My favorite part about my time here has by far been my opportunity to coach teams. I have always been involved in camps and clinics growing up, but I have never had my own teams. I am currently a co-head coach to a U12 girls team, and an assistant coach to a U14 and U18 boys team.Through my experiences with each team, I have learned so much in what it means to be a coach and how to actually coach a team.
When I first started out, I thought it was going to be easy. I’ve been playing basketball for how long? I can teach a group of little girls how to play. Wrong. I quickly realized that we spoke different languages when it came to basketball. What I knew as the paint and the elbows, they only knew as the square on the court and their corners. Beyond terminology, teaching fundamentals is hard. It took me way more tries than I’d like to admit to figure out the footwork of a left handed layup in a way that I could teach to them. I was responsible for teaching things that have become muscle memory and second nature to me and it was really hard. Watching Paddy teach these girls has taught me so much about coaching kids. He has such a way with them and the methods he uses to teach them are definitely lessons that I will carry with me throughout my years.
The girls are absolutely incredible. They show up twice a week ready to work hard and all they want to do is play basketball. Their hustle and effort are unmatched. I have seen their passing abilities and ball movement improve by a massive amount this season and I am so incredibly proud of them. The Midlands league better watch out because this group of girls is going to be a force to be reckoned with as they grow through the years.
The U14 boys are unreal. Not only do they have some of the best handles I’ve ever seen for kids their age, but they all work so hard at getting better. They’re at an age where they all think they’re NBA players and everyone wants to be the next Steph Curry on the 3-point line. My favorite part about them though, is even at this age they still want to learn. They listen to the advice you give and want to make sure their adjustments are right. As a bonus, they’re also one of the funniest group of kids I’ve ever met. I look forward to Monday’s solely because of them and I can’t wait to hear how they develop in the coming years.
I really enjoy working with the U18 team. They have so much talent and some of the best shooting ability I’ve seen here. They’re fun to coach because, unlike the younger teams, we speak the same basketball language. I can use my most recently gained knowledge of the game of basketball instead of having to go deep into my mind to drag out the basic fundamentals. I also recently started helping at their Strength and Conditioning sessions, which I’m really enjoying. I want to coach at an older level in the future and I feel like this team is giving me a lot of great experience in being able to do so.
Coaching is easily my favorite and most challenging part of being a Victory Scholar. I’m learning to see the game of basketball from a new perspective. At the end, I hope I’m able to collect all the knowledge I’ve gained and use it to enhance my ability as a basketball coach.
