hoffman and he was a really, really good Xs and os offensive mind in the game of basketball and he kind of propelled me in that way as well.
Hayden Hatfield:and from there, our second season our staff got fired.
Hayden Hatfield:Uh, the head coach got fired, so our whole.
Hayden Hatfield:It split up.
Hayden Hatfield:and we all went our own different routes.
Hayden Hatfield:from there and went the high school route, I got a really good high school assistant coaching job in Atlanta, Georgia, for the high school's, Meadow Creek High School.
Hayden Hatfield:And it was a, uh, it's largest high school in the state of Georgia at 4,500 students.
Hayden Hatfield:Oh yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:Huge.
Hayden Hatfield:and so I learned a lot there and that's, you know, that was my last stop for Jackson.
Hayden Hatfield:and kind of just to, you know, sum it up, the Why Jackson Hole, , I've, I vacationed here.
Hayden Hatfield:right as the pandemic was kind of, you know, I, not ending, but all the, lock, lock downs were kind of getting, you know, were ending that.
Hayden Hatfield:So, right when those ended, I kind of went on vacation here and I fell in love with it.
Hayden Hatfield:it's one of those jobs.
Hayden Hatfield:I said if that, if that high school job ever comes open, I'm.
Hayden Hatfield:Hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:lo and behold, that next March, or I think April, that job came open, I interviewed and, got really lucky and somehow got the job.
Hayden Hatfield:So, you know, 26 year old guy, got the head coaching job for the first time.
Hayden Hatfield:I guess I was 25 at the time.
Hayden Hatfield:and so, uh, you know, that's how I kind of got to Jackson Hole.
Hayden Hatfield:Loved it.
Hayden Hatfield:Fell in love with the culture.
Hayden Hatfield:Um, with the town, obviously the outdoors activities, it's a plus.
Hayden Hatfield:and that's how we got here.
Hayden Hatfield:You, you said you got
Stephan Abrams:the job.
Stephan Abrams:Would you say you earned it?
Hayden Hatfield:I would say I earned it, yes.
Hayden Hatfield:Absolutely.
Hayden Hatfield:I
Stephan Abrams:don't think that's being boastful, Hayden.
Stephan Abrams:I think that's just the reality.
Stephan Abrams:You put the time in, you were reading the books, you were under the right people, you've earned it.
Hayden Hatfield:Absolutely.
Hayden Hatfield:And that's part of it.
Hayden Hatfield:You know, it's, it's, you know, what, how much time did you put into it?
Hayden Hatfield:What we try to teach now to our team is it's really what, what you put into is what you're gonna get out of it.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, Stephan Abrams: and going back to your history, we got to talk a little bit before the show and you have some flags that are behind you.
Hayden Hatfield:share with everybody about those flags and your family's connection.
Hayden Hatfield:The history of that.
Hayden Hatfield:I,
Hayden Hatfield:I think it's awesome to.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:for those of you that don't know, the, the masters is like, I mean, it's, it's hard to get tickets to the Masters.
Hayden Hatfield:and so growing up I was very fortunate.
Hayden Hatfield:my great grandparents, specifically great-grandmother now has had family tickets since way long time ago.
Hayden Hatfield:I wanna say the sixties would be a rough estimate, when they finally got those tickets.
Hayden Hatfield:and.
Hayden Hatfield:the Masters is, you know, it's a lifelong ticket back then.
Hayden Hatfield:so as long as she's living, we get Master's tickets.
Hayden Hatfield:and so now she's 101 years old.
Hayden Hatfield:and so we're still receiving Master's tickets, every year as a family, just because she's been on the list since the early sixties would be my guess.
Hayden Hatfield:so we're very fortunate that she's still kicking it.
Hayden Hatfield:And, we're, we're still getting some tickets too.
Stephan Abrams:That's awesome.
Stephan Abrams:And so growing up, you got to go to the Masters
Hayden Hatfield:pretty frequently?
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:I get asked this question quite a bit.
Hayden Hatfield:I can't put an exact number on it, but I'd say eight to 10 would be the number of times I've been.
Hayden Hatfield:That's awesome.
Hayden Hatfield:I've seen, I've seen Tiger Win it, seen Phil Nicholson win it.
Hayden Hatfield:the most recent, I think it was Matt Sue Yama won it.
Hayden Hatfield:Uh, and I was there for that one, so, Cool.
Hayden Hatfield:That was the most recent.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:That's awesome.
Hayden Hatfield:It's hard to get out there now flight wise since we've been living out here.
Hayden Hatfield:But try to do it every Then
Hayden Hatfield:, Stephan Abrams: now.
Hayden Hatfield:When I was in, in school, the coaches would also teach classes.
Hayden Hatfield:Do you teach classes as well?
Hayden Hatfield:I do.
Hayden Hatfield:So at the high school, I'm a special education teacher.
Hayden Hatfield:I teach sophomore special education program classes, which it kind of consists of, going into, you know, help some students reach the content in like an English class per se.
Hayden Hatfield:but also we have our individual like, uh, we call individual instruction where we teach them skills to be successful in high school.
Stephan Abrams:What are some of the skills that you might be
Hayden Hatfield:teaching some of these kids?
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah, no, executive functioning is a big one.
Hayden Hatfield:executive functioning, which is kind of, turning in homework assignments.
Hayden Hatfield:that's, that's a skill.
Hayden Hatfield:and a lot of kids these days do not have that skill.
Hayden Hatfield:the pandemic has really challenged teachers and, getting kids to be successful through, you know, just being a great student skill wise.
Hayden Hatfield:so that's something we teach is turning in homework.
Hayden Hatfield:teaching them how to study, is another thing.
Hayden Hatfield:that's a big one these days.
Hayden Hatfield:there's so many different ways you can study.
