What, exactly, are you coaching for?

Okay, so I took a small team to a tournament a few weeks ago. The bulk of our team is not very good, but that's okay, we're just at the beginning stages of putting this team together. We're still working on dribbling and scoring - you know, the stuff that good players do. Our younger boy's team is going great and the younger girls team is making huge strides. But this one is a year away from really making some noise. Anyway, we get there and we find that one of our players is sick and can't attend.

Uh oh. It's never, ever good to sign up for a tournament then not play. That kind of stuff gets around fast and that is NOT a reputation you want. So I called some players from another team I knew and asked them to play.

Problem solved, right? You would think so, if your intention is to just let kids play and get better. Sadly, that's not everyone's intention. The coach of those kids I scrounged up got wind of this and through a massive hissy fit. And his players were not even going to play on that weekend. Yeah, having them sit at home watching T.V. is really going to up their game. It seems he had another team in this tournament and he was counting on winning the whole thing with that team. And he didn't want his older kids beating his younger kids.

Now, here's my problem. First, and you will here this a lot as you follow this blog, if you are in a tournament that you can win, then you're in the wrong tournament. If you want your kids to get better, particularly in the early stages of your team's development, you need to play in tournaments where you get pounded every game. Once you're holding your own, it's time to move on to bigger and better tournaments. But more on that later.

"But what about their self esteem? Won't that ruin their confidence?" you ask.

To that I say, "Meadow Muffins." No, your team will be much better off if it is tested - and tested hard - in every game possible.

Second, if you need tournament wins to attract players to your AAU or club team, then you are doing something wrong. Primarily, you're practicing wrong. No, what will attract players to your program is that the players LEARN HOW TO PLAY!! Some players - and their parents - won't want that. And that means you don't want them. They just want to be the star of their junior high team. Okay, fine. Go somewhere else. But their talent will top out by 9th grade. So be it. But you are after something entirely different.

At least you should be.