May/June 2019 - 17

back. Enjoy your kid's journey, and be a part of it. Don't just be the Uber driver and
drop them off.
In what ways should coaches make practices fun?
We want them to be what we call " energy givers, " not " energy
takers. " We want them to be a thermostat, not a thermometer.
So, we make drills competitive.
We have violations in our practices for not talking on
defense, for not being a team. We'll play to a score so
there's always competition instead of sitting under
a basket and learning a drill, when four people
are sitting and four are people watching.
We try to keep it energized. We're trying
to teach them moves in a competitive
situation. We're trying to teach them
subliminally, in a way. If we're
playing cut-throat and a kid is not
chinning the ball, we correct them
on that but continually play on.
What's a high school
coach's role in helping
youth basketball coaches?
I'm hoping this book
turns into a blueprint for a
youth coach. If I could be
a youth director of a high
school program, I really
think I could get them to a
state championship. We're
missing the biggest part of it.
The problem is a youth
coach who has never coached
before. Someone steps up
who has never coached, so
they go to the high school
coach to ask what zone to
use or what plays to run. The
coach is giving them plays
they run at the high school
level, but that doesn't fit the
market. High school coaches,
most times, don't know what's
going on in fourth or sixth grade.
They just know they're out there
playing.
This book would be a real value for
a high school coach to say, " We want to
help these kids learn the skills that are
going to make them be a good high school
player. " That's why I say every grade has to
be more important. We're building the player
toward the high school team.
What's the biggest lesson you want youth
coaches taking away from your book?
That the youth coach should be the person who helps the
player along to their destination. We put in the book the lesson
of the horse. This is the book that would help the individual come
back and say, " I owe my career to this youth coach. This person made a
difference in my life. They put me on a road less travelled, and it was by far
the best thing that happened. "
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May/June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May/June 2019