Hayden Hatfield:and the, you know, the, the number one method these, these days is, looking at your computer and just kind of looking at it.
Hayden Hatfield:not a lot, not a lot of kids these days have no cards out.
Hayden Hatfield:Kinda like we grew up doing note cards and, uh mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:just writing down, memorizing things so, Teaching them just study skills is the number one thing, we can do.
Hayden Hatfield:Uh, in my position,
Stephan Abrams:I'm, I'm old school about writing it down and the note cards and reading it several times.
Hayden Hatfield:Absolutely.
Hayden Hatfield:No, I'm, I'm the same way.
Hayden Hatfield:I, I'm actually overboard on it.
Hayden Hatfield:I, I have tons of note cards.
Hayden Hatfield:Here's a stack on my desk right here, right now.
Hayden Hatfield:Just did random things, random thoughts and quotes and stuff I've found.
Hayden Hatfield:and so I have a system, a note card system.
Hayden Hatfield:I do too.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, it's kind of, it's over the top for sure.
Hayden Hatfield:And I file, like I have a category of basketball practice and it's like a thick, you know, stack of note cards behind that.
Hayden Hatfield:And then, you know, you got a leadership category.
Hayden Hatfield:So I got, I'm really worried about my note cards and how we, learn, learn things, memorize things.
Hayden Hatfield:Old school
Stephan Abrams:You mentioned some quotes or something about leadership.
Stephan Abrams:Do you wanna share something that you might have in
Hayden Hatfield:one of those note cards?
Hayden Hatfield:Oh, man.
Hayden Hatfield:Let's see right here.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah, so I mean, I'll just read a couple right here.
Hayden Hatfield:I mean, so this is the stack for leadership right here.
Hayden Hatfield:That's, that's a big one.
Hayden Hatfield:150 note cards.
Hayden Hatfield:Just over the years we compiled from reading books and such.
Hayden Hatfield:a great leader cares more about the people than the results.
Hayden Hatfield:who is that?
Hayden Hatfield:that was Bill Campbell.
Hayden Hatfield:Bill Campbell, if I remember correctly.
Hayden Hatfield:uh, he has a book out, it's about him.
Hayden Hatfield:It's called Trillion Dollar Coach, he was a leadership coach.
Hayden Hatfield:He, he was at first a football coach, I think at one of the Ivy League schools.
Hayden Hatfield:Princeton maybe.
Hayden Hatfield:and he wasn't very successful as a football coach.
Hayden Hatfield:but then he got into coaching like, CEOs and being leaders of, big time corporations.
Hayden Hatfield:And eventually he was, you know, leading people at Google.
Hayden Hatfield:he was their key culture guy, at all these big time corpor.
Hayden Hatfield:it's a really good book if you haven't read it.
Stephan Abrams:Yeah, I just wrote it down to add it to my
Hayden Hatfield:list.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:I do that, that's a better way for me to, say I need to go find something to tell a kid about habits.
Hayden Hatfield:I'll go scroll through my note cards.
Hayden Hatfield:All right.
Hayden Hatfield:Habits, find a good quote.
Hayden Hatfield:You know, you know, you don't learn something new.
Hayden Hatfield:You have to forget something old.
Hayden Hatfield:That's bad.
Hayden Hatfield:Boom, you go.
Hayden Hatfield:it's a good system for me as a coach to kind of, mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:have things squared away and ready.
Hayden Hatfield:. That's a,
Stephan Abrams:that's excellent.
Stephan Abrams:I love it.
Stephan Abrams:I have a book of quotes, but I don't have my quotes organized as well as you do on note cards by
Hayden Hatfield:category.
Hayden Hatfield:Well, it's all about for me time.
Hayden Hatfield:I don't have much time to have something to a kid that's struggling, you know?
Hayden Hatfield:Sure.
Hayden Hatfield:It needs, so it's, it's a very organized way for me to get something really quick.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Stephan Abrams:Have you ever read any of John Wooden's books?
Hayden Hatfield:Absolutely.
Hayden Hatfield:I got, so I got my collection right above me on my bookcase.
Hayden Hatfield:I probably have about three, three wooden books up there.
Hayden Hatfield:they're great, obviously.
Hayden Hatfield:his Pyramid of Success, we kind of have a, our own version of Pyramid of Success here at Jacksonville High School, Boys Basketball . So we try to live it out.
Hayden Hatfield:Uh, we're still tweaking it here and there, but, we're not, we're not quite to where Wooden was.
Stephan Abrams:tell us how, how you're applying that peer.
Stephan Abrams:What is the John Wooden pyramid to of success and how, what does it look like at the Jackson Hole High School?
Hayden Hatfield:you know, it's a little different.
Hayden Hatfield:We have tweaks here and there of it.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, the ultimate goal is, competitive greatness.
Hayden Hatfield:that's our, that's the top of our pyramid.
Hayden Hatfield:how do we get to competitive greatness?
Hayden Hatfield:you know, for us, competitive greatness isn't just winning a lot of games.
Hayden Hatfield:For us, competitive greatness would be, you know, are we getting better every single day?
Hayden Hatfield:Are we judging it?
Hayden Hatfield:our status as a team against the team instead of the opponent.
Hayden Hatfield:so in other words, are we, you know, are we getting better individually each day at ourselves?
Hayden Hatfield:daily progress.
Hayden Hatfield:Uh, another word for that we use quite a bit or, or starting to use quite a bit as Kaizen.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, Japanese or Chinese.
Hayden Hatfield:Can't remember which one.
Hayden Hatfield:Japanese.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:And, just daily progress.
Hayden Hatfield:Are we getting better every day?
Hayden Hatfield:are we doing the things we need to every day to become successful people?
Hayden Hatfield:I love it.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:So, and that's, that's the thing too.
