PIBNA 40 – Coach’s Memo to Audience

PIBNA 40 – Coach’s Memo to Audience

District Heights, Maryland

Sept. 3 – 4, 2016

 
Hello All,

With our PIBNA Maryland tournament coming up soon, it’s time to send out our general team rules/guidelines for parents and loyal spectators.

Please Read Everything Below Closely. This is a message on behalf of the Youth division Coaching staff. 
 

1) I will do my BEST but Playing Time Will NOT Be Equal.

Everyone will get plenty of opportunities on the court but I can tell you right now playing time will NOT be equal. There will be some games where your kid does not play very much. There will be some games where your kid plays a LOT (more than other players).

There are countless reasons that playing time varies. Some of those reasons include:

• I messed up the rotation or made a mistake… there I got it out of the way.

• I took a player out because I didn’t feel they were giving their best effort. On occasion I will take players out of the game, sit them down on the bench, and tell them exactly why they were taken out. I find that bench time is a very effective form of motivation.

• I’m trying to give our team a chance to win and match players up a certain way.

• Your kid asked to come out.

• Probably the biggest reason playing time varies quite a bit is because we are trying to win while trying to develop every player on the team as much as we can. If I give everyone “equal” playing time in each game, that will hinder the development of the best players, the average players, and the below average players.

For improvement to occur, every player needs to be challenged — but not too much. So I adjust playing time to match players up against appropriate competition. It won’t be perfect, but by the end of each game or tournament, everyone should get mostly equal opportunities. 
 

2) NO coaching or shouting out instructions from the stands.

Parents or grandparents – stick to cheering, clapping, and positive comments only. Leave the coaching to the head coach and the assistant coach on the bench. This is important for lots of reasons:

• For one, it’s hard enough to get the players to hear their coach’s voice and instructions. When you add a bunch of parents shouting out instructions, it gets really tough for the players to hear and/or process what their coach is saying.

• Second, sometimes parents yell out instructions that contradict what the coach is telling them.

• Third, parents yelling out instructions becomes contagious. It happens all the time. It starts out with one well intentioned parent (or grandparent) yelling instruction. And before you know it several others chime in and it’s just a blur of too many voices.

• The players need ONE voice (their coach).

• I know this is really hard to do… especially those that have coaching experience. I have been there. And I realize that sometimes the instruction is helpful and you’ll see something the coaches are missing. But the negatives of allowing this clearly out weight the positives. Just relax, have fun, and stick to cheering. 
 

3) Don’t complain about the refs calls.

• Look, the refs are going to suck and they are going to make a bunch of bad calls. That is just part of youth basketball and what we signed up for. So just accept it and don’t even pay attention to the refs.

• I want our players to be resilient and I don’t want them worrying about things they can’t control (the refs). When they hear the parents complain, they start to think it’s justified and the refs must be treating them wrong. Then the excuses start to follow. That type of attitude does not fit into our core values and the character skills we are trying to develop with this team.

• So please don’t complain about the refs or complain to them. Our players are going to be resilient and play through what ever happens on the court. No excuses.

• Some of the teams we play are going to complain and shout and you name it. Don’t worry about what they do. Let them be idiots. As most of you already know, things can get ugly in the stands — obnoxious behavior, yelling at kids/coaches/refs, parents getting kicked out. No matter the circumstances, that will NOT be the PBAM coaches, parents, or players! 
 

4) Don’t bother complaining… but please DO give me feedback.

Do not forget – I am VOLUNTEERING my time to Coach. So don’t bother complaining to me. It just won’t fly. If you think you can do better – take on this job and volunteer your time.

With that said I DO strongly encourage feedback, communication, questions, etc. If you have suggestions for me, please give them to me… politely and not in front of the players or other kids and especially not during the game, time-outs or half time!

Don’t get me wrong – I totally want to improve as a Coach and improve things for our team!! Constructive feedback will help with that. I am committed to be at each practice, can YOU? 
 

5) Choose convenient times to talk (not during practice, right before games, or right after games).

I always have an “open door policy” for players and parents. I just ask you choose convenient times for this communication.

Giving me feedback right before a game at every whistle, time-out, halftime or even right after a game, or before practice probably is NOT a good time! Wait for some down time or even better, come see me quickly and let’s schedule a time for us to chat. I am all yours! 
 

Thank you with all due respect.

– The Coach.
 

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