My Year in Review

Maybe it's just me, or maybe its a coaching thing, but I have two different "years" going on. There's the calendar year which dictates my day to day, Monday through Friday, "9-5" (who actually works those hours?) life and it goes from January 1 to December 31. Then there's the coaching year which goes from something like August to June. July is just a hole and a time to catch my breath - for now. As each year gets completed, I try to take a bit to look back on what I did (or did not do) during the year and see if I feel like it made me a better coach or if I took steps backwards. Here's a quick recap on my own little self review.

This year was a tough year for me. It was the epitome of the phrase "peaks and valleys" and tested my confidence.  But as I said a few entries back, you need years like this. Times that push you out of your comfort zone and force you to grow.  It's human nature - adapt or survive. That mentality has served me well in life. It's how I learned to swim as a kid - my dad picked me up, dropped me into the deep end and pretty much said figure it out or drown (He was close enough to save me if I didn't save myself, but far enough away that I wasn't about to cling to him for dear life). It's how I learned to do solid work under crazy time constraints - nothing like writing papers and doing science fair projects the day before you had to turn them in. Basketball for me is no different, and I think it ultimately made me a better coach to struggle the way I did this year.

Not Good

From a record standpoint it was nothing close to what I expected. Some people who were involved would say some it was because this year the talent level was lower than in past years, commitment at times was flaky, and that may be true. But I also think I was the source of a lot of my own demise.

1 - Don't over-commit yourself

I started the year out coaching a 5th, 6th, and 7th grade team. The program was growing in size, but the younger kids were smaller and it didn't sit well with us to possibly put them in a position to get injured, and I loved working with them so much that I didn't want to just say, "Sorry, no team this season." So I volunteered to take all the teams. While my heart was in the right place, you can't do that with teams that young and my full time job. I was being pulled every which way and couldn't really focus on anything ever. We all managed, but I think ultimately none of us saw our full potential that season. 

2 - Ask for help sometimes

This has always been an issue for me, simply because I have such little faith in the general public, especially parents of players, to do things for you without expecting some kind of "favor." I'm always weary of parents who volunteer because I always expect them to look for extra minutes because they are helping out. I've seen it before and heard the horror stories of that kid who had 3 left feet (and as a result spent more time on his face than standing) yet played the most because daddy was a team sponsor. However, there are a lot of things you have to do as a coach and sometimes the mundane administrative stuff gets in the way. While I haven't quite figured out which of the tasks I can delegate, I know there needs to be less typing in emails and texts and more film watching and strategy sessions.

Good

This year reminded me of what it is to be successful as a coach, especially at the younger levels. While it may sound cliche, it's not entirely about wins and losses, and the experience can be the difference between a repeat player and having to go recruit a whole new team.

1 - Stronger relationships with players

This is especially true with the last team I worked with, but even guys that I coached my first year I still stay in touch with and chat with about all kinds of things. While usually they want to compare which team was better, the conversation also includes choices outside of basketball and has branched into academics. Sure it's not on the same level as some of our other coaches in the program, but it's definitely building bonds that will help keep them interested in our program  and working hard.

2 - Practice organization

While it wasn't as consistent as I would have liked, I feel like I did a pretty good job organizing and scheduling practices and making the most of the court space I had. I also created a kind of rhythm that the players could expect so practices were more about getting in reps rather than taking time to refocus and being non-productive. Once I figured out how to turn the scoreboards on so everyone could keep on track to complete the exercise in a given time, the improvement was very noticeable. It also kept me from talking too much. Less talk, more work, more organization, better team.

Not that this was a year I am content with, I'm also not ashamed of it. There are many things in life that go through such a transformation where an old layer is tossed aside so that something new and better can emerge. There were several moments that I can learn from and I look forward to the opportunity to put that new knowledge to the test next year. Should I repeat, then I would have cause for alarm - for now Ihave hope that I am capable of going much better.