Hayden Hatfield:I geek out on the, the culture stuff.
Hayden Hatfield:big, big time, you know, learner of cultures and how can we, how can we implement some of that stuff into what we do?
Hayden Hatfield:Mm.
Stephan Abrams:I'm reading a book right now.
Stephan Abrams:It's from the early eighties.
Stephan Abrams:it's called The Reckoning by I think David Habersham, I mean, it's you.
Stephan Abrams:I had to find it used.
Stephan Abrams:I mean, it's a, Yeah, one of those, It's a thousand page book, it, it's essentially the competitiveness of the US auto industry, and it focuses a lot on.
Stephan Abrams:And the Japanese auto industry and what the Japanese auto industry had to do to overcome, to build itself up after world Wari.
Stephan Abrams:Mm-hmm.
Stephan Abrams:. And for a while, MacArthur was over there.
Stephan Abrams:He was leading, he was running the country.
Stephan Abrams:Right.
Stephan Abrams:And if they wanted something, the, you know, these business people, they had to go to him for approval.
Stephan Abrams:, That's awesome.
Stephan Abrams:Until they could be sustainable.
Stephan Abrams:I mean, at one point they weren't allowed to build planes.
Stephan Abrams:Wow.
Stephan Abrams:Yeah.
Stephan Abrams:and it, and I'm getting into how they came over here to the US to learn the processes to make their process better, but then they took their culture and added to it to make it continually better.
Stephan Abrams:Yeah.
Stephan Abrams:Saying.
Stephan Abrams:We can make it better.
Stephan Abrams:And it's that kaza and yeah, you get into the fold, into the, the books, The Toyota way about that.
Stephan Abrams:Kaizen, thinking.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah, no, I love that.
Hayden Hatfield:yeah, read a book too, I can't remember which one it is.
Hayden Hatfield:It was one of the, I read a few this summer and it was in there and I was like, Wow, that's something we've gotta utilize and get into our culture.
Hayden Hatfield:And, I've always, you know, preached about the process, but.
Hayden Hatfield:Now we have a different word for it.
Hayden Hatfield:that's something that, you know, we can go in a different direction with.
Hayden Hatfield:And
Stephan Abrams:considering you're teaching high school students, you have an opportunity on the court to mold these students and teach some of these things.
Stephan Abrams:What about the kids who might not be involved in athletics?
Stephan Abrams:Because it's not.
Stephan Abrams:Ability, their natural ability, what resources are out there for them to have some of the same thinking process, to apply it to other things that they're doing in life, or you know, even if it's on the robotics club or the Speech and Debate club, or even if they're not a part of any of that stuff.
Stephan Abrams:How do you all as teacher, access those kids and teach them
Hayden Hatfield:that information.
Hayden Hatfield:Right.
Hayden Hatfield:Well, I, I think the number one thing, the high school does a really good job of including everybody in something.
Hayden Hatfield:Oh, we have, we have so many clubs, so many, activities that are just outside of sports.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, there's a United Nations Club.
Hayden Hatfield:There's, obviously you said robotics, theater, dance.
Hayden Hatfield:there's so many activities that, kids can get involved in and there's so many good mentors in this school too, that just outside of sports that, you know, have lived really interesting lives.
Hayden Hatfield:and that really just have a lot of good input.
Hayden Hatfield:like, you know, Jackson Hole in general is just a really good melting pot of guy.
Hayden Hatfield:People have had experie.
Hayden Hatfield:, and you can definitely tell that here at the high school, there's so many people that just want to help out learn, and just start lifelong learners that can teach these kids how to be that, you know, kind of mentor to them.
Hayden Hatfield:And
Stephan Abrams:it, it's great that the high school has that.
Stephan Abrams:At what stage?
Stephan Abrams:The grades below high school be exposed to some of those organizations?
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah, no, I mean, so that's, I, I see it firsthand at the high school, but I hear the middle school too has a ton, ton of resources.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, for me, we have, you know, middle school athletics too.
Hayden Hatfield:So just using what I see as an example, we have middle school athletics.
Hayden Hatfield:And we have middle school basketball, but there's also, like, you know, in fifth and sixth grade, they have the opportunity to go and, have, I think it's before school.
Hayden Hatfield:They have, basketball, just open gym where there's teachers that go, let them play, get exposed to things like that.
Hayden Hatfield:I'm sure it's the other way in all programs, but I see a basketball specifically mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:that there's just tons of opportunities for kids.
Hayden Hatfield:and I, I think that's where it really starts at that middle school age is when they're trying to figure out what, what do we like?
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, what, what are we gonna get into?
Hayden Hatfield:And so that's really good age to have a lot of opportunities just outside of the, the Normalities I would say.
Hayden Hatfield:Like middle school basketball is a normal thing across the country, but having them in fifth and sixth grade that they can go play in the morning and just kinda get exposed to it and have fun, that's huge.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah,
Stephan Abrams:for sure.
Stephan Abrams:I, I remember as a, you know, I grew up in a small town in Mississippi.
Stephan Abrams:You know, I was odd man.
Stephan Abrams:Now I was a Jewish kid, but the, the Southern Baptist Church, the first Baptist church was the dominant force in that town, and they had a gym.
Stephan Abrams:And you know what?
Stephan Abrams:After school, that's where you would go.
Stephan Abrams:Not because you were told to go there, but because that's where everybody was hanging out and playing basketball or they had ping pong tables and pool tables.
Stephan Abrams:It was phenomenal.
Stephan Abrams:to see what was there.
Stephan Abrams:the, the opportunities just to be able to
Hayden Hatfield:play.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah, exactly.
Hayden Hatfield:And then the other thing here is, you know, out, most of other places in the country don't have the ski programs like we do.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm.
Hayden Hatfield:I mean, we have so many kids in the ski programs and that's, that's really cool.
