Preaching to the choir here. Our village has two hoops, with small courts. It does have 9 parks (population 4,000) with play equipment and enough space to run and play different games. It also has a BMX pump track and a small skateboard half pipe where kids play unsupervised.
All paid from our local taxes: free to use for everyone.
To paraphrase 'Field of Dreams,' : 'Is this Heaven?' 'No, it's Willand.'
I had a team of particularly unruly 5th grade boys, and it occurred to me at one point that these kids were coming to practice after a very structured school day and most of them never really have a chance to “just play” basketball.
So after a few practices I started opening practice with what was essentially 20 minutes of an open gym, just playing 3x3 and 2x2 at the different baskets in the gym. They would walk in, shoot around, and once I had at least 4 kids, I’d give them some pinnies and send them to a basket. No instruction, no guidance. Just play a small sided, half court game.
Their motivation and ability to focus on the rest of the practice was so much better and a lot of the weaker players really started to improve. It was like a pressure release valve.
You’d think I would lose control of the practice, but it was actually the opposite. They were actually a lot more willing to buckle down a practice, because they came to practice knowing it was going to be fun and that I would actually LET them enjoy a little freedom and unstructured time.
The result was that I was even able to develop some trust and build relationships with some players other coaches might have given up on.
Preaching to the choir here. Our village has two hoops, with small courts. It does have 9 parks (population 4,000) with play equipment and enough space to run and play different games. It also has a BMX pump track and a small skateboard half pipe where kids play unsupervised.
All paid from our local taxes: free to use for everyone.
To paraphrase 'Field of Dreams,' : 'Is this Heaven?' 'No, it's Willand.'
I had a team of particularly unruly 5th grade boys, and it occurred to me at one point that these kids were coming to practice after a very structured school day and most of them never really have a chance to “just play” basketball.
So after a few practices I started opening practice with what was essentially 20 minutes of an open gym, just playing 3x3 and 2x2 at the different baskets in the gym. They would walk in, shoot around, and once I had at least 4 kids, I’d give them some pinnies and send them to a basket. No instruction, no guidance. Just play a small sided, half court game.
Their motivation and ability to focus on the rest of the practice was so much better and a lot of the weaker players really started to improve. It was like a pressure release valve.
You’d think I would lose control of the practice, but it was actually the opposite. They were actually a lot more willing to buckle down a practice, because they came to practice knowing it was going to be fun and that I would actually LET them enjoy a little freedom and unstructured time.
The result was that I was even able to develop some trust and build relationships with some players other coaches might have given up on.
Very good coach.
Thank you.