When I was 18 years old, I signed an NLI to play basketball at the University of Florida in one of the top recruiting classes in the country. Guess what? It was hard, and I struggled. Instead of sticking it out, I transferred.
All players want to play. But so few get in the gym and really work, and thatβs the difference. Canβt shoot, work. Canβt dribble, work. Stats do not lie. Work. Really work. Your coach shouldnβt have to beg you to work on your own and shoot on your own.
Donβt let your kids transfer from high school to high school, or from AAU team to AAU team when they are young. Donβt settle every hurt feeling by their coaches with a parental confrontation. Donβt badmouth the coaches to your kid or in the stands.
My annual post before March Madness:
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Dads/Moms, if your daughter plays π please watch the Womenβs tourney too. Get educated about the top womenβs teams not just the menβs. & for the love, please stop telling your sons they play like girls. π PSA complete.βπ½
Parents shut up. Seriously. Cheer for your kid, and stop yelling at the refs and the coaches. Officiating is bad at the youth level. You yelling at the refs, ainβt making it better. The guy barely making it up and down the court isnβt miraculously going to get younger and better.
Parents, please do your research before you send your daughter to go play for a coach. There are some shady college coaches out there, just like any other profession.
Talk to your kid about how to handle adversity. If they arenβt playing, tell them to work harder. Just showing up to practice isnβt outworking anyone; theyβre required to do that.
What needs to be done to get our womenβs officials to catch up to 2022? A female makes a move that looks βtoo goodβ & itβs a travel. A male does the same move itβs not. A female celebrates βtoo excessivelyβ & itβs taunting. A male does the same thing & theyβre just celebrating.π
βIf you don't dribble an imaginary ball in the hallways doing moves and bumping into people yelling 'And One' then basketball isn't for you." ππ
You will literally never be liked by everyone as a coach. Your heart could be in the right place & ppl will still dislike you. Gotta be okay with that. You have to make tough decisions based on whatβs best for the team & many times that may not be whatβs best for the individual.
I still regret it to this day. I wasnβt tough enough, nor did I work hard enough. At the time, I thought all my reasons were good reasons, but the only thing quitting did was make it easier to quit every time things got tough.
Our 13-year old daughter is being raised by 2 college coaches. Tom and I are both in our Hall of Fames. Weβve both had tremendous success coaching in college (Tom at 2 different colleges, and me at 3).