September 10th, 2015 | Uncategorized
It is Week 1 of settling into my new home in Limerick and I have already been able to coach the teams that I will be helping with this year. I will be coaching for the Lakers, which is a junior boys basketball club based out of Limerick. I had my first day of coaching on Sunday and my second day is tonight.
To be honest, I was a little intimidated in the first coaching session. I had four different sessions in one day where I coached the U18 team by myself as well as the U14 team by myself and then I assisted with U12 team and the U9 team. It was easy being an assistant coach for two of the sessions because I just followed the head coach’s lead. However, I had to put a lot of thought into the two coaching sessions I did by myself.
There is a lot that goes into a practice plan that I never really thought about. I wanted to make a practice that was fun and enjoyable but also challenging at the same time. I have had a lot of different coaches over the years and each coach had his own style of coaching so I took bits and pieces from all my previous experiences to form my own plan. I came up with some fun drills so that the players would be engaged and would enjoy being at practices and I also picked some challenging drills so the players would push themselves to get better and learn something new. I had to decide what my teaching points were going to be and how long each drill should last.
I really enjoyed having the independence to form my own practice and I am looking forward to working with the Lakers for the rest of the year. This coaching experience will be a great way to further develop my strategic planning skills, communication skills, and leadership skills. Once games start, I will have to start thinking about substitutions and rotations but right now I am just taking it one practice at a time. I can’t wait to work with the players again tonight!
Victory Scholar: Staats Battle
Present University: University of Limerick
US League: ACC
Club/Community Partner: UL Huskies
Alma Mater: North Carolina State University
Sponsored by: Team Ireland
