I've been coaching youth basketball (my son's team - 3rd grader now) for about 3 years now. There is one exceptionally talented kid who understands the game and plays at a level of a 5th/6th grader - although his small size won't allow him to move up a division). The challenge I'm having is improving him as a player while improving the other kids - including my own. I was curious of everyone's thoughts/experiences/feedback on this.

Also, is there any advice on how to build the "team" aspect when this kid takes over a game?

Thanks!

One thing I did in my camps was to play a game to 6 and every player had to score before anyone could hit the game winner... you can even decide that.... you will be surprised how hard they will work to get every kid a shot. I found this a great way to create team work.
You can play some half court NO DRIBBLE games too.... they have to work hard to get open and without a dribble NO ONE player can take over.
When it comes to games, the kids know who the best players/scorers are... if its all about winning, they will let him take over and in a lot of cases.... encourage it.
Oh yeah, God Bless you for working with kids this age... tough job to say the least.... make it fun for you and the kids.
I hope this helps.

When I do clinics I'll have 5th graders that can barely dribble working along side high schoolers that can hang on the rim and do amazing things with the ball. I handle this by showing the advanced players little things. So if we're practicing two dribble changes through chairs, then an explosive step through dribble move to the basket for a lay up, I try to get the 5th grader just going the right direction, then I tell the advanced high school kid... "get your pivot foot here, extend, explode, use your eyes to fake the other direction, etc". I sometimes tell the older kid, this is the exact same move you'll use at any level. What sets you apart from everyone else are the little things... your ability to take a longer more explosive step, your ability to set up the move, the length and quickness of your dribble, etc. This seems to keep the older player excited and engaged.

I would do the same type of thing in team practices because most of my time would be spent on skill development. I realize this doesn't address your "team" practice aspects but thought it might give you some ideas that help.

For games, I would change point guards every quarter. Don't have the same kid bring up the ball. This will develop all your players. You can teach your talented player how to move without the ball. Let him know that if he wants to get better and succeed when he gets older, he needs to learn how to move without the ball in his hands and get open. This will help him in the long run. This should solve the problem of him taking over. Since these are just babies (3rd graders), the only important thing is for them to have fun, get positive influence (positive example from their coach), and develop. Winning at this age doesn't matter.

Thank you for your advice. Those are all terrific ideas. I do run the same drill for all and try to point out specific things for each to do, depending on their skill level. I'll try to continue that. Also, introducing a no dribble and every kid scores game would be beneficial as well.

Thanks again!