Well, that was easy for me to say... but I can tell you that a head coach is pretty busy during the season... its like another full time job. I know a rec league came to me once and we held a clinic for them... not alot of their coaches came. I told the guy in charge that we would be more than willing to do this any time they would like us to.

IF there is only one league it would be easier, we had several because of our area... so that makes it a little tougher time wise. It takes some planning but I still think its a good idea.

Funny how some of the coaches took offense to the things we were trying to show them... and we were nothing but positive believe me. I went to a few rec league games and regardless of the ages of the coaches... they all wanted the W.... not as interested in teaching the fundamentals. Its a tough sell.... so do your best to try and get it done.

Do you think the other coaches would be interested in a clinic?

Ken

Honestly ken the only other coach I know at this point is one of my assistants, and I'd say he wouldn't be interested because he already knows everything there is to know about basketball (yeah, sarcasm).

I can tell you that we've all got kids on the teams, so I think anyone who'd turn down a clinic designed at making us better coaches would have to be nuts.

We've got one really big HS that covers one rec league. So I guess it's about as easy as it could be for the HS coach. It really couldn't hurt to drop the guy a dime and have a conversation about the state of youth basketball in our area. I know our rec guy really does care about the kids and would like to see them all succeed, I don't foresee any road blocks on that end.

Then by all means... give this guy a call and make an appointment... don't try to solve this or make plans over the phone.. too easy to say no.... get a face to face.

Go in with a plan, make it as easy as you can for the guy and it will be hard for him to turn you down... heck, its in his best interest to do this. Maybe have the rec league guy with you when you go to meet with him... and as for your asst. -- make him take notes for you and him LOL Heck, tell him that you are going to publish them to all the coaches that attend.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

Ken

UPDATE:

So, I took your advice and contacted the local HS coach, and he was interested in what I had to say. The problem arose when he contacted the Dean, as it turns out (and I already knew this) the local HS is a private, free academey. So while it's got open and free enrollment, it is technically a private school and insurance along with other funding concerns put them in a position where they don't want to touch the public sector (rec league) with a ten foot pole.

As to my assistant coach, this guy was having kids do push-ups for missed lay-ups. Now in his defense he had a perfectly reasonable, if misguided, rational for doing this. He said by having the kids do push-ups it would serve to stregthen them so they'll be able to make the ten foot rim. I told him I appreceiated what he was trying to do but I did not want to spend practice time doing push-ups. So he says OK and I never heard from him again, he took his kid off my team and that was that.

I'm really happy for all the advice I got here, I did return the focus to fundimentals and fun. Last year when the focus was on winning, the team lost a barn burner in the championship game. This year while the focus was on fun and fundimentals we lost all but 3 games. But, the 3 wins were the last 3 games and they actually looked like a basketball team. It was great to watch, it felt good to sit on the bench and just cheer the team on, and I have to say, we all had a real good time.

I'm really sorry that they can't see the forest for the trees. There is always a way to work things out IF they really want to take the time and effort. I cant imagine that they wont reach out to help their own program.

Your assistant coach needs to go to a few clinics himself... and search sites on the net... there are a multitude of sites that show young coaches how things should be done... a ton of drills, explanations, diagrams etc.

Some of my best ideas came from other coaches, I just tweaked them to fit my team. I'm glad you had a good year along with the kids. Keep up the good work and keep posting. YOU are the kind of coach that SHOULD be working with young kids... you have their best interests at heart.

Hootch: Great advice from Ken, and im sorry about the clinic, however you are dealing with an administrator and most administrators are afraid to step into the water. We, unfortunately, have become a suit society thus the worry about insurance, kids getting hurt, dealing with the parents as a result, sometimes that's just too much for any admin guy to handle. As for your assistant Coach, well, he was there for all the WRONG reasons and you are better off without him. Good luck with the rest of your season Coach Mac