Go Parents!!

So, yes - I'm a day late.  Had to decide what post to publish this week after an interesting weekend to say the least.  This is what I decided on, the others will get a little more polish and they'll eventually find their way on the blog.

I have to say that my first two seasons as a coach were close to horrible.  The first was tough because we didn't really get anywhere close to a win until the end of the season, but both were made even harder by having parents who were just tough to manage.  Yes, I said managing parents was tough.  Some parent's expected their kid to play more than the game situations warranted, others wanted their kids to play when clearly something else was going on (i.e.: nauseousness, headaches, sore muscles).  There were so many emails to the directors that I just knew I was going to get told that my services were no longer needed.  But, we live, we learn, we adjust, and we move on.

Going forward, I started having parent's meetings to let parents know what my intentions were and give them an opportunity to work with me to resolve issues in the best way for their kid and the team along with the programs' parent meetings.  So far that's worked out pretty well and it's made the last few seasons exceptional.  I have parents volunteering for all kinds of things, stepping up to help me out when tournament times are crazy, helping make sure all the kids are ready and at team meetings.  They are actively involved with the team, actively involved with helping me to help their kids and it's amazing.  I had written about not seeing a lot of spirit and support for our games a while back (not even sure it was on this blog or a failed attempt of years past) and it just seems like after that things have gotten better.  I know the kids enjoy hearing the cheers, and it just pushes me to keep on a higher level. 

This past weekend, the 11U team managed to gets it's first win of the season, and while they came out excited, eager, and energized - I could see and feel the energy just continue to grow as the parents got more and more involved.  Every good defensive effort was met with applause and cheers and everyone knew the other kids name.  Tim's mom was cheering for Tom and vice versa (not their real names by the way), which was something I never really saw much of my first year.  Whenever a kid made a great pass, there was encouragement.  Whenever a kid turned the ball over I wasn't the only one pushing him to keep playing and saying that he'll get it next time.  It was awesome.  I had a pretty rough morning that day with the 13U team missing out on a win due to a bad sub rotation (I'm still a little mad about that) and these kids and parents literally flipped my outlook on the rest of the day.  It was great and I'm really looking forward to seeing that energy continue as the team continues to gel and improve.

It's so much easier to prepare, coach, and stay focus when the parents are on board with what you are trying to achieve, and you aren't having to get caught up in bleacher politics and unrealistic expectations.  Its great having the feeling that the parents have your back, even when you lose a close game.  After that close loss in the morning, a couple of the 13U parents heard me tell the boys that I lost that game for them and they attempted to divert the feeling from me to some team aspect of the game we didn't do well in.  In my first year I could never admit to that even if it did happen because I just didn't feel that connection with the parents like I do now.   This season will be a good one, and I feel that is attributed mostly to the feeling I've got another great set of team parents.  It's still early though, so parents, please don't go all "Harvey Dent" on me (for you not into the DC Universe, Harvey Dent is the villain "Two-Face" from Batman who is bipolar/schizophrenic) and turn on me for no apparent reason.

My Letter to Those Who Fell Just Short

Dear Athlete,

I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from today - I just ask that you give me a few moments of your time to share some things with you that may help.  I know you aren't happy with the decision and there's little I can say to change that.  What I can do is leave you with some food for thought and fuel to drive you forward.

Before you blame me and fill yourself with hate and anger towards me or the program take a look at yourself.  This was a tryout after all, and as coach I'm looking for a lot of different things - talent, work ethic, and "coachability" just to name a few.   Did you perform at your best?  When corrected, did you respond positively?  Did you always work at your highest gear?  If you honestly answered yes to those questions, then perhaps you have some more developing to do skill-wise.  The other thing to remember is that the game of basketball does have a strategic piece to it and perhaps the team would be too shallow in a key position to take you although you are skilled.

