Peterson’s youth dominate in regular season Published Jan. 13, 2009 By Walt Johnson CSMNG PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The Peterson youth traveling basketball team blazed through its regular season with a perfect 33-0 record last season prior to the Midwest regional playoffs. The team has gotten off to a 10-0 start this season and shows signs of being just as successful this year as it was last year. Measuring success for this team by looking at its won and loss record would be a huge mistake because if this team was 0-33 last year and 0-10 to begin this year you could make a case that it would still be one of the most successful teams ever. When the Peterson youth traveling team was put together four years ago by Jay Cates, he had one goal in mind, get the Peterson youth ready for the competitive level of play kids face when they enter junior and senior high school competition. The results of the program can be measured, Cates said, when you consider that of the players now playing in junior high school they are in the top three players on their team. Second, Cates said he is trying to get young men who understand the value of being solid citizens away from the basketball court and to that end holds them accountable for getting good grades in the class room if they want to play on the basketball court. Just as important is the life lesson Cates has been able to teach the young men as he battled cancer last year while leading his team to its regular season 33-0 record. Watching their coach put up such a courageous battle while still being there for them is a success story that 30 years from now will still be bearing fruit as the young men understand "nothing is too hard to overcome," according to Cates. Cates said he started the traveling team about four years ago because he went to one of the Southern Colorado basketball tournaments, saw what they were doing and thought Peterson's kids would benefit from this program and prepare them more for when they go to junior and senior high school. He said the support he has gotten from the Peterson community has been invaluable to the children as they represent the base in the community. "Every year since we have played in the league we have finished either first or second. I have to credit the youth center for investing the time in the kids and allowing us to practice at the facility, I have to credit the parents who give me the time to work with their children to help them improve and, of course, the players. They have come to be just like my own sons to me and they work hard and they make me work hard," Cates said. "I really started this team to prepare our kids for the programs they will see off base. Usually in the sports programs here they play for fun and to help kids learn about the game. The only problem is if kids only see the fun side of the game when they get to junior and senior high school and have to play competitively they aren't as ready as they can be. In my eye, they were being sheltered to the competitive side of athletics and I wanted to expose them to the competitive aspects of the game," Cates added. Cates said he is proud his program is laying a good foundation for the young people. He said he feels certain the program is making them responsible young men in sports and all areas of life. He said he is always checking their grades to make sure they are performing in the class room. He said his policy is if the grades aren't there they will answer to him about it and they will work together to emphasize how important school is. Cates said his coaching role models helped prepare him for coaching and he feels what he is bringing to the youth will pay huge dividends in the future as it has paid off from the people that helped him. " I learned a lot in 1995 about coaching when I was active duty in Japan. I had a couple of chiefs who taught me the game. However, the biggest influence on me was my dad, Jimmy Cates. He coached me as a young boy when I was big into baseball. I think about the time he spent with me and I always knew I wanted to do the same thing when I was an adult and coach young people. I started coaching before my kids were old enough to play, but my dad actually prepared me to be a coach," Cates said. What no one could have taught Cates was how to handle the responsibility of coaching while also battling cancer. When Cates got the news last year that he had cancer, he never considered not coaching his team and never considered not fighting the condition with everything he had in him. These are the same lessons he teaches his kids and they got the most up close and personal view of what the coach has been teaching them. "One of the things the kids learned from watching me battle cancer last year while still coaching them was to never give up. On my sick weeks and when I wasn't feeling my best, I was still there working with the kids. I know sometimes it may have brought them down because they didn't want to see me sick. But for them to see me still getting up and getting out and working with them showed them in life no matter what you face, don't give up. I was on the court working with them and trying to run with them even as I went through chemotherapy. Sometimes the kids would tell me to go sit down and relax because they were concerned about my health." "I never told the kids they kept me going but they did. We were able to focus because when you get diagnosed with something like cancer it becomes an outlet for you. The team and basketball was my outlet and it made them stronger to see me not giving up. When we got to the games and I told them what we needed to do, they didn't even question it. They said if coach can come out here with what he is facing and not give up nothing is too much for us to do on the court," Cates said. Cates learned Jan. 8 that his last checkup showed no signs of the cancer still being present. The team is off to a 10-0 start on the season. Success can be measured in so many ways for this team.