Hayden Hatfield:that's something that you don't get experience everywhere else.
Hayden Hatfield:That's true.
Stephan Abrams:Where is the basketball program now compared to where it was when you first started?
Hayden Hatfield:Hayden?
Hayden Hatfield:. Well, culturally, it's, it's a long process to build, right?
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:we've, we've come so far.
Hayden Hatfield:we'll just start out with that.
Hayden Hatfield:We've come so far to, you know, getting competitive.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, for those of you that don't really know, Jacksonville High school's, you know, in some sports were for.
Hayden Hatfield:which is the highest classification in Wyoming for sports.
Hayden Hatfield:and some were three a, basketball.
Hayden Hatfield:We are four A.
Hayden Hatfield:so we compete against, you know, the Cheyennes, the Laramies, all the Sheridans, Gillette, the big, the big big schools in the state.
Hayden Hatfield:And so we've struggled.
Hayden Hatfield:We got to four A in basketball in 2014 or 15, and.
Hayden Hatfield:They had not, we have not had a winning record since 2010.
Hayden Hatfield:so it's been a long time since we've had a winning record.
Hayden Hatfield:and last year, our first year as a staff, we came in and we were one win short of ha having a winning record.
Hayden Hatfield:so, you know, before we got here as a staff, we were one in 40 in two years, and last year I think we went 10 and 11.
Hayden Hatfield:Wow.
Hayden Hatfield:So it's, it's, it's turning around.
Hayden Hatfield:and, you know, going into this season, You know, we're, we're expected to be really good.
Hayden Hatfield:just a couple of days ago, we had an article come out, and it's a na, National Media type deal.
Hayden Hatfield:and our, one of our players, our really good player, was named the best player in the state of Wyoming as a junior.
Hayden Hatfield:So, Congrats.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah, so he's, just that kind of stuff.
Hayden Hatfield:He's, you know, not just him, but everybody's worked really hard to get where we're.
Hayden Hatfield:and
Stephan Abrams:with everybody working so hard to get where, where you're going.
Stephan Abrams:what's the difference of competitiveness that's coming out of some of these bigger schools compared to Jackson competing
Hayden Hatfield:at that foray?
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:So, student-wise we're, you know, we're about, I think I we're near a thousand at the high school.
Hayden Hatfield:some of these schools are playing are about 15.
Hayden Hatfield:so they got a lot more, in general the ideas.
Hayden Hatfield:They have a lot more kids to choose from.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:but you know, us, I think the next step for us is just building year on, year in and year out from the middle school level.
Hayden Hatfield:getting kids involved early on and, getting them kinda acclimated to what basketball is.
Hayden Hatfield:not just like specifically making them basketball only kids, but, you know, introducing the game at a younger.
Hayden Hatfield:that's what I can see.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, a really good, really, really good class right now is our junior class.
Hayden Hatfield:and what they had was they had parents that took them everywhere, even from like the middle school ages just to play against really good competition.
Hayden Hatfield:Hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:and that's something we don't have here.
Hayden Hatfield:I slated in, you know, Western Wyoming is a lot of competition.
Hayden Hatfield:We could just go to and play, you know, we have to go to Salt Lake, Denver.
Hayden Hatfield:Idaho Falls would be the closest place to where we have to go to play, you know, basketball games.
Hayden Hatfield:so like, you know, in Atlanta you could go down the street right here, you have to go two and a half hours to, you know, play a basketball game.
Hayden Hatfield:So that's the biggest difference for us is just getting people bought in to what we're doing and, giving kids opportunities to get better at it would be my set.
Stephan Abrams:That's awesome.
Stephan Abrams:Hey Hayden, we gotta take a quick break to get a word from one of our sponsors, and then we're gonna be right back to talk to you, about the basketball program and what you're doing over there with the students.
Hayden Hatfield:Thanks, Stephan.
Stephan Abrams:Hayden, welcome back to the Jackson Hole connection.
Stephan Abrams:you just shared with us the successful progression that you've had with the basketball program.
Stephan Abrams:And I'm, I'm curious to know what's the commitment for parents, and then what's the commitment and time spent with you and and how many coaches do you have?
Stephan Abrams:Yeah, A high school
Hayden Hatfield:level first, uh, coaches at the high school level, I have three assistants.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, we got a varsity assistant, uh, and we have a JV coach and a freshman.
Hayden Hatfield:and then we have a, you know, a lot of guys that just help out volunteering, volunteering their time cause they wanna be involved.
Hayden Hatfield:Uhhuh, um, we have two or three other guys that are gonna volunteer and help us this year,, just on their own time, just cuz they wanna, you know, help out, teach the kids and, be more involved in the game.
Hayden Hatfield:So, we have plenty of help.
Hayden Hatfield:That's, that's, that's something that's changed since we've been here too.
Hayden Hatfield:I've seen a lot more people willing to help, as we've been growing a culture.
Hayden Hatfield:getting a little better too.
Hayden Hatfield:So, commitment wise kids, you know, right now our players, I told 'em the other day, they have opportunities about 360 days a year, if they want to get better at basketball.
Hayden Hatfield:that's just how, you know, we see it, as coaches that if we open the gym on these days, let them come in and just shoot, play against each other.
Hayden Hatfield:they're getting.
Hayden Hatfield:Every day.
Hayden Hatfield:So, uh, we try to give 'em as much opportunities as we can.
Hayden Hatfield:and so, obviously no one comes in 360 days a year, but if you come in half of those days, wow, you're gonna get a lot better really quick.
Hayden Hatfield:and that's what we've seen in a lot of players.
Hayden Hatfield:so that's the player commitment, you know, it's just, it's up to you.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, we can't mandate anything here in Wyoming playing, you know, days come in practice over the summer, nothing.
