New Coaching Staff
New Coaching Staff
We're finally getting some extra coaches! This is definitely one of the top items on our feedback list of stuff to get done, and we're excited to add Andy, Nicole, Derrick, and Brendan to our list of coaches for the next 3 months.
We've tried to add a few coaches in the past, but each time there was a huge backlash from parents who thought the coach wasn't good enough for a myriad of reasons. Because of that, we've pooled these coaches from an interview process that included a dozen total prospective coaches, and we're also planning to just "try them out" for the first 3 months before we pick permanent coaches for the 2017 year.
So please email your comments, praise, and concerns. They'll each be at a couple of practices a week, and will coach various teams on the weekend. We'll see where each of them does best, and then we'll hopefully end up with the best of the best by year's end.
Thanks for your patience regarding this facet of our program. We've taken our time due to many reasons; the foremost being to ensure our great relationship with all of you is kept.
Open Gyms
Open Gyms on Saturday Mornings
Our open gyms are off to a great start! For the uninitiated, open gyms are a time when we play 5on5 and invite the general public to join us.
Each Saturday morning, there are 3 different sessions for boys & girls: one hour for Elementary (1st-5th), an hour for Middle School (5th-8th), and an hour for High School (8th-12th). Just like “the streets”, you’re off the next game if you lose. This is truly the time when legends are made.
Keep in mind that open gyms are only great when people show up, so 1) sign-up early and often, 2) invite friends to sign-up online for free, and 3) understand that there may be times these events will have all 20 available slots taken before you get the chance to sign-up. Creating this supply-and-demand is key to ensuring these events stay full and fun, so (again) sign-up early and often.
Due to the freedom involved, opens gyms are oftentimes considered more fun than games for many players. Click the EVENTS link at the top-right to book.
3-6 Year Olds
3-6 Year Olds Getting Started!
Kids play sports super early these days, and those sports are usually swim, water polo, and soccer around these parts. The reason most young kids steer towards those sports early on is due to how simple they are on the surface. In contrast, even the most basic parts of basketball require an extremely refined sense of understanding one's body. This problem manifests itself once our kids reach 3rd or 4th grade and find themselves already behind kids from other neighborhoods who were exposed to basketball years earlier.
The trick is to create a sense of fun around the frustrations by lowering both types of goals: the 10-foot rim to 5-foot, and being able to dribble and shoot to just being able to have fun with a ball in their hands.
Starting this October, that's exactly what we're going to do. We'll meet twice a week for the entire month on Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings, and then we'll do it again for the months of January, April, and June. It's just $100 for any month, or $400 for the entire year. Those paying for the entire year get our $200 5-day summer camp for free. The prices are so low so we can ensure we have a large group of kids, because that's how kids have fun!
To join, sign-up or sign-in and then click on Prepaid Credits to purchase your choice. Be sure to spread the word!
Poker Night
Poker Night was great!
We had a blast on September 10th. It was less about poker, and more about a whole bunch of us having a great time.
The pre-party meeting went well (a little long), and more than 20 adults and kids stuck around for a night of snacking, drinking, poker, video-gaming, pizza, and more. Getting to know one another goes a long way in reaching all of our goals and missions as a basketball program and as a community of families intent on providing the very best for our children.
Sticking with the playing card theme, next year we'll be hosting a magic act & comedy show during our September gathering instead. We feel that both the poker tournament and karaoke were so daunting of prospects that to sit & watch & be entertained will be a much more inviting shindig. We still raised over $500 through donations, which goes towards our scholarship/venue/equipment/coaches fund. If you'd still like to donate, do so by clicking the button at the base of our site.
Our next special event is our December Awards Ceremony set for Saturday, December 10th @ 2pm. Be sure to RSVP for that as well as the preceding Ability & Agility Combine and the Free Throw Fundraiser Contest. See ya soon!
4th Grade Focus
4th Grade Focus: Brody Darin
Brody has been in the program for nearly two years, and has proven himself to be one of the hardest, most focused workers we have. He's even currently on our top 10 all-time attendance list! Unsurprisingly, his improvements have been vast on and off the court. Brody most definitely has a bright future ahead! And now, here are this quarter's FOUR QUESTIONS FOR OUR FOURTH GRADE FOCUS:
Q. What are the aspects of basketball you love the most?
A. Besides playing with friends, I love ball-handling the most.
Q. What are your plans to reach your full potential?
A. I'm gonna try to beat Ian Salmon in attendance, and I hope to one day be a player other kids in the program (especially the younger) look up to.
