This Saturday brought our 3rd basketball game. As a reminder, we didn’t win all of last year, and we’re 0-2 to start the year so far. This 3rd game of the season represented a matchup with the only team in the league we had not played yet. It was Timberwolves vs the Bulls at 9am.
How important is coaching in a 4-6 year old league? How important is coaching without practice? It’s not easy, but… winning is not the end game here. Yeah, it sucks to not have won one single game; it really sucks. But getting all the kids involved, getting some exercise, learning to play with other kids, learning some basketball skills, and having fun are the top objectives. This game was the perfect example of that. We jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the 1st quarter… no doubt our biggest lead in 2 years. But when the 1st quarter ended, I did a wholesale swap of kids. By halftime, we were losing 8-6.
I sort of hand picked our team. The reason for this is not to build a super team, but to keep the kids who have played baseball or basketball in the past together. Secondly, I select kids that I know are going to show up. 7 of the 9 kids had played together before; we were assigned 2 new kids. All 9 kids have shown up the past 2 weeks; this is great. So, all the kids will play at least 2 full quarters. I don’t care if they can’t dribble or have no chance at making a shot, they will play. And we rotate the kid who will bring the ball down the court. I want every kid on the team to participate and feel like they are doing something besides just running up and down the court. I think this is important… more important than winning.
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This is a hard message to get across to the kids who are really into it, like my son. I have chosen the 2nd quarter as his “rest” period. After dropping 4 points in the first quarter of this one, along with the fact that he has scored 85% of our total points this year, it definitely doesn’t give us the best chance to win with him sitting; he’s not very happy about it either. But, the fact is, that everybody rests… everybody. And in turn, everybody plays an almost equal amount. He’ll definitely be one of the kids who plays 3 out of 4 quarters, but that’s the most he’ll play, unless we only have 5 kids show up. This is the only fair way to do things, and an example to all other parents throughout the league on what is most important at this point; not sure if they all get it…. I hope my son gets it.
I will try to do everything I can within these principles to win a game this year, but I will NOT go against them just for a win; that ain’t happening, no matter how tempting it may be. So we’ll try out the new strategy next game as we continue on our quest for that elusive first victory. It’s going to happen… it’s going to happen.
MK
Yes, at this young age, it is important that all kids play and get involved no matter how bad they are. It is not easy to sit your son and/or best players with the risk of losing a lead or falling behind even more. Coaches and parents always want their child to play and do their best. This is a distinction from actually winning because not all kids are good at whatever sport they are playing. So while they are young, everybody plays and gets a shot to do something. As they get older, does playing time diminish as winning becomes more of a priority? Sometimes, yes. Coaching is never easy no matter the level. Keep everything fair. Everybody plays. Everybody sits. Maybe not the same amount of time, but as close to equal as possible. Good luck with that and good luck with getting that first W!