Hayden Hatfield:It's all.
Hayden Hatfield:do some
Stephan Abrams:states do that?
Hayden Hatfield:Absolutely.
Hayden Hatfield:Uh, really, you know, Georgia, where I was, you know, we had tryouts in April, for the next fall.
Hayden Hatfield:And you were required to come in all summer.
Hayden Hatfield:All summer.
Hayden Hatfield:You had to play.
Hayden Hatfield:it was team.
Hayden Hatfield:If you didn't, you know, we could cut you.
Hayden Hatfield:state of Wyoming, you know, we, we don't have tryout still after Thanksgiving.
Hayden Hatfield:and so everything has to be optional.
Hayden Hatfield:over the summer, over the spring.
Hayden Hatfield:So, yeah, it's a lot different.
Hayden Hatfield:It's something I've had to adjust to, as a coach just trying to figure out, alright, what's the best system we have here?
Hayden Hatfield:What can we do?
Hayden Hatfield:What can we, you know, best utilize our time with these players?
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:then parent-wise, you know, that's, it's a huge commitment playing any sport here.
Hayden Hatfield:just because of the travel.
Hayden Hatfield:I know every sport, soccer has to go to Casper a lot to play soccer, have to go to salt.
Hayden Hatfield:for us, in the spring and summer we, we try to travel as much as we can.
Hayden Hatfield:We've done Salt Lake, we've done Idaho Falls a ton.
Hayden Hatfield:and the next summer we're trying to expand even more just cuz we're getting really good.
Hayden Hatfield:We gotta see what we can compete with out there.
Hayden Hatfield:Um, so we hope to go to Denver, have a lot of team camps in Denver this next summer.
Hayden Hatfield:And, just trying to see what kind of competitive basketball team we.
Hayden Hatfield:but yeah, parent-wise it's a huge commitment, just travel-wise, you know, that's not cheap to travel places either.
Hayden Hatfield:so it's, it's a huge, huge, task on the parents as well.
Stephan Abrams:Yeah, I mean, what did a major financial, not just time commitment from having to take off work, but gosh, the financial commitment from, you've taken off work and then you gotta pay for the travel and the meals.
Stephan Abrams:Right.
Stephan Abrams:And the hotel and my
Hayden Hatfield:gosh.
Hayden Hatfield:It adds up quick.
Hayden Hatfield:And, I will say the one thing that has really helped us as a program, we have Jackson Youth Basketball here, and that's kind of what we do our travel season through in, spring and summer.
Hayden Hatfield:and so they have, you know, it's a non-profit organization so they can help out anybody who can't afford to, you know, buy the jerseys or buy, you know, get the entrance.
Hayden Hatfield:tournaments we go to, they help out, scholarship wise, letting kids have access to the sport.
Hayden Hatfield:And we have a lot of parents through that org organization too, that, will take the kids.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, we have some parents that'll take four or five kids on the road with 'em for the weekend.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, which helps out a ton.
Stephan Abrams:It's very generous of of them.
Stephan Abrams:It, it just shows that it takes.
Stephan Abrams:a dedicated community to survive out here.
Stephan Abrams:I mean, absolutely.
Stephan Abrams:It's such a remote area.
Stephan Abrams:It's just like what you said, Hey, in, in Atlanta you just drive down the street.
Stephan Abrams:It's 10, 15 minutes, maybe a few miles.
Stephan Abrams:But here you're talking about a
Hayden Hatfield:full day travel.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:And that's, one of the first statements I had when we got here, was that it's not gonna take a coach, it's not gonna take a team.
Hayden Hatfield:It's gonna take a whole community if we really want to build something.
Hayden Hatfield:in the state of Wyoming, just cuz, cuz of the commitment levels.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:so it's, it really does take a whole community buying into what we're doing to become the best we can.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:. And
Stephan Abrams:as the performance on the, on the court has been improving, what do you see that translating into the students grades and participation in class and the community?
Hayden Hatfield:Absolutely.
Hayden Hatfield:No, I, I think.
Hayden Hatfield:Athletics is a huge part of student success in the classroom as well.
Hayden Hatfield:Uh, we're fortunate enough to have a few kids that, you know, we'll probably be able to go play at the next level.
Hayden Hatfield:and that's not because just of their basketball building, but because there's such good students as well.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, I mean, we've got kids that could play at the next row, three, five to four oh, GPAs.
Hayden Hatfield:and that's huge, especially in a community like this where.
Hayden Hatfield:You got kids that are good enough to play at Division three schools, which those are all academic scholarships, right?
Hayden Hatfield:but it is definitely a benefit to be able to play basketball too, and that gets you in a little easier, if you play.
Hayden Hatfield:So, academically, we're a very high, very high functioning high school.
Hayden Hatfield:we got a lot of good kids.
Hayden Hatfield:There's not a kid of my roster that I worry about.
Hayden Hatfield:They just are so bought into the aspect of, you know, this is how we get to college.
Hayden Hatfield:this is, you know, even if they don't wanna go to college, this is, this is how I get the best job opportunities outside of high school.
Hayden Hatfield:that's one thing.
Hayden Hatfield:As a coach, I've really, really come to appreciate a place like, this is something I don't have to worry about as a coach.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, they're so motivated and just love, they love the school.
Hayden Hatfield:I think it's, it's really easy on me to.
Hayden Hatfield:, how
Stephan Abrams:do you translate their success and involvement in the team to having a strong, supportive job when they get out of high school?
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:No, I think that's, that's a really good question.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, for every kid, the motivation's different.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:You know, some really do wanna go play college basketball.
Hayden Hatfield:and if that's the dream, that's the one thing as a coach, I know if that's, if they tell me us what they wanna do, I've got 'em right there.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, I've got 'em right there as a player.
