Let's Get Ready to...Dribble!

Okay, okay.  So the title is a little cheesy.  Sue me.  But that's how excited I am about this season getting started.  We had tryouts for the Fall season last week, and it was great to see two of my high potential kids come back from the Spring team, and most of last Fall's team come back.  Since I started this blog after the Fall season, give you some insight on why I'm so excited.

Last Fall, I coached a group of kids that were no doubt already the metaphorical 'men among boys', and to top if off, they were my younger kids.  Once I got the stones to not try to play everyone every game, and just get everyone in every tournament, we really got rolling and were fairly competitive.  Well, when you have that success with kids that young, see them play in other leagues throughout the season still improving, there's nothing more exciting then seeing them walk into the gym, give you the "What up, Coach" and take the court ready to go.  Tryouts were more like a practice than tryouts.  Add to that core group another stud youngster, and little guard with the attitude that says even LeBron can't stop me at the basket (if only you saw some of the hits this kid took in the Spring and how fast he popped up to knock down his free throw), you're pretty amped.  Throw in a couple of raw, but coach-able low post guys and voila - you got yourself a coach pretty much in heaven.  Toss in some extra commitment since football and basketball can't share players in the fall and I'm more than happy.

The biggest thing that has me really excited is that just about all these parents know me.  One parent has coached against me (I lost to him once, and that's because statistically the game meant absolutely nothing and I wanted to get some of the bench in) and is down with my approach.  No conflicts there.  One parent coached most of the kids that I'll see in a month for my winter tryouts, and well he knows I'm good and he's got minimal complaints that are strictly strategical, but every coach has that.  In essence I should not have any parent drama at all, which for those not involved with youth sports, is 99% of your headache!  Nothing is worse than going 48-7 and still wondering whether or not these parents are going to try to jump you because you didn't play this kid during this part of the game, or you only won by 5 instead of 30.  A win is a win, and the kids had fun, so get off me!  It's frustrating, and it was a huge distraction, which I hope to eliminate going forward, because it takes a toll on you mentally, affects your game preparation, your sub rotation, and just your overall performance which is something that has to be in peak condition.  So yeah, I'm excited.  Thrilled, perhaps even elated.  For the first time, I feel like I have a legitimate AAU team that can compete from the start, and that's just awesome.

On a less excited note, the devastation that recently hit the gym is huge.  I have yet to go by there because I know how the area gets and that would be a date with a parking lot.  The gym itself is probably fine, with the exception of the original court which has roof problems, but unfortunately they can't get to the building to refinish the floors as planned.  That roof on the old gym can't take much more of a beating.  I'm glad they are working to get it fixed because I'm sure it's not going to be able to take another hit like this.  That area get hit pretty hard every time it rains a lot, and to take a hit from a hurricane, even in Irene's weakened state, it just devastating.  My prayers go out to those in the area, and I hope that the number of houses completely destroyed is minimal and that these families can get back to some sense or normalcy soon.

Needed to take a Full Timeout...

I know it's been a while since the last post, and I think the break did some good and bad things for my mental state. We'll get to that shortly.

The spring season ended, and we only won 5 games, and three of them happened to be against 5th graders, so I'm still not really sure that should count.  On one hand, it was technically a win and I did absolutely nothing wrong in terms of the rules. On the other hand, one year makes a huge difference on the court at this age group.  Between commitment issues - I'll never take that many baseball players on a team ever again - and a lack of desire and heart, the team was honestly a mess towards the end of the season.  I think the kids ultimately gave up on themselves, and I had to fight it a lot towards the end of the season.  Fall is starting up soon, which tends to produce a bit more talent and commitment, so I'm hoping for a much better result.

Some of the reason for my absence was just simply the result of too much going on at once.  Between a new role at work, a new apartment, coaching, and the odds and ends of everyday life just didn't leave much time for blogging.  I had to make a strategic choice, and unfortunately the blog drew the short straw.  But that also made me decide on a new approach to my blog.  Yeah, it's a basketball blog, so it should be about basketball.  But, it's about my coaching career, and to say that some of the other things I have going on in life don't help shape, in some form, my coaching career would just be ridiculous. As a result, I'll throw in a tidbit of what else is going on off the hardwood.  Who knows, maybe just typing it out will allow me the outlet to clear my head rather than making a mistake during a critical moment in a game because my head is all clouded. 

Be on the lookout, I just got my text message that tryouts are coming up soon.  I can't wait!!