Today I tried to teach them some plays-hot dog, doughnut, pie (allowing them to come up with the names in order to help them remember them)-I am a little worried about this because I think it is too much for them to try to learn while doing everything else new. But even if they don't learn them enough to use in a game, I think it is important for them to understand that learning plays is apart of the game. I am struggling to find a balance between saying too much and being too quiet. I don't want to overwhelm or bore them with talk, but at the same time I want to be giving them all that I can. Now, I can easily see the players who have had more experience and those who are beginners. We scrimmaged today, but I'm not sure they get that much out of it, because of their age and ability, and I think our time might be better spent doing more drills. Only having an hour and fifteen minutes to get through all the drills I have planned is going to take some adjustment on my part. I have noticed some improvement in their listening and their basketball stances. I am trying to implement basic rules such as no traveling , behind the line, and no double dribbling. I sometimes struggle to communicate with them, because I use too much basketball lingo (free throw line, blocks, and elbows) which they should not be expected to already know. Also I have had to learn how to talk to them so they can understand what I want from them, such as lining up in a line or on the baseline (it requires a lot of signalling and demonstration). Mallory won the prize box today for hustle. I am stressing to the parents that the girls must show up and leave with sweatpants and some short of a jacket (also water bottles). It is getting too cold to leave without them. And I know it is bad for your muscles to go from a state where they are very warm to very cold. This is an idea that my dad instilled in me at a young age and is now apart of my routine.
I brought the prize box today and they went crazy when I dumped out all the goodies. I am trying to restrict myself from just giving prizes away too easily because I don't want them to lose the thrill, that is why I am only going to give 1-2 prizes away each practice. The prizes will be given for a certain characteristic that is shown by the players, every practice their will be a different characteristic. We are trying to use the prizes to make them learn what sports really are and what they really require from you. Sports have made me a better person and therefore I would like to make them better people, while learning to enjoy basketball. The prizes will be given away for things such as sportsmanship, hard work, encouragement, and resilience. I was amazed by how much my mixture of firmness and encouragement caused them to respect me and look up to me. Honestly I always like to be in charged and have often been a leader on the basketball court, but I have always been behind a coach, looking to them for direction but now it is me who these kids are looking too. Feels pretty good! I am determined to be consistent, supportive, and realistic with all of these players. Within high school sports these qualities are lacking, and as a player it can be very confusing and difficult. Therefore I am striving to use my struggles to learn and possibly improve myself as a coach.
Our first practice went great, we got through more drills than I had planned. I was really surprised by how good they all where, considering the fact that all the girls are fourth grade and younger. Occasionally some did lose focus, but that is to be expected. I would say the age diversity(2nd graders-4th graders) gave me some difficulties; there is definitely tremendous skill differences with an increase in age, but more importantly their ability to focus improves as they get older. I realize now that I am going to struggle to come up with drills that push them, but aren't impossible. I am so used to high school drills and feel like I might expect too much from them because of my basketball background. I am going to work on keeping the drills fun and consistent rather than too complex. My other coach seems thrilled about the idea of a prize box to motivate the girls. Really excited for the rest of the season!
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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. |