Hayden Hatfield:I can hold that against them.
Hayden Hatfield:You know, You, you, you're not coming to workouts over the summer.
Hayden Hatfield:Well, how, how do you think you're gonna play college?
Hayden Hatfield:Basketball, man.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:just big motivation.
Hayden Hatfield:Like, as soon as they say that, I know I've got them and, you know, usually they're successful because, Once you figure out what their reason is and what they wanna do with it, that's how you hold them accountable and get them in the right direction, academically too.
Hayden Hatfield:we have strong, strong eligibility rules here.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, if the kid's failing, we won't let them play basketball.
Hayden Hatfield:they gotta get that grade up for their eligible to play.
Hayden Hatfield:that, you know, I've never had to use that since I've been here.
Hayden Hatfield:But, I hope I, you know, knock on wood, I hope I don't.
Hayden Hatfield:That's another accountability factor is just, you wanna play basketball, get it done in the classroom first.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, Stephan Abrams: I went to Alabama and there, there was a story.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:And there was a story about, my aunt or my dad needing help with something and with a class, and they needed help and the comment.
Hayden Hatfield:Whatever the bear wants.
Hayden Hatfield:The bear gets.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:. So basically what they were saying is go to the football dorm and whatever information you need to be successful to pass your test, you
Hayden Hatfield:can find it there.
Hayden Hatfield:He's got it.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Stephan Abrams:And I think that, that, that's college, but even in high school, I, I feel that at one point that was pretty prevalent.
Stephan Abrams:If the coaches wanted a star player to play, that player was gonna play whether they were passing or failing.
Stephan Abrams:But on paper it looked like that they were
Hayden Hatfield:passing.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:Oh, for sure.
Hayden Hatfield:And that's, you know, there's definitely people that do that for sure.
Hayden Hatfield:that's, that's how some people operate.
Hayden Hatfield:we're not gonna, That's still happening here in the us.
Hayden Hatfield:Absolutely.
Hayden Hatfield:A hundred percent.
Hayden Hatfield:That's a shame.
Hayden Hatfield:It is.
Hayden Hatfield:Absolutely.
Hayden Hatfield:that's not how we're gonna operate it, you know.
Hayden Hatfield:we're really just really concerned.
Hayden Hatfield:The kids' success.
Hayden Hatfield:If, if we give 'em a break there, what's he gonna get a break with next?
Hayden Hatfield:we don't want, we don't wanna start going down that path.
Stephan Abrams:Now, do you talk about that in a value sense with your students and your players?
Stephan Abrams:Because to me, just talking to you, that sounds like it would go against the values that you have for being a, a coach and a.
Hayden Hatfield:Right.
Hayden Hatfield:No, I mean, you know, the, the easy example is it's, it comes back to discipline.
Hayden Hatfield:you've got the easy way out over here on your left hand, right?
Hayden Hatfield:Easy way out.
Hayden Hatfield:I could go, for example, my weight loss.
Hayden Hatfield:I've got a, you know, a cake sitting on that counter right there.
Hayden Hatfield:I mean, I know I want to eat it, right?
Hayden Hatfield:but I know if I wanna lose that two pounds over the week or two weeks, I can't eat.
Hayden Hatfield:and on the right hand, you know, I know it's right not to eat that thing.
Hayden Hatfield:I know I can't, you know, if I wanna stay on progress, I gotta do the right thing, stay disciplined, and, you know, not eat the cake.
Hayden Hatfield:Now I got two choices.
Hayden Hatfield:Which one do I make?
Hayden Hatfield:Easy way out usually is one that's gonna hurt you.
Hayden Hatfield:the hard way is on that right hand where you know, Alright, I'm gonna stay disciplined.
Hayden Hatfield:I'm gonna not eat that piece of cake in two weeks.
Hayden Hatfield:I'll, you know, see the progress.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:. So that's kind of, you know, it's a long, it's a long process in discipline, but that's kind of how we hold our values to it
Stephan Abrams:now, kids today compared to kids, when you first started coaching, maybe when you were in that high school in Atlanta, which is not very long ago.
Stephan Abrams:Yeah.
Stephan Abrams:And that was pre covid, correct?
Stephan Abrams:Correct.
Stephan Abrams:And, and I don't wanna put everything on Covid.
Stephan Abrams:I mean, Right.
Stephan Abrams:People just change over time.
Stephan Abrams:Society changes over.
Stephan Abrams:What's the difference of, or even when you were early in college and working at some of those camps, what's the difference of what you saw then to where, what you
Hayden Hatfield:see now?
Hayden Hatfield:you know, we can even go back.
Hayden Hatfield:I, I graduated high school in 2013.
Hayden Hatfield:Okay.
Hayden Hatfield:So, even use our high school as an example.
Hayden Hatfield:I'd say, you know, when I was in high school, uh, we were very, very lucky, to.
Hayden Hatfield:Things like basketball to keep hold us in place.
Hayden Hatfield:Covid obviously changed that they didn't have sports for two years.
Hayden Hatfield:and I think some accountability lacked because of that.
Hayden Hatfield:But, I just see commitment levels being harder and harder these days, committed to a, a calls or a committed to a, uh, you know, what you're doing.
Hayden Hatfield:and I can, I can trace that back to basketball or academics.
Hayden Hatfield:And I don't know, it might be Covid.
Hayden Hatfield:it might, it might not.
Hayden Hatfield:It might just be, kids have so many opportunities these days to do whatever they want.
Hayden Hatfield:especially since I was in high school, and especially in a place like this in Jackson Hole, that we have so many things to offer that not a lot of places have.
Hayden Hatfield:so it's different that I see here.
Hayden Hatfield:there's just so many ways that are pulling kids to do.
Hayden Hatfield:so it's hard to get a commitment to doing one thing really well.