Don't settle for excuses, it's a bad idea in general and will do very little to help you in basketball and life.  One thing I hear a lot is that a player was injured during tryouts.  Unfortunately I have to make a decision based on what was presented before me, and if your injury kept you from performing for most of the tryout I may not have seen enough to take you on the team.  Such is life sometimes, and there's not much you or I can do about it, other than to get healthy and hope to avoid the same bad luck next season.  The other thing is that a player was on the team last year.  That should not be your cue to take it easy.  I know what you can do well - so I want to see it done better.  I know what you struggled with - I want to see improvement there too.  As a returning player, you should have the mindset that you have to work harder to keep your spot on the team.  Remember, the people who last season sat in your very same seat today and didn't get selected painted a target on your back to take that spot away from you, and succeeded.

What this decision should do for you is fuel you.  I would love to see you come back next year and show me that you deserve to be on the team.  Let this decision fuel you to get stronger, faster, more attentive.  You've been through the tryout routine so you know what kinds of skills we'll be looking for next year.  Work on your mechanics, your weak hand skills, and the like so that next year you are not on the bubble - you are a shoe-in.  I absolutely encourage you to paint that target on any one of the backs of my current squad just as you had a target on yours.  Challenge them to be better by accepting the challenge yourself - and meeting it with fervor and enthusiasm.

What this should not do is drive you away from the game if you truly love it.  Trust me.  I took that path after getting cut in 7th grade and gave up on trying to get better.  Sure I goofed around with a basketball, but I never really took it seriously after that until it was too late to really consider playing competitively.  I don't have many regrets in life, but the decision that I made in the parking lot of Zachry Middle School that night is one that will haunt me for the rest of my days.  Please don't make the same mistake. There is no worse feeling that seeing what could have been years from now.

Again, I know that this may not lessen the blow caused by today's decision.  I just hope that it inspires you not to give up on the game that you love and gives you some insight into how tough a decision this is for coaches.

Sincerely,

Coach Robert

Timing is Everything

So we finally made all the selections on the players who would be joining the Wolfpack family last night.  How fitting that these quotes would show up on my Twitter feed -

"In reality the opponent is always us - that's who we're proving ourselves to every time we step on the field."-Art Briles (Baylor Head Football Coach)

"I want him playing fearless, walking on the edge, erring on the side of making a mistake." - Art Briles

 As I get ready to start up with the new 13U team for what should be an action-packed season, these quotes couldn't have popped up before me at a better time.  Coach Briles is all for getting his players to just play loose and at "full speed+" which is what inspired those quotes.  To get the most out of my team, I am looking to do the same.  We can't play tense, we can't play overly cautious.    We have to trust in one another - each player, each coach - to do their part and should we mess up along the way have the faith that we can recover. 

I once had an instructor tell me something similar - "If you're going to do it wrong, then do it all wrong."  Being in the position that I'm in now, that makes a lot more sense.  Some of the greatest discoveries were mistakes.  Take Columbus and the West Indies - he just knew he was headed in the right direction and had found a new route to India but he wasn't even halfway close. At the end of the day you are going to be scolded for a mistake whether its a small one or a big one and you might as well earn the scolding!   Do we want reckless decisions, no.  Do we want self-imposed limiters because you are afraid of making a mistake, absolutely not! 

With my roster, I see the potential to open up and be a bit more aggressive which only makes it more important that we go full speed from start to finish and be all kinds of fearless.  It all starts tomorrow.  And that's just the beginning.  When we get back together on Thursday, we have to look to be better than we were Tuesday.  Every time we take the floor we have to be making strong steps forward, looking at our past body of work to compare against.  Yeah, we may win a few games, but content teams are dead teams.  To prevent that I'm going to constantly drive my players to push harder, run faster, jump higher, and think smarter than they did the time before. 

I'm excited to get underway with this first week of practice, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of competing in a bold tournament in week 1.  It's time to go to work...  #dowork!!