Q. What player in the program do you look up to?
A. Devan Kadlic, as he's the person who works the hardest.
Q. What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?
A. Keep playing basketball as long as I can, and reach the NBA.
Traveling Team
Traveling Team
The summer of 2016 was our first effort to travel with multiple teams, and we had a fairly successful outcome with it all. From Reno to LA to Vegas, some of us thrived while all of us survived.
The summer basketball circuit is the definition of childhood for so many aspiring athletes, and that is exactly what we're hoping to provide with our efforts. Each team needs dedicated players to pull off this feat, so we've made this the exclusive privilege of our elite teams.
Having learned a lot from 2016, our team for next year will be fortunate enough to have a perfectly defined schedule that has absolutely everything laid out. We'll be attending certified events that college coaches are allowed to attend, we'll have pre-specified times to hangout as a group, and we'll be doing everything we can to maximize all these trips are able to do for the improvement of our skill and who we are as people.
There are so many stories we could share from 2016. Inspiring stories, hilarious occurrences, amazing games, and more. But we'll leave those to the players to share amongst themselves and to store in their memory banks to one day share with their children. For now, we're focused on making 2017 as great as possible so that we have even greater memories to share.
NCAA Recruits
NCAA Recruits
We've created a showcase page on our site meant to assist everyone in our program. We definitely know it'll lead to a little jealousy and a few hurt feelings, but the outweighing benefits will be an new extreme focus for the majority of players, increased awareness for our aspiring athletes, and a platform on which we can eventually raise the entire program.
The page has basic info, video highlights, full games, and more. I've painstakingly compiled a list of emails for every single college basketball program in the country (1200+), which I will utilize to get this info out there. This is how we're going to get our players recruited and to possibly entice other talented players to join our team.
The kicker will be that each showcased player will be forced to show to practice at least once a week year-round. Even during the high school season, we expect these players to at least show up to our Sunday shooting session. Those unable to show up for any long stretch have the alternative option of showing up 10 times for that month. If any player listed fails to do so, that player will be removed from the page. As harsh as that is, holding ourselves to such a high standard will not only further impress college coaches, it will be the most effective route in impressing these coaches in a plethora of other ways on the court.
50 Skills to Mastery
50 Skills to Mastery
In our effort to develop players who have "perfected" the fundamentals, we've developed a checklist of items that we will use as a guide. It's kinda hidden on our site, but can be accessed by clicking the random 6-word quote at the base of any page on the site.
Improving at basketball is a journey; and now is a road that we've mapped out. It's not an easy road and the avenues will be full of other obstacles, but we'll work and work and work together as a family! The players are asked to check-off what they're proficient at, and we'll make sure it's all checked-off by the end of their time with us.
We'll also unofficially use the month of March to delve into each of these items as deeply as possible. Perhaps we'll even use every scheduled workout to spend as many hours as possible to maximize the chances for absolutely every kid in attendance to master this list. Regardless of how we go about it, printing out this checklist of drills and moves wouldn't be the worst idea :-)
Monthly Homework
Monthly Homework. Yes, homework...
Not to be a downer or anything, but homework is now a part of our basketball program. It's well-known that humans tend to have more passion for things they've chosen to do on their own accord, and we're hoping to use that to our advantage.
Found in our Calendar section, each month has a link for homework. It's either a drill or a move that must be done each day for the entire month. The page is accompanied with a tutorial video of a kid in our program demonstrating the homework.
Be sure to print out these worksheets for your kids to have something to do on their own every month. It's not too difficult, but the focus it takes to complete these tasks is monumental for their overall development - on and off the court.
I've told the kids this very true statement: Each month, only about 10 kids will have the audacity to print out the homework. Of those, maybe 5 will even try. By month's end, at most 2 will see it through. If you're constantly the 2, the 5, or even the 10, that speaks volumes about who you are and who you'll one day become.
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[August 1st & 3rd, 2017] ELITE TEAM TRYOUTS! Click here for more info