Hayden Hatfield:and I'm not saying that's the way to do things.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, if you wanna be good at a few things, a hundred percent do it.
Hayden Hatfield:but I see that as like, you know, when I was in high school, we had one goal and it was to be the best as an athlete, be the best basketball player we could be.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:. Um, so that's why I see the difference is it's just, you know, there's so many different things these days, and to be honest, the social media aspect.
Hayden Hatfield:um, has changed everything.
Hayden Hatfield:I think.
Hayden Hatfield:It's, it just pulls kids in so many different directions.
Hayden Hatfield:and to be honest, just, health wise, I don't see it helping us as a community, social media.
Hayden Hatfield:it kinda, it's, it's definitely changed since we were in high.
Hayden Hatfield:I, I was in high school.
Hayden Hatfield:let's just,
Stephan Abrams:I agree with you on that.
Stephan Abrams:And for me, we will keep our kids out of having their own devices for as long as possible.
Stephan Abrams:Like for example, I told somebody last week that my kids get to watch TV twice a week, . And they said, Well, do they know how to play Angry Birds?
Stephan Abrams:It's like, not that I'm aware of.
Stephan Abrams:I've never given.
Stephan Abrams:A device to say, Go play Angry Birds.
Stephan Abrams:Right.
Stephan Abrams:and my kids are nine and six and I'm not digging on anybody No.
Stephan Abrams:In any way.
Stephan Abrams:But that's just what my wife and I've how we've chosen to, to raise our kids.
Hayden Hatfield:Totally.
Hayden Hatfield:I mean, I think the saddest thing is the, in the world is when you go out to dinner somewhere ah, and, and you see a whole family, a, a kid that's probably, we'll say four or five on their iPad playing.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm.
Hayden Hatfield:then the older sister, you know, over there on her phone, and then the parents doing the same thing.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, uh, not just kids.
Hayden Hatfield:It's not just kids these days, It's, you know, it's not, they see us doing it as well.
Hayden Hatfield:and so I think that's part of it as well.
Stephan Abrams:That's sad.
Stephan Abrams:It's also sad.
Stephan Abrams:My wife and I go out, we're we're fortunate enough to get a sitter and go out on a date and have dinner together, and you see two adults out there.
Stephan Abrams:They're on a date and they're on their devices versus talking to each.
Hayden Hatfield:I know.
Hayden Hatfield:it's a, it's a downfall for sure.
Hayden Hatfield:I don't know how we get out of it though.
Hayden Hatfield:It's so addicting.
Hayden Hatfield:that's, I think the problem with the youth, and I see it as that way is like, you know, while the kids' brains are developing, this is what they're used to.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, what's it gonna look like in 10 years?
Stephan Abrams:Well, I'm gonna flip one of your statements back to you when you said, how do we get out of it, because you just said discipline and used the example of the cake.
Stephan Abrams:What's.
Stephan Abrams:It's easy to go eat the cake.
Stephan Abrams:You might not see the results immediately, but down the road you are gonna see the results that's gonna hurt you.
Stephan Abrams:Same thing with using those devices.
Stephan Abrams:It's discipline to say, I'm putting it
Hayden Hatfield:away.
Hayden Hatfield:Right?
Hayden Hatfield:And I, I don't know all the psychological things behind it, but there's gotta be something psychological about the addiction to the phone, to the social media.
Hayden Hatfield:Is it doable?
Hayden Hatfield:That's the other thing I, I worry about is, is it doable through discipline?
Hayden Hatfield:I don't know the.
Hayden Hatfield:I'm not smart enough.
Hayden Hatfield:That's over my pay grade.
Stephan Abrams:I'm not a specialist either to comment on that, but I think anytime you're trying to overcome a, an addiction, and that's what it is, it comes down to discipline.
Stephan Abrams:Yeah.
Stephan Abrams:it's just if you're addicted to cigarettes, you have to find something new to fill that time.
Stephan Abrams:You gave a quote earlier.
Stephan Abrams:Learning or, or failing.
Stephan Abrams:I don't remember what it was.
Stephan Abrams:Yeah.
Stephan Abrams:But it, it was, it's the same thing.
Stephan Abrams:You have to find
Hayden Hatfield:something else.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:You gotta do what you gotta do when you need to do it.
Hayden Hatfield:That's right.
Hayden Hatfield:That's right.
Hayden Hatfield:Take the hard route.
Stephan Abrams:So the basketball program, are you guys
Hayden Hatfield:in season right now?
Hayden Hatfield:We are not.
Hayden Hatfield:So we start, we start tryouts and practice the week after Thanksgiving.
Hayden Hatfield:Okay.
Hayden Hatfield:and we go to our first tournament December 8th in.
Hayden Hatfield:So, uh, we get going pretty quick once practice starts.
Hayden Hatfield:And
Stephan Abrams:even though you can't require students to show up to early season practice, can you offer voluntary, clinics, let's say for these students, Hey, it's not required, but if you want to be great at your team, this is what I'm offering and this is where I'll be and
Hayden Hatfield:when, 100%.
Hayden Hatfield:Um, and that's kind of why I said earlier.
Hayden Hatfield:You know, we have opportunities 360 days a year basically.
Hayden Hatfield:we let the kids, they can text us.
Hayden Hatfield:We set up times, just to get them in the gym.
Hayden Hatfield:we're very fortunate we got like shooting guns.
Hayden Hatfield:I don't know if a lot of people don't know what these are.
Hayden Hatfield:What is a shooting gun?
Hayden Hatfield:Exactly.
Hayden Hatfield:It doesn't sound good, but it's uh, it's a basketball machine that has a big net you put around the goal, and it just feeds you balls constant.
Hayden Hatfield:So we've got kids that come in throughout the summer, throughout the spring that they can make 403 pointers, in about an hour, um, just on this shooting gun.