Goals

They say if you don't know where you want to go, you'll never know if you're on the right path or if you're even heading in the right direction.  Heading into the fall season, I have some personal goals, some team goals, and once the team gets set, I'll encourage the kids to set their own individual and team goals.  Why?  Because everyone wants to compare wins and losses, but sometimes, that's not what really determines a good season.   Maybe you had an intense schedule and injuries, does that make you a bad team?  Not if you have other things to measure yourself against.  What if you don't get a lot of strong competition to measure yourself against, what can drive you to keep working when you're in the midst of a double digit win streak?   The way I see it, if you set achievable goals that help contribute to winning championships and the like, and accomplish enough of them, then you're in position to get that title.  If you just aim for the big prize with no little victories along the way, you're risking discouragement and a team break down if you hit serious opposition early on.

Here's what I'm shooting for on a personal level, in no particular order.  Some are easy, some are repeats from previous posts, but if I write it down, I have to be held to it (per my new years resolution hence why I've tried to stay more consistent with posts):

• Put together practice plans prior to each practice
• Establish open lines of communication between the parents, the players, and me
• Make time to analyze games in a timely manner

I also have a few goals for the team as well.  Again, in no particular order:

• Maintain a positive turnover differential
• Advance out of pool play each tournament
• Play the 32nd minute just as hard as the 1st
• Limit the opposition to no more than 5 offensive rebounds a game

Since I have not yet set the team, I cannot set any individual goals tonight.  I will encourage the players to establish their own goals as well as convey my team goals to them.  It will be these goals that I will measure the season against.  If we can do most of these for most of the season, I will gladly consider it a winning season.  Obviously I'd love to win some championships along the way, but that's not what it's all about at this level.  For now, its about learning, loving, and respecting the game.  We'll shift to that other stuff in a year or two.

Workout Recap

Okay, now that I've gotten my head back on straight, we can get down to business. 

Last week we held a workout for interested players just to help get them back in basketball mode and get a feel for how much interest our efforts had generated.  I was given the reigns for the 5th and 6th grade workout.  It was non-stop motion.  I was told the purpose was to drill, drill, drill and then drill some more and that's what we did.  Basic stuff - dribble with your dominant hand, switch to your weak hand, between your legs, layup, pick and roll, pass.  Yes you can fill two hours just working on that, and that's what I did.  It was probably the most organized I've been in a long while, and it felt good.  Incentive to keep that level going I guess.  I felt good, parents seemed to be pleased that it was a good two hours (you could tell there were some skeptics when they arrived about what kind of "workout" it would be), and the players realized that we were serious about basketball and met the intensity of the workout with positive energy.  Win for everyone.

For those that have been following my posts for a bit already knew I was amped to start this season.  Add to that the fact that I will have my own team - I'm overjoyed.  Then give me this workout where I'm pushing these kids hard, and they aren't backing down.  I see some of them making things harder than they need to be and make minor adjustments to correct it, and they are doing it.  Yes, they took my advice and made that adjustment and put it on the floor.  As a project manager, I deal with teams and delegating and adjusting to situations daily.  But grown men don't even make this adjustment that fast!  Now I'm not just excited, I'm constantly thinking about how great it is going to be and counting down the days to our first tournament (22 days and counting). 

I was also involved in the 7th and 8th grade workout session.  It was a little harder to get those guys to focus, but that's because most of them have played two seasons together, so it was more of a reunion and lots of "Hey coach! Is so-and-so coming back?"  They still put in a good workout though.  I also ran into a lot of parents who were overjoyed to hear I was sticking around.  I'm not going to lie.  Two years ago, when I started this journey, I never really expected anyone to care what I was doing, let alone ask me to coach their kids.  I wanted to be that coach that people wanted, I just didn't think it'd happen yet.  Don't worry, it won't go to my head.  Just two months ago, while at Nationals, I saw just how little I was.  Being in the arena with D-1 college coaches that get their own entrance, concession stand, seating, and security will do that to you. It was nice though and I will do what I can to live up to those expectations.  They don't ask for you by name unless they believe you can give their athlete something, and that's what I've set out to do.

Tryouts are coming up, my age group is Wednesday and Friday night.  I'm double checking the equipment, and working on the tryout plan.    I'm getting the goals for myself on paper and internalized.  Ladies and gentlemen, in the words of Coach D, "It's time to do work!"