I have been selected to become head coach of a varsity girls basketball team at a small private school. As you can imagine, this school is small but growing very rapidly and want sports to become a larger part of student life. I held what I thought would be a tryout last Friday and only 6 girls showed up. The list that was compiled of interested players was close to 18, so my plan was to hold tryouts and select best 12 players out of that group.

I have to be honest, I have never dealt with a situation like this before. I have done very well in the past with my coaching strategies because I tend to focus on teaching my team to master some key areas. M2M defense, Rebounding, Taking care of the ball.

I now find myself rethinking some of those focal points, because with only 6 players (some with very limited basketball experience) I probably need to run a zone to preserve energy and minimize fouls. Rebounding and Keeping turnovers low are I believe still keys, but I am just not sure about the defense. Any thoughts or advise would be appreciated.

You have to teach what you know and believe in. To me, getting some interest and excitement in the program seems to be priority. You don't want players that don't want to be there. But with 6 players, what happens if/when someone gets hurt?

Find some good athletes that just enjoy sports. If they have size put them in the post, teach them to rebound and play defense. Any athlete can do that.

Teach players and make it a positive experience. so they want to go out. Players love to feel like they are improving and getting better, even if they aren't winning.

Ouch -

I don't know of any high school coaches who have had to deal with a situation like this...... If this was me, I would be playing a zone also... have to keep the kids in the game some way. You have 6 players for the entire program? (th - 12th grades or just the Varsity?

I would start building your program from the bottom up.... freshman players, keep them together so you can build some success and team bonding. Have the coaches at that level teach what you want and as they come up through the program you can teach a little more.

Do the best you can, make sure the kids have a good time / fun! You might ask each of the 6 IF they could recruit ONE person interesting in playing. Then make sure that you find a way to keep them all happy, don't worry about the wins, make it fun for them and hopefully teach them something about the game along the way.

Good luck!!