I loved coaching the JV level at both Harrison Trimble and Moncton High. I enjoyed the amount of learning that went on in those young minds in such a short time with you. They gain so much ground as players and people; you can see the improvement daily. One thing that was always fun was who you might end up playing over the season because a lot of our games were in tournaments. This can work for you and against as you though. You might see a nice spread of talent and challenges or you may end up like we did one season facing Riverview High on eight different occasions of our approximate 30 game schedule.
Riverview had an unstoppable team. They were highly talented that were loaded at every position. The man running this team was local basketball celebrity Dave Tingley. I have a lot of respect for Dave’s opinion on the game and he always represented the school very well with his teams. I like Dave but that season he was the basis of my nightmares. Even though we got closer every game, we lost every single time.
I’m always excited to play the best teams and this season was a rare pleasure for us to the see the best team in the province so regularly. The players took the challenge daily knowing we’d have to beat them to win a provincial banner.
I’m always excited to play the best teams and this season was a rare pleasure for us to the see the best team in the province so regularly. The players took the challenge daily knowing we’d have to beat them to win a provincial banner.
A few days before this game our team played a game of soccer baseball as a warm up and change of pace. Yes I realize it’s unorthodox but I’m a true believer that simple things like that will help a young team bond and have fun together doing more than just drills. They should be playing more than just one sport too. An example is having someone at the back of your press (in a 1-3-1 for example) who’s played on the defensive side in football especially a safety. They’ve already learned how to read the field and a quarterback. You just get them to translate this to basketball and reading what the ball handler will do next and communicate the cutters and screens to teammates.
Anyone who was a golfer that I’ve coached were generally my best shooters. They had no problem focusing on the mechanics and the repetition of shooting the same form. They understood that concept already so they could feel when they were off and what adjustment needed to be made without much feedback from a coach or teammate.
On the day of the 8th game, the boys were buzzing ready to go but not to play basketball. They wanted to play RHS in a game of soccer baseball! Being that I try to accommodate my team’s requests, I approached Dave with this change of plans. Although he laughed hysterically, Dave politely said no even though I offered coaches can play too. Dave, the offer was a serious one and the challenge still stands!
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