Had a great last game. All the girls worked really hard, and seemed to all have fun. We had a party out in the meeting area after the game, where we had cupcakes and cookies. I gave out trophies and said something about each player when they received their award. Seemed like the parents enjoyed this aspect more than the players; all the players seemed a little embarrassed. We had a great last game, and I truly enjoyed the entire season. This was a useful learning experience for me and I know it will greatly help me with future coaching. I appreciated the acceptance that I felt from both the parents and the players, and will never forget the bonds that have been created. I hope that all these players are successful in all that they choose to pursue; basketball or not. Thank you to all the parents for your understanding attitudes through the goods and bads of my first coaching experience. I hope your girls got as much from me as I got from them.
Had a very relaxed, fun practice. But still incredibly productive; amazing how fast the go when playing a game. Got all money from parents for the bobble head trophies. Did numerous relays for fun, and all of the girls won prizes (partly because they all beat me in a relay, but also because I needed to get ride of my last prizes). Really excited for the final game on Saturday and the party afterwards.
Practice canceled due to school snow day!
Girls played well but the refs and other coach was frustrating. To start off this lovely 8:00 am Saturday, both of our refs were 30 minutes late, but I guess that happens. But then on top of that I had to deal with a very rude coach all game. Before each quarter we match each player up with a player on the opposing team. We make sure they know each others number, and that is who they will be guarding for the following quarter. So we would pair up our players, and then at the last second she would switch two of her players, completely disorienting my team. So I would switch them back. This caused a little bit of a confrontation but in the end my girls figured it out; no harm done. But then as we were playing this coach would tell one of her girls to run off the court, and 'hide' until my player lost them. Then the girl would proceed to coming in, wide open, and score with ease. Also, she would tell her players to sag off and stay in the paint. Now I will give her credit, this beat our picking offense, but my issue was that it was teaching her players the wrong way to play. When these girls get stronger and can make a basket other than a block shot, her players will have to learn the real way to play defense. Also, never will a player be able to get open by just going out of bounds and coming back in. It may sound like I am just mad because the other coach beat us, but what really frustrates me is that she is teaching those girls the wrong way to play basketball, but because they win it's ok. It's interesting that people would rather win with cheating, than lose but teach their players the correct way to play basketball. I guess its the way the some people work. Anyway.....still very happy with the effort that our team put in considering the odd circumstances.
Great practice but time flew by too fast. During our dribbling drills we sang songs, and dribbled to the beat. This added a little variety to our typical routine. Worked on getting through screens and spacing on defense because we struggled with that last game. Also explain rebounding more in depth and felt like they better understood the concept. Had to talk to Kacy and Sofia about being too physical during the scrimmage. Nothing too bad, I think they are both just very competitive and got caught up in the moment. I addressed it off to the side away from the team (eliminating any possibility of embarrassment for the players) and they both apologized to one another; nothing to worry about. Lizzy won the prize for best listener, which was very impressive because in the past she has struggled with focusing. I can see the growth that is occurring in all the players. Got all the signed video forms from parents and discussed trophies/end of the season party. They all seem very excited about it.
Good game today. We scored more than usual, but struggled with rebounding therefore the other team got too many second chance points.
Seemed like practice flowed more smoothly. We did games (line tag, bulldog) for warm up, which the girls seemed to enjoy. Prize today given away for encouragement (similar to talkative). Olivia and Kennedy won. I really liked the talking because it is persuading vocal leadership, but it is slightly distracting for some players and is occasionally too loud for me to talk over. Really focused this practice on being good sports because of last weeks game with the rude players. Didn't have to remind them about hustling this practice. Also, starting to plan end of the year party and possible trophies.
Much more consistent hustling and listening this practice. The prize tonight was for coach ability, Sofia won but it was a difficult decision because they all were paying attention and successfully implementing the information into the drills. But unfortunately I didn't feel like it was an extremely productive practice. I felt flustered because of the stress that I have been experiencing due to school. But now I realize that I can't let my business effect their practice time. I felt really bad because I accidentally ran over Mallory at practice today. Didn't realize how strong I am compared to them. She seemed unharmed though, at that age I think they are pretty resilient. But overall very happy with the girls effort this practice.
WE WON TODAY!!!!!!! They played so hard and never stopped hustling. I was impressed by their fearlessness while rebounding and shooting, considering that two of the girls on the other team were several inches above all of our players. We stole the ball often, and did much better at getting around screens after talking about it at half time. The girls were very coach able this game and started the game off more focused. And though all of the girls were very happy with the win, I reminded them that just last week we were in the same place as the other team (losing) and we needed to be good sports. We must always treat other teams with respect, even if it is not reciprocated. But I think our treatment of teammates is even more important. Although my team has always been kind to one another, I have seen the other side of players in other situations. Through varsity basketball many people have caved under frustration and resorted to yelling at other players. This is never a good thing. Some coaches either don't notice frustration between players or refuse to deal with it. But disgust on the court only leads to animosity within teammates. If this ever occurs between players I will be sure to eliminate it; I will stress that even if your teammate makes a mistake, let the coach address the player. Coaching is not a players job. As a coach, if you allow players to yell at each other (especially girls) you ruin the team chemistry and eliminate most players confidence in themselves. But like I said I have yet to see any issues within my team. Overall I was very happy with the way we played as a team, and the way that we acted when the game was over. I am looking forward to our future success.
Not much to say about this practice. Felt very successful and could see much improvement. Kyleigh and Kira won for most talkative (I think being loud is a very important part of the game).
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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. |