4 steps to building a youth sports team from scratch

by Eric Leung

The Basketball Embassy Youth Ambassadors Program Facilitator

It seems on every corner there are youth sports teams starting up with intentions of competing in city, state or nationally hosted leagues and tournaments.

Through the years, there have been many obstacles on creating a perfect formula for out-of-school sports teams. These are just a few tips I have for building a youth sports team from scratch. Before we get started, I just want to point out that the most important tip of all is that you are doing this for the kids. Candidly, if you’re not doing it for the kids, you shouldn’t be doing it at all.

STEP ONE: CREATE A ROSTER

You are now the general manager of your team and one thing to remember is a team without quality coaching isn’t a team at all. What kind of coaches do you want to surround your team with? Anyone can put a bunch of friends together and just go out there and coach, but the men or women you surround your team with should similar beliefs about how a team works.

Many of us fall in love with the “I-can-do-it-on-my-own” mentality, and I'll tell you from my own experience, it doesn't work­–especially if you plan to do this for a long time. With that, you started setting up the foundation for your team. Remember to make sure this is a coaching staff that you could see committing themselves, as well as seeing yourself, committing your full time and effort for these kids.

There are three other questions you need to ask at the beginning stages of your team’s formation:

·       What’s the age group you plan to coach?

·       How many roster spots do you plan to fill?

·       Committed athletes

These three points set up a great beginning for a great team. Remember, age is important to consider. As the coach, we have to know how to connect with the certain age group we choose to lead. Empathy is the key to bond with players.

When dealing with roster spots, the plan is to have the player gain an understanding from what the coach has to teach, at times we want to fill a bench or have enough players for a tournament and that's not what coaching a club team is about.

STEP TWO: PRACTICE PLANNING

Once it's clear on what kind of roster you have, then you can get down to the fun stuff -- the practice planning period.

Practice planning is a critical part of having your own club team. You want to be able to fit as many skill drills as you can in the amount of time you plan to practice. You have to define what kind of basketball team you are going to be. Are you just there to play or to develop skills that will make these kids into better players?

Break every minute down to where practice will run the allocated time for players. The best thing to do on the first day of practice is to address the parents and the athletes on what your expectations are for the team. I can't stress this enough, make your expectations clear to the point that if the students don’t come back it's not because you don't want them to. I always say you have to weed out the corn from the nightshade. If you plant nightshade, it will destroy all your crops. You want to plant corn and you want results, not poison.

Always remind players they’re here to learn and to improve. It’s not an open gym, it’s practice. The focus must be on getting better every minute out on the court. Have your offensive and defensive plans and skill drills written out with every minute accounted for so your practice can be run at a smooth pace.

Other things to do when preparing for practice:

·       Create a syllabus of guidelines (this way you can have something to present to the parents and players of when practices and tournaments will be and whether or not there is a team fee. The first page should highlight the expectations and goals the coaches want for the athletes.

·       Secure a practice location (gym, park, any type of basketball court).

·       Decide on how long practice will be.

·       Follow your practice plan (we always want to spend more time teaching than we want to be talking).

·       Be enthusiastic (most important).

The coach has to be the most enthusiastic person in the gym. If the coach shows any type of bad vibes or negative response, the players will show the same attitude. You have an opportunity to do things many others try to do. Enthusiasm gets you through a hard day and it produces positive results.

STEP THREE: GAMETIME

Now we get to the part that every coach looks forward to… I mean every player looks forward to and that is the game. Everything has been done before, so one important part as a coach is you have to be coachable yourself. Every game calls for a different situation and every situation calls for a different game plan. Now a good friend of mine, Parker Hines, an assistant coach from the San Antonio Spurs, said a basketball game is like a chess match. You want to be able to position your players and put them in spots to be able to win the game.

Sometimes, I overlooked this when I was a young coach. The most overlooked part--we as coaches get so caught up with the winning and losing. We forget that our job is to teach, coach, and be able to show our players they can learn through adversity and they are able to get through anything by proper scheming and by continuing to work hard in all aspects of the game.

·       Pregame warmups

·       Gameplan

·       Lineup

·       Learning and coaching (on the fly)

“On the fly” simply means coaching in the flow of the game. Basketball is an up and down sport, the game speed changes, or it stays the same. As a coach, you have to be able to feel the game. Basketball should have a flow to it. It doesn’t matter what kind of style you want to play, you will encounter different defenses, presses, and offenses. As a coach, you have to be able to slow the game down in your mind, and, like a chess match, put your players in the best position to win the game.  

STEP FOUR: STAY ENERGIZED

Remember to make yourself clear in what expectations and goals you have for your team, and make sure your players and parents understand this is a process. All coaches should be enthusiastic every time you line up in the gym. Enthusiasm never hurts anybody. Players should want to go to practice, not go just because they have to. Always remember to lead by example.

Zach Mason