Hayden Hatfield:it's such a good technology that, you know, really translates to games too, is just shooting reps.
Hayden Hatfield:Uh, that's what we preach to our guys.
Hayden Hatfield:You're gonna be a better shooter the more times you do it.
Hayden Hatfield:So we have like a 5,000 made three pointers club, a 10,000, a 20,000.
Hayden Hatfield:Made three pointers club, and it's, it's kind of an incentive for, hey, you guys come in, you know?
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, you know, and I think this is the year too, that, our theory will be proven, the shooting reps thing will be proven.
Hayden Hatfield:right now we're just telling 'em, and they haven't seen it in action yet, But I think once this season happens, we'll have, you know, three of the four or five best shooters in the state.
Hayden Hatfield:and, uh, our, our theory will be proven true.
Hayden Hatfield:So I think it'll, it'll.
Hayden Hatfield:, we, we'll get a lot more commitment after this season, I think, shooting wise.
Hayden Hatfield:That's
Stephan Abrams:right.
Stephan Abrams:People, people remember all the shots Jordan made, made, they don't remember all the shots that he missed or see all the shots that he missed in practice, especially when he was
Hayden Hatfield:a kid.
Hayden Hatfield:Yep, that's exactly right.
Hayden Hatfield:You know, and that's what we preach is just, you know, it's a, it's a made three-pointers club.
Hayden Hatfield:It's not how much you shoot.
Hayden Hatfield:it doesn't count if it doesn't go in, so.
Hayden Hatfield:Mm-hmm.
Hayden Hatfield:, we want as many makes as we can, and it's just muscle.
Hayden Hatfield:as a game, but like most sports is muscle memory.
Hayden Hatfield:The more times you do something, the better you're gonna be at it.
Hayden Hatfield:can't remember.
Hayden Hatfield:I think it's Gladwell has the 10,000 hours theory.
Hayden Hatfield:And so ours is 10,000 made shots.
Hayden Hatfield:and we'll see, you know, I think the, I think the theory will be proven true this, this season.
Hayden Hatfield:That's
Stephan Abrams:great.
Stephan Abrams:Well, Hayden, thank you for what you're doing at our high school and for the students.
Stephan Abrams:for all of those students to help them learn how to study, how to take notes, how to, the importance of turning in their homework.
Stephan Abrams:Cuz when we get people that come to to work for me and they say, Yeah, I'm gonna come show up to work.
Stephan Abrams:We hired some high school kids this summer and out of a three week period they showed up for three shifts.
Stephan Abrams:Yeah.
Stephan Abrams:And they were supposed to be working three days.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah, I know that's, that's the time we live in too.
Hayden Hatfield:It's just, it's a little different than, you know, when we grew up, you know, And it, it's also the shortage of workers too.
Hayden Hatfield:, they kind of learn too that they can do that a little right now.
Hayden Hatfield:Cause everyone needs workers.
Hayden Hatfield:well they, they weren't working
Stephan Abrams:anywhere else.
Stephan Abrams:They just weren't showing
Hayden Hatfield:up.
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah, I know.
Hayden Hatfield:So that's, it's something we're dealing with.
Hayden Hatfield:I think everyone's dealing with it too.
Hayden Hatfield:So, We're trying our best here at the high school to to teach them the right ways.
Stephan Abrams:That's awesome, and I appreciate
Hayden Hatfield:it, Hayden.
Hayden Hatfield:Thank you.
Hayden Hatfield:Thank you, Stephan.
Hayden Hatfield:Thanks for having me, man.
Stephan Abrams:And if somebody wants to reach out and connect with you, what's the best way that they can do that, Hayden?
Hayden Hatfield:Absolutely.
Hayden Hatfield:I, I, I give my phone number out to everybody.
Hayden Hatfield:you know, don't have any worries if I, I love to connect with everybody in the community.
Hayden Hatfield:So, you know, my cell phone number is, two five.
Hayden Hatfield:6 1 6 3 0, 4, 3.
Hayden Hatfield:Uh, you can just shoot me a text or a call and love to connect and kind of, you know, see how we can help you and how you can help us and just build a community of, you know, basketball and high school as well.
Stephan Abrams:I love it.
Stephan Abrams:And just build a community of involved people
Hayden Hatfield:in general, you know?
Hayden Hatfield:Yeah.
Hayden Hatfield:Love to learn, love to learn anything.
Hayden Hatfield:You know, I, I think the best, you know, characteristic anybody can have is being a lifelong learner of everyth.
Hayden Hatfield:just never stop wanting to learn.
Hayden Hatfield:I'm in
Hayden Hatfield:. Stephan Abrams: I love it.
Hayden Hatfield:I'm doing it.
Hayden Hatfield:Thanks Hayden.
Hayden Hatfield:Well go enjoy your day and keep making a positive impact on those students.
Hayden Hatfield:I appreciate it.
Hayden Hatfield:Thanks, Stephen.
Hayden Hatfield:Same to you man.
Hayden Hatfield:Thank
Hayden Hatfield:you.
Stephan Abrams:To learn more about Hayden visit the Jackson hole connection.com, episode number 214.
Stephan Abrams:Thank you everyone for listening and tuning in today.
Stephan Abrams:I really appreciate your time.
Stephan Abrams:Get out there and share this podcast so other people can enjoy.
Stephan Abrams:The stories and connections that you're making through listening to, people's real stories and Facebook, Instagram, all of those channels.
Stephan Abrams:Thank you Michael, for doing the editing and marketing every single episode.
Stephan Abrams:And of course to my wife Laura and my boys Lewis and William, who are silly.
Stephan Abrams:Willies thank you for sharing your, With me today in Cheers.
Stephan Abrams:Till next week when I see you.
