First optimist game, unfortunately I couldn't make it because of a conflict with a varsity game. My personal playing time at varsity was less than ideal, and increased my frustrations in missing the girls first game. I feel like I let the girls down, which I definitely didn't want to do. But I did learn something about coaching from my experience on varsity. First and foremost be honest, the conversation with the player may be uncomfortable in the moment but at least they will know where they stand, how they can contribute, and what they need to work on instead of sitting on the bench questioning themselves. Secondly in order to have a successful team every member needs to feel valued. Each player may have varying skills and abilities but the coaches job is to put them in a position to be a contributing member whether its through leadership, scoring, defense, or attitude. Everyone has unique skills that when brought to bear can contribute to the success of the team. Your never going to have a team of Micheal Jordons who can do everything well, so the coach must put the pieces together to make a united team. Thirdly, setting expectations is important as well. Similar to the first point of being honest, a coach needs to communicate with each player where and how they fit in the group. If they are just meant to help push other players during training, and are told that, then the player won't be so upset when game time comes and they serve a reserved roll. To me the actual lack of playing time was not frustrating, instead it was the confusion and self doubt that came from it.
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About blogThis blog explains my experience coaching a youth optimist basketball team, while following me through an interesting season of high school basketball. I coached girls ages 8-10, from November 2014 to February 2015. |