Marion's Corby Laube wears purple for his dad

DES MOINES — Sports superstitions are typical among most teams.

Some have a lucky pair of socks, some a special routine they must undergo every game day, and some even have foods they must eat in order for their team to succeed.

Others — like Marion girls' basketball coach Corby Laube — have a special shirt they wear.

'He wore it for the Alzheimers awareness game a few weeks ago,' said Mia Laube, sophomore starter for the Indians and Corby's daughter. 'He wore it again when we played North Scott and qualified for state, then he wore it again for first round. My mom has to iron that shirt a lot.'

The violet shirt is not only a superstition, but a tribute to his father.

'My dad has dementia,' Corby said, 'and one of the colors for dementia and Alzheimers awareness is purple. We had an awareness game a few weeks back for Alzheimers/dementia awareness, and I wore it then because it was purple themed.'

The pattern of wearing the lucky shirt and winning continued, not hard to do with a group of such talented girls. But when it came time for the state tournament, Coach Laube thought it would be comforting to wear it again.

'My dad was a huge basketball fan,' Corby said. 'He coached me when I was growing up. This was his favorite sport. The fact that he can't be here now and be a part of it, I just thought (the shirt) was a nice way for me to honor him and feel like he was going through it with me.'

With the support of a few other members of his family — his mom and two sisters attended the game on Wednesday and more family plans to be there today when Marion plays Pella in the Class 4A semifinals — it's obvious

the Laube family is a tightly knit one.

'I know he's very close with his dad and his family overall,' said assistant head coach Pete Messerli. 'I've had the pleasure to get to know his dad over the years, both playing for him and coaching with him. Wearing the shirt and having the awareness night and fundraiser, which a lot of people contributed to behind the scenes, is pretty cool.

'Hopefully he gets two more wins out of that shirt.'

Although the girls and coaches are focused on today's game — and still celebrating a bit from their 46-38 win against two time champs Harlan — Coach Laube still has moments of thinking about his dad.

'He was kind of my coach growing up,' Corby said. 'Kind of similar to me and Mia a little bit. I played basketball in college, and they (my parents) never missed a single game no matter if it was in California or Idaho, wherever. This is the thing we kind of shared, sports.'

And as things pan out, Coach Laube's daughter enjoys the time spent with her father as her coach, too.

'It's a very special experience when family, the most important thing, is involved in your sports as well,' Mia said. 'We get to spend extra time together and build this sort of trust. My dad is my biggest advocate on the court, and in life.'

Whether or not the girls pull out a win today, the lucky purple shirt remains.

'For me it's hard not having him in this because he would be so into it,' Coach Laube said. 'It is sad, but you look at what you can control. This is just one small way to let people know that 'hey, don't forget about my dad.' It's kind of perspective: at the end of the day this is really fun, but it's a game.

'At the end of the day, your family, friends and the relationships that you have with these people is the most important thing.'