Youth Coaching - What Would You Do?

[g5jamz]

I think you two did the right thing not making a scene during the game. True sporstmenship will be seen in you and your cousin and even parents of the winning team will recognize that. You're going to have a few of the common idiots, but you just have to ignore the "white noise" of youth competitive sports.

I'm a ref commissioner of a league of ~300 kids ages 7-11, and it's important to show your cool. Control what you can control and do the best you can. Refs that let things get out of hand should be asked to reflect on how they called it. Some might get defensive during the game, but open for constructive criticism later. I meet with the league commish tonight to go over the 1st opening day for us and any issues that I saw or he may have heard.

It's about the kids first and foremost and stress that with the parents of your players outside of the ears of the kids. Explain that any issues will not be brought up during the game or immediately thereafter, but through the proper channels. Slow to anger is one of my hardest things to control with my family, but after working with kids (competitive sports, programs) for probably 10 years now...I've grown pretty thickskinned and try to keep what is important in focus.

[Kurb]

Start strapping a ninja sword on your back for games.

Officiating will even out then.

[Hawk]

key to this entire thing....8

these kids are 8! I know winning is important and all, but at 8, it should be about fundamentals and having fun. It's unfortunate that at this age, you are probably mainly getting officials that are just learning as well. Keep it cool, talk to the official after the game one on one and hope that they understand what your complaints are.

kids are kids...they should be able to just forget all about it and move on.

[Anybodyhome]

Give 'em all trophies. That's what we do for youth sports today. Doesn't matter how much you suck or how many games you lose, it's all about the sportsmanship and teamwork, hence the trophy for an 1-14 season.

No wonder this country is no longer competitive, we teach our young that losing is okay because you'll be rewarded regardless. Can't throw a baseball 10 feet? No worries, the league rules say we have to play everyone, so off to right field you go.... and we sure hope no one hits one to ya!

And, in case you hadn't figured it out yet, the ref also has an ego just like the rent-a-cop at the mall. So don't try to usurp his authority during the game because he'll toss you faster than a snowball.

[Hawk]

not saying losing is okay or that winning isn't...but at 8...if you focus more on the fundamentals and less on the score, they will lose way less when they get older!!!!

[g5jamz]

We don't keep score until 3rd grade...then it's on. It's hard enough to get a full posession in on 1st/2nd grade without some sort of infraction.

[Proudiddy]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I haven't been posting because it's been a rough couple of weeks. We started 0-2, mainly because of defensive miscues. We shored that up and the next weekend beat even better teams than we lost the first two to, and ended up 2-2. Then we had Christmas break and it's like the wheels fell off. We came back, lost the first game in the last minute (just as we lost the first two games), then we had the game I talked about in the first post, then we lost again Sunday.

Even the game that the ref let get out of control we actually led until the last 2 minutes or so and everything fell apart. This last loss, our kids weren't even competitive. No energy, lack of enthusiasm, lack of focus... We just didn't show up.

I was talking with my cousin about it and it's hard because of the age group, I'm not sure how much of it they will or won't get. And the issue with our team is purely mental. We have tons of talent and I believe each and every one of our kids has ability and can contribute in some meaningful fashion every game. If you stack us up against all the other teams in the league in terms of talent and ability, I'd say there is one other team that is possibly better than us.

So, I'm kind of at a loss... I don't know how to fix our issues because they're mental lapses, and everyone is different when it comes to that, and again, I don't know how much of that aspect the kids will even understand. If we could just lock in for one-hour and treat it like work but still have fun, we'd be undefeated right now. Definitely frustrating but I'm hoping we get them locked in for the playoffs and that will be all that matters.

[Proudiddy]

Oh, also meant to add my cousin and the commish talked to the ref later that night and apparently the ref completely bombed a few more games and when talked to about it he said that he couldn't ref correctly because the crowd wouldn't leave him alone... LOL.

[g5jamz]

Mental lapses are common with kids.

Emphasize the fact they are on a team and people depend on them. Do people make errors? Absolutely.

Like I said...I help coach baseball moreso than basketball and I gave a little talk to our guys because some were down on other kids making mistakes and some just having mental brainfarts. Bad throws, not knowing what to do on the next play, etc. Explained to them how even in the highest levels of baseball that they have Runs, Hits, and Errors on the scoreboard and these are the best players in the world. Everyone makes mistakes, but what you do on the next play is what makes you a GREAT player. (talking to players) explain that your team is looking to you to do what is asked of you. WIll you make mistakes? Sure. Put it out of your head and do what's expected of you on the next play.

Kids can be tough nuts to crack sometimes. Some need Ritalin.

[kman72]

I coach a 7-9 basketball team. This year over half my kids are around the 9 age and it is much easier to teach them than the two 7 yr old on the roster. The older they are its easier for them to have basic knowledge of the game and also know when to listen.

Anyways with your defensive problems of complications on who to guard: at this age almost every team runs some variety of a zone defense where kids can know what area to go go to. Most run a 2-3 zone with 2 of your best players on bottom and the other best as one of the top guys to pressure the ball.

We cannot press in my league so our base defense is a 1-2-2 half court trap. The top kid pressures the ball at the half court line to either side when the next level steps up to trap them on sideline. Very simple defense and very effective at this age. We also have the 2-3 and a variation of a box and 1. We call it the triangle. There is a zone triangle underneath the basket while the other 2 kids are in pure man defense on the other teams best 2 players. That is a defense that is dominant at that age.

Offense consist of mostly pick and rolls with the other kids staying near the blocks, the major strength of this offense is that all my kids are in position to score from where they are capable of shooting.

As far as the refs, they will normally struggle. Most don't really know all the rules and usually try to keep the game close.

I run through drills every practice to work on not traveling and how and where to pass. I have most of my team bale to dribble with both hands and finish with both hands around the basket. TEACHING is the best asset at this age. In the beginning of the year I only had 1 superstar, his cousin plays in the NBA so it runs in his family. But with the drills now almost every kid has developed into pretty good ball players.

Working on boxing out and positioning for every situation is very helpful at this age, all of my kids now fight for position and use their bodies to box out and this is the major reason we win. When we miss we typically have 3-4 extra shot chances off rebounds.

The more you can practice the better, put them in situations to make them better. We run drills for 40 minutes every practice to focus on what skills each position requires the most. Then they play full court against me and the other 2 coaches. We are all 23ish in age and play them fairly hard so they learn to get better. They had to learn how to protect the ball when dribbling and since they are 5 on 3 they have to find the open man. That is the hardest thing to teach at that age, we make them take no more than 3 dribbles on the offensive side of the court before a shot or pass.

[CardiacCats]

don't make a big scene, but at least say something to the ref during the game

[CardiacCats]

oh maybe you're just a bad coach