What has made your program successful?

[westtnbballer]

Some people will say their coach is the reason, others point to AAU has done it, some point to Jr High coaching? What has been the difference in making your schools program solid and competitive every year?

[ladyneerfan]

I say it is COMMITMENT... from players, coaches, and parents...you must be commited if you want to be competitive... at any level...

i know at the lower level school that i work at... some of the kids say that they are not going to play at the high school... because they do not want to have to spend their whole summer practicing... they have other things they want to do... that is what i mean by commitment... you have to be willing to sacrifice... both as players and parents...

[westtnbballer]

I say it is COMMITMENT... from players, coaches, and parents...you must be commited if you want to be competitive... at any level...

i know at the lower level school that i work at... some of the kids say that they are not going to play at the high school... because they do not want to have to spend their whole summer practicing... they have other things they want to do... that is what i mean by commitment... you have to be willing to sacrifice... both as players and parents...

 

 

 

Do many of the girls from Gibson Co play AAU?

[ladyneerfan]

Most do, but not all, some have work, others just can't afford it...

[GCPioneer]

I say it is COMMITMENT... from players, coaches, and parents...you must be commited if you want to be competitive... at any level...

i know at the lower level school that i work at... some of the kids say that they are not going to play at the high school... because they do not want to have to spend their whole summer practicing... they have other things they want to do... that is what i mean by commitment... you have to be willing to sacrifice... both as players and parents...

 

 

Agreed. If you want to acheive anything in life your going to have to work for it!

[knight2]

I believe it takes all of them. But most important one is commitment on the player's part. You do not have to play AAU during the summer as long as you put the time in the gym on your own. Most teams that are good year in and year out have players that will put the time in to have a winning season. But you also have to have a coach that will keep a team on track and not let some of the players get the big head.

[coachgat]

I think you all hit it when you said commitment. I can be naive and say that it's AAU or it's just me but in actuality it's on those kids and parents being committed to putting the time in to improve their individual games as well as cohesiveness as a well oiled machine. I have 3 players that play AAU but that doesn't mean that they don't work in the gym with their team during the summer. They all have to grow with each other and learn each others tendencies. I had a disagreement with an AAU coach that stated that they won't get better playing with their team but that's wrong to think it's only about one or two players it's about the unit playing together to be successful. It's not like I just throw a ball out there and say go shoot. We work in the summer. I stress unity with my team especially during the summer. I'm actually working on a few ideas about camps for this summer, now. What can I do to make them better individually and as a unit. We work on individual game and all of the other team stuff that I think is needed to be successful during the school year. However, AAU makes them appreciate what they have back at their home schools. Sometimes it makes them wish other players were at other schools and then we have the controversy of players being recruited. So commitment really comes in to play at this point. If it is done correctly, Elementary coaching, AAU, middle school coaching, AAU, High school coaching, AAU should be the ideal ingredient for a successful program but it's not the cure all. If they aren't in the right programs to get a consistent fundamental teaching it will all be for nothing. Sometimes players pick up bad habits when they play AAU. It's easy to get a selfish mentality when, from what I've seen, in a lot of AAU tournaments. I noticed that it's mostly guard oriented. Not all AAU programs are like that but I did see a lot of that in the state tourneys and Nationals in Nashville this summer from various teams from across the country. The ones that went far seemed to have more balance in their guard and post play. Then their is the natural born talent that needs no AAU just some good fundamental coaching. That's my two cents but I'm sure many other's have great opinions about it as well.

[midtnbball002]

I think you all hit it when you said commitment. I can be naive and say that it's AAU or it's just me but in actuality it's on those kids and parents being committed to putting the time in to improve their individual games as well as cohesiveness as a well oiled machine. I have 3 players that play AAU but that doesn't mean that they don't work in the gym with their team during the summer. They all have to grow with each other and learn each others tendencies. I had a disagreement with an AAU coach that stated that they won't get better playing with their team but that's wrong to think it's only about one or two players it's about the unit playing together to be successful. It's not like I just throw a ball out there and say go shoot. We work in the summer. I stress unity with my team especially during the summer. I'm actually working on a few ideas about camps for this summer, now. What can I do to make them better individually and as a unit. We work on individual game and all of the other team stuff that I think is needed to be successful during the school year. However, AAU makes them appreciate what they have back at their home schools. Sometimes it makes them wish other players were at other schools and then we have the controversy of players being recruited. So commitment really comes in to play at this point. If it is done correctly, Elementary coaching, AAU, middle school coaching, AAU, High school coaching, AAU should be the ideal ingredient for a successful program but it's not the cure all. If they aren't in the right programs to get a consistent fundamental teaching it will all be for nothing. Sometimes players pick up bad habits when they play AAU. It's easy to get a selfish mentality when, from what I've seen, in a lot of AAU tournaments. I noticed that it's mostly guard oriented. Not all AAU programs are like that but I did see a lot of that in the state tourneys and Nationals in Nashville this summer from various teams from across the country. The ones that went far seemed to have more balance in their guard and post play. Then their is the natural born talent that needs no AAU just some good fundamental coaching. That's my two cents but I'm sure many other's have great opinions about it as well.

 

I agree coach, especially about becoming a unit and learning each others tendencies. Do you experience friction or a disconnect from players who may come in to the school year from multiple AAU teams and want to take their AAU coaching and/or game into the school team/game? Is it a blessing or something that takes away from the program?

 

Bottom line though I think is the commitment no doubt. Congrats to the girls that stick to it /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

 

Talk about your excellent employee one day!

[shpshter93]

Some people will say their coach is the reason, others point to AAU has done it, some point to Jr High coaching? What has been the difference in making your schools program solid and competitive every year?

 

Big Red, grape soda, and wiffle ball.

 

not necessairly in that specific order!

[coachgat]

I agree coach, especially about becoming a unit and learning each others tendencies. Do you experience friction or a disconnect from players who may come in to the school year from multiple AAU teams and want to take their AAU coaching and/or game into the school team/game? Is it a blessing or something that takes away from the program?

 

Bottom line though I think is the commitment no doubt. Congrats to the girls that stick to it /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

 

Talk about your excellent employee one day!

 

 

I think that it's important for players to understand the difference between what is expected with their AAU/Exposure team vs their school team. Some of the things they do with their AAU/Exposure team may not be what is expected from their high school team. It all depends on who you play with and what your role is on those various squads. I don't want them to feel like they can only be successful in one arena. Hopefully by playing both they are getting ready to play college ball because most colleges won't take more than 2 players off the same high school team. They need to feel that their game is good enough to stand on it's own too.

[OldSchoolCharger]

Some people will say their coach is the reason, others point to AAU has done it, some point to Jr High coaching? What has been the difference in making your schools program solid and competitive every year?

 

 

Our program is very competitive in AA at the State level. For the past 10 or so years, almost all of our better players have been a product of local camps and a very good AAU program.

[ksgovols]

I don't think there's a specific formula. Individuals and personalities are too varied.

 

I like the Jr. Pro league in our county. It lays the foundation for school pride and if the middle and high school coaches get involved, it gets the youth league coaches started on the fundamentals early. The teams are 'zoned' similar to the elementary schools. Then 2 of them join for middle school and high school and play 2 other middle and high schools in the county that were put together similarly. By the time they're seniors they have played ball against their in county rivals 9 years. The flip side is that's also 9 years with some of the same teammates you've been playing with for years. Playing for a different summer team doesn't seem like such a bad idea sometimes.