The daughter of the head coach of Team A is an aggressive, talented player. But she has no vision for the court, doesn't understand how to let a play develop, and is a ball/glory hog. If she could see the plays developing and was a better teammate, she would elevate her game and team to a whole new level.
And college basketball fans can pick up on it instantly.
Last night the AAU club program my daughter plays for has a chance to play at half time of a college mens game. They took girls (who were in town and interested) from our 10,11, and 12 teams and created 2 teams to play for a few minutes in front of a big crowd. The coliseum has about a 14k seating capacity and it was about 1/3 full last night.
The daughter of coach A took the ball up for her team and you could see it in her eyes... she wasn't looking for anyone open. She was looking how she could get the ball to the hoop. She scored a couple times and did one move that made the crowd "OOooo" (but got blocked).
The girls only played for about 9 minutes and in that short period of time. I was allowed to move to center court just off to the side of the scorers table to watch. So I was in the area of some very knowledgeable college basketball fans who paid a good amount of money to get the seats they had. Not just your causal fans
I could her the comments from the fans change from "wow she's awesome" to.... and this is a direct quote from a fan who had court-side seats... to "Not much of a team player". They picked that out in that short period of time.
One could argue "Oh she just got caught up in the moment". No, this is the norm. I've learned not to start these kind of conversations but somehow I end up having someone say it to me or I'm within and ear shot of the conversations. I've heard other parents state that their daughters avoid being on her team for that reason. As a fan of the program, it's really frustrating because 1) It's allowed to go on, 2) it tears down team chemistry, and 3) its hurting this girls development. She developing some dangerous habits now that are going to have really negative impact if she chooses to continue to play in high school or college.
But there is hope. This past fall season Team A's head coach realed her daughter in and forced her to use her team more. Perhaps she needs time to develop that skill and break those bad habits. Maybe.
It was a fun experience and my daughter did well on defense (one steal and a block) and took a couple shots in that short amount of playing time.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
1st post.
I'm not even sure if I'll stick with this or not. But I feel I need a sounding board. And if nobody ever reads this, well that's just fine. My intent is to voice my opinion for someone, somewhere in internet land to read it. I will say that I've voiced my opinion and concerns in the past and it's impact our experience. More on that later.
This is for my opinion and my opinion only. If you disagree, you are welcome to comment. But understand this is not a "tell all" of any sort of dirty secrets of the program. i won't even claim that my words represent actual events. Why do I say this? It's so if by some strange chance anyone from the program reads it, they can't say I'm bad mouthing anyone or anything.
My daughter is in a AAU basketball program. It's been a mostly positive experience but there's some negative aspects to it.
At the heart of the program, the intent is to develop girl basketball players into better athletes so that they perhaps can play at the high school, college, or even pro level. One girl from the program is in the WNBA.
It's run much like a college or advanced high school program. You have to earn your playing time. While they try and work in all skill levels, if you're not a top player, your game minutes may be limited unless your team has a huge lead or is getting blown out.
The program is directed by one person, call him Ben. There is a board of directors however I think they may in name only. Brian runs the show and makes the rules. Which is fine with me because he's the one that started it all. I simply don't understand why it's called a board of directors instead of a parent committee.
My daughter is a solid player and is improving but is not a star player in her age group. She'll have 2 teams to pick from next spring: Team A with the top players and good coaches (moms of 2 of girls on the team). Team B with the "leftovers" and a coach who is a high school student and member of the program. The student is a good coach but she's not at the level of the mom coaches simply from lack of experience.
On Team A, the head coach is the mom of a very aggressive point guard who doesn't like to give up the ball. Many of the players and parents have complained about this. My daughter played for this coach in the fall (AAU's primary season is spring but has fall and winter opportunities as well). The coach did a great job reeling in her daughter and getting her to use her teammates more. But she has a way to go to reach the level of what an elite point guard should be (my opinion). A fantastic coach. Demands maximum effort no matter your skill level and is encouraging the same to all. Privately I'm sure she's harder on her own kid but that comes with the territory.
The assistant coach is also a mom of a player on Team A. She's different. She always gives me the impression she's trying to establish a dominant position when talking with her. I never get a sense of just chatting with someone. It's entirely possible I'm reading her wrong. Her level of enthusiasm is noticeably different for the top players.
Now is this any different from what happens in college? Likely not. But is it appropriate for elementary school aged girls who are trying to learn confidence and teamwork? To me, you want to offer more encouragement to your less talented players in hopes they develop.
