94th Edition
Lesson 13 – Don’t bail them out. Let the kids figure it out
In most games coaching youth for nearly three decades, I rarely called timeouts. Why? Basketball is a very dynamic game, and kids need to learn how to figure things out under pressure. Leaders emerge under the pressure of close games, especially when the coach doesn’t try to control things too much.
During one close high school game against our arch-rival, Tylan looked at me, a bit frustrated with the last two possessions. Our matchups were wrong on defense, and we were not using our back cuts in our dribble weave offense. He came over close to me after a foul was called stopping play.
“The matchups are wrong,” he said.
“Yep. Match them up. Look for the back cut on dribble weave,” I said.
Tylan immediately took control. He made a defensive switch and then hit a teammate on a classic back door pass for an easy bucket. On the next offensive possession he called a different play and scored on a smooth floater in the lane. Tylan was an amazing athlete and had great competitive instincts. Throughout that season I would often look at Tylan and simply tell him to figure it out. I knew he could. He just had to know that I knew he could.
Lesson 14 – Demand personal integrity of ALL coaches and players
As far as I’m aware, there isn’t a school at any level in any state in our country that teaches a course called Personal Integrity. I’m not sure why, since I can’t think of anything more important to teach kids. It’s way more important than learning calculus or geometry, or biology or chemistry, yet those courses are taught in every school, while personal integrity isn’t.
Not to worry, a coach can teach that quite effectively. Just make a covenant with the players, then model it, discuss it, reinforce it, and demand accountability. Piece of cake, right?
Let’s discuss each component here a bit more, because obviously none of this is easy to do. First, establishing a covenant is only meaningful if there is some level of trust and respect between the players and coach. Any covenant won’t mean much without it. The players must believe that the coach will respect confidentiality and that he has their best interests at heart.
Second, the coach has to be honest and demonstrate integrity in every aspect of his life. Kids will be hypersensitive to even a hint of hypocrisy. Coaches need to be thoughtful, considerate, never mean spirited or too cynical.
Third, defining and discussing personal integrity must happen repeatedly so the concept sinks in, and the kids buy into it. It consists of more than simply telling the truth, although that is the foundation post. It includes giving one’s best effort, showing up on time consistently. Being dependable and accepting your role on the team are essential components. Striving to exceed expectations is an important aspect of personal integrity.
Fourth, reinforcement is critical. This isn’t a concept that can be embraced after one pre-practice devotional. It has to be lived out and examined frequently.
Fifth, everyone has to be accountable. Forgiveness and grace need to be part of the process, as each person, coaches and players, will all fall short at times.
Lesson 15 – Coaching ability matters
A coach who has never played the sport he is coaching will struggle to be impactful.
I was practicing the long jump at a local high school track during the 20+ years I spent competing in masters track & field. When I finished my workout I noticed that there were a bunch of high school kids over at the discus cage. I walked over slowly and watched. What I witnessed was just awful, but not surprising. None of the kids had any clue what they were doing. They were all goofing off, and several were standing inside the netting while other kids were throwing, a definite safety violation. A man was watching them, giving them very little advice. None of the kids seemed to be paying any attention to the coach.
“Hi. Are you the throws coach?” I asked.
“Yes,” he answered.
“Ever thrown before?” I said.
“No, I’m a science teacher,” he said chuckling.
“Mind if I help out? I said.
“Please do.”
I immediately called all the kids together and started coaching them. We began with basic safety rules, then I showed them how to hold the discus, get it to spin off the index finger and how to release the discus from the power position, hips open shoulders closed. Since I could throw a lot better than any of the kids, they listened and started to learn. Why would any kid interested in learning to throw the discus pay attention to a science teacher who has never thrown one? Of course they won’t. And if they won’t listen, how is the coach going to teach character development?
In most schools, teachers get the first option to coach most of the secondary sports. Schools will usually make sure the football or basketball, or baseball coach has played before, but in a lot of the other sports previous experience isn’t a requirement. That approach sets up coaches to fail at character development. Why? Because kids tune him out as soon as they realize he doesn’t know what he is talking about. If he can’t teach them how to throw the discus why would they listen to him about personal integrity or seek his advice about a personal challenge? It just won’t happen in most cases.
At the same time, just because a candidate for a coaching position has played the sport, even at the college or even professional level, does not guarantee he understands character development.
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Michael Kayes
*These views are my personal opinions and are not the viewpoints of any company or organization.