What has made your program successful?

[philtenn]

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.

 

What is Jr. Pro league? I don't believe it is in the Shelby County area.

[mchale24]

What makes a program successful starts with the administration. The administration has to be committed to supporting the girls team. This means making whatever means available to the staff that is needed to be successful. The next thing that has to be in place are the players and coaches. I believe in middle school and high school you need X and O coaches but more importantly there needs to be coaches with high morals and ethics. I believe that you have to surround yourself with good people. The players have to stive to make good choices off the court and it will carry over on the court. Obviously, players have to be committed pre-season, in-season, post-season and off-season in order to obatin to the hightest level. There are too many good players around and programs that work year around not to do this. Coaches has to find a way to make it fun for the players as much time as they put in.

The above may sound like concepts that are not all skill related, however, you may have two good teams with skill but the one that has more heart and are good people will achieve more times than not.

In addition to the above, there has to be cooperation between the youth teams in the community, the middle school teams, AAU organizations and the high school teams. That is what a true program is all about for the community it resides. This includes youth camps, leagues, colaboration between players and youth, and as much involvement with one another as possible.

There are many teams that win ball games but to obatin a true program it takes all the above to achieve success. This is not an easy task. Sometimes, high school sports are mistaken for college level teams where winning is the number one priority. Winning will come is the other things are in place. AND it is lots of fun! Just my 2 cents. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

[Govolss]

JIM BROWN

[gatorbillmsu]

Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

[Bri]

What is Jr. Pro league? I don't believe it is in the Shelby County area.

 

 

 

Jr. Pro is a national league for kids aprx 8-13/14. In Nashville they play the same time of the year as the middle schools, usually 2x on Saturday or Saturday & Monday. When my daughter played there were very few girls playing, so they played on boys teams. They have a nationals & everything. My daughter's team had matching uniforms, headbands, shoes, and was the only team with cheerleaders. It was fun & she learned the basics.

[gatorbillmsu]

Jr. Pro is a national league for kids aprx 8-13/14. In Nashville they play the same time of the year as the middle schools, usually 2x on Saturday or Saturday & Monday. When my daughter played there were very few girls playing, so they played on boys teams. They have a nationals & everything. My daughter's team had matching uniforms, headbands, shoes, and was the only team with cheerleaders. It was fun & she learned the basics.

 

 

We had Jr Pro back in Michigan. (6-14) Up until this year the girls basketball season was in the fall. Then after the school season, they would play Jr Pro, and then after Jr Pro, AAU would kick in.

 

So a kid could literally play all year if they wanted. The Jr Pro leagues were usually within a 20 min drive for games. The team that won the 8th grade championship last year now has 3 players that are playing as freshman on the varsity at their school and they are ranked in the top 5 in the state. It was great experience for those girls, but it lead to some worn out kids. 3 seasons was just too much for most of them.

[Bri]

In Nashville there is no school ball allowed till 7th grade. Even then the kids could play Jr pro & middle school ball. For awhile there was only my daughter playing on 1 team & Jefferson from LaVergne playing on another (both boys teams). When my daughter was around 9 they were several other girls playing, which led into AAU. I didn't really know anything about Jr Pro till I saw a note in the office of my daughter's elementary school. I only took her as a way to burn off energy. She was tall & hyper, it seemed like a good fit., and it was. It's a great way to ease kids into it & they also have it for other sports as well. I was a football cheerleader for Jr Pro (way back in the dark ages).

[ksgovols]

Our county's Jr. Pro is a little different. It's not exactly a rec league, not exactly a school team. There are tryouts in many instances and our league is county wide and zoned similar to the elementary schools. They don't play outside of the county or even try to go to national tournaments. That's more of a key than which league it is. Cheatham County's girl's coach was quoted in On the Ball magazine that the Cheatham County Jr. Pro league was one of the key's to the success of the girl's basketball programs in Cheatham County. It doesn't hurt that Pat Summitt played high school ball there as well.

 

The girls playing competitive basketball at any early age with school pride on the line develops their drive to succeed not as an individual, but as a team. That pays dividends for the middle school coaches and later the high school coaches. They play a little AAU, but mostly it's just to stay sharp.

[Rock1]

I like the JR PRO if they have good coaches that want to teach all of the kids not just their own. Middle school programs that have the High school coaches come in some during the off season and let their coaches know what they need to work on for the kids to improve for high school. I am not a big fan of AAU most parents can not afford it and that is for the most reason plus you have to give the kids a break or most of them will burn out before college.

[philtenn]

The essential building blocks are the parents. They have the power to mess up everything else or overcome below-par coaches, administration, etc. If you don't have decent half-way mature parents, then it's an uphill battle all the way.

 

Any coach who is interested in the welfare of the players on the team and has a team perspective MUST have a decent relationship with the parents and the smart coaches know that the form that that relationship takes depends on the personalities that that group of parents have for that particular year. To maintain a successful program (and my definition goes beyond just winning) the coach must have some capacity to deal with all kinds of personalities.

 

My two cents.

[jimbo44]

JIM BROWN

 

I think you're on to something there. He watches more films than Peyton Manning.

/ph34r.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":ph34r:" border="0" alt="ph34r.gif" />

They lost a game on a Friday night or so ago. Jim called for a 7:00 AM Sat. practice. One of the players mothers lold me that her daughter requested an early morning meal, cause she thought the coach was going to run them hard.

Turns out , they had to listen/watch a motivational tape and afterward, discuss how to improve their game.

Now, how can a coach get into a players head, better than that? /ph34r.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":ph34r:" border="0" alt="ph34r.gif" />

[Redog]

Coaches are only as good as their players.... the "better" Coaches get their players to do "buy into the system" what they - the coaches - are teaching them to do.