Ben, the director of program has a similar attitude. It's never harsh. But noticeably absent. Reading the site is like reading his personal blogs and it boasts of achievement and praise from parents of players who he helped through adversity. But read a little deeper and it's from parent of top tier players. Absent is any accolades from a player who was just average and raised her game to make her high school team. Now maybe it's a case of that doesn't make for interesting reading.
I try and volunteer to help with as much as I can. I run the clock or keep the stats as I don't know enough about basketball to really coach in a game. While waiting for a game to start, Ben was next to me and I observed the interactions with players and parents. He notices everyone one of them going by. But who are the ones that get more than just a polite smile? The top tier players and their parents. The average players and their parents get a courteous head nod and that's it.
Now maybe this is just a part of a larger overall sociological mindset I'm not getting. The program has skill session/practices where player from 3 different teams and ages work on fundamentals. I had some paperwork to catch up on so I sat away from everyone and watched my daughter between pages. When I was done, I observed the parents. The ones with the top players were all grouped together and chatting away. There is even one dad of a top player who likes to keep to himself but is drawn in.
Is it a big "clique" I'm just not aware of? Maybe.
More later.
This is for my opinion and my opinion only. If you disagree, you are welcome to comment. But understand this is not a "tell all" of any sort of dirty secrets of the program. i won't even claim that my words represent actual events. Why do I say this? It's so if by some strange chance anyone from the program reads it, they can't say I'm bad mouthing anyone or anything.
My daughter is in a AAU basketball program. It's been a mostly positive experience but there's some negative aspects to it.
At the heart of the program, the intent is to develop girl basketball players into better athletes so that they perhaps can play at the high school, college, or even pro level. One girl from the program is in the WNBA.
It's run much like a college or advanced high school program. You have to earn your playing time. While they try and work in all skill levels, if you're not a top player, your game minutes may be limited unless your team has a huge lead or is getting blown out.
The program is directed by one person, call him Ben. There is a board of directors however I think they may in name only. Brian runs the show and makes the rules. Which is fine with me because he's the one that started it all. I simply don't understand why it's called a board of directors instead of a parent committee.
My daughter is a solid player and is improving but is not a star player in her age group. She'll have 2 teams to pick from next spring: Team A with the top players and good coaches (moms of 2 of girls on the team). Team B with the "leftovers" and a coach who is a high school student and member of the program. The student is a good coach but she's not at the level of the mom coaches simply from lack of experience.
On Team A, the head coach is the mom of a very aggressive point guard who doesn't like to give up the ball. Many of the players and parents have complained about this. My daughter played for this coach in the fall (AAU's primary season is spring but has fall and winter opportunities as well). The coach did a great job reeling in her daughter and getting her to use her teammates more. But she has a way to go to reach the level of what an elite point guard should be (my opinion). A fantastic coach. Demands maximum effort no matter your skill level and is encouraging the same to all. Privately I'm sure she's harder on her own kid but that comes with the territory.
The assistant coach is also a mom of a player on Team A. She's different. She always gives me the impression she's trying to establish a dominant position when talking with her. I never get a sense of just chatting with someone. It's entirely possible I'm reading her wrong. Her level of enthusiasm is noticeably different for the top players.
Now is this any different from what happens in college? Likely not. But is it appropriate for elementary school aged girls who are trying to learn confidence and teamwork? To me, you want to offer more encouragement to your less talented players in hopes they develop.
Ben, the director of program has a similar attitude. It's never harsh. But noticeably absent. Reading the site is like reading his personal blogs and it boasts of achievement and praise from parents of players who he helped through adversity. But read a little deeper and it's from parent of top tier players. Absent is any accolades from a player who was just average and raised her game to make her high school team. Now maybe it's a case of that doesn't make for interesting reading.
I try and volunteer to help with as much as I can. I run the clock or keep the stats as I don't know enough about basketball to really coach in a game. While waiting for a game to start, Ben was next to me and I observed the interactions with players and parents. He notices everyone one of them going by. But who are the ones that get more than just a polite smile? The top tier players and their parents. The average players and their parents get a courteous head nod and that's it.
Now maybe this is just a part of a larger overall sociological mindset I'm not getting. The program has skill session/practices where player from 3 different teams and ages work on fundamentals. I had some paperwork to catch up on so I sat away from everyone and watched my daughter between pages. When I was done, I observed the parents. The ones with the top players were all grouped together and chatting away. There is even one dad of a top player who likes to keep to himself but is drawn in.
Is it a big "clique" I'm just not aware of? Maybe.
More later.
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