Youth Beginners

I am looking for advice on how to handle the coaching of my youth team. This is my first year coaching and my team consist of girls from the ages of 8-12. No player on my team has played organized basketball so I am basically starting from the beginning. The youth league I am in provides practice one day a week for an hour and a half (which is definitley not enough time). And our first game is Jan. 9th.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can build a successful team with the limitations I have? What should I teach first or how should I organize my practices to get the most out of them in an hour and a half? Should I expect our first season together to just be a learning experience or is it possible to build a winning team?

Londa, what do you mean 1 1/2 hrs. per week isn't enought time? Consider yourself lucky, we get 1 whole hr. per week. :)

Having been in your spot, first, I would read the entire Breakthrough Basketball site. There is a lot of good info here. Second, make sure you have an assistant to help break things into smaller groups. Third, break your practice down into categories10-20 min each: 1) Warm up, 2) Ball handling, 3) Offense, 4) Defense, 5) Scrimage, etc. Break each category down into drills and activities -- 3-5 mins. each. Keep things moving. You will loose their interest fast if things slow down. If you can, spend a ton of time playing 3 on 3.

Don't worry about winning. Wins will come if you do your best. Good luck.

Those are good suggestions! Also, be sure to document your practice plan so you can refer to it and keep practice moving efficiently.

Here's what to teach:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/coaching/teach-youth.html

Coaching with limited practice time:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/blog/index.php/coaching-youth-basketball-with-limited-time-1-practice-a-week/

There will never be enough time, so you'll just have to prioritize and focus on the critical things.

Good luck.