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The cost of traveling basketball in Hudson, WI starting in 4th grade is $495. This fee includes a basketball, uniform, practice times, and 7 youth tournaments. The head coach is a volunteer parent.
If your kid goes to Hopkins, MN the cost is $450, Arrowhead, WI $525, and Duluth East, MN between $350-500. Soccer and hockey parents are sadly rolling their eyes at these low fees. The cost to play youth sports has increased dramatically. Yes, most programs offer scholarship applications for waiving the fee, but these have a low utilization rate. If a parent has a son or daughter on the fence to play, or for whom basketball is their second or third favorite sport at the time, many are deciding to not play. Lower income families are being excluded entirely. What are the two main costs for a youth program that is run and coached by volunteers? Tournament fees and for some unlucky youth programs, gym fees for practice time. In the Twin Cities metro area the average tournament fee is between $350 to $450. Many tournaments have waived gate fees following COVID and transferred this cost to a higher entry fee. Those running or managing these tournaments are typically doing quite well financially, commonly making over $20,000 on a weekend. The second main fee for youth programs is gym fees. For a large school district with 20 plus youth traveling teams between the girls and boys programs the gym fees for a calendar year can easily be around $20,000. There are many school districts who do not "double tax" their residents with gym fees and the youth program fee is significantly lower in these areas as a result. What can be done? To reduce tournament fees youth programs can take out the middle man and form agreements with similar sized or competitive programs to have their own free jamborees. Each team plays two games, per USA Youth Basketball Guidelines, and referee and gym fees are covered by gate fees. Get 8 to 12 area youth programs on board and you easily have 3-4 free tournaments for each grade level. However, your youth team might not be ranked or qualify for a youth state tournament if you do this (sarcasm). If your school district does charge to use the gym for practice do an audit of area programs or the schools in your conference to see if it is a fair rate. Many school districts do not charge their residents to use their school facilities for practices. Present your information to the appropriate stakeholders involved if there are significant concerns or discrepancies. Lower costs lead to greater participation. We strongly encourage head varsity coaches or youth program directors to reach out to other like minded coaches and help form a youth coalition for free tournaments. Reciprocity for youth basketball organizations is win-win for families involved and the community as a whole.
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All practice samples below are for 90 minutes unless noted otherwise. We try to keep score in all competitive drills. Our typical scoring system for team offensive emphasis is one point for a score, one point for an offensive rebound, and minus one point for a turnover. For a defensive game emphasis we give one point for a stop, one point for an offensive rebound, and minus one for a turnover. This scoring system puts an emphasis on valuing the ball and rebounding in every competitive drill throughout your practice which we believe has great value.
In practice 1 and 2 the team defensive and offensive strategies were implemented due to a scrimmage scheduled for day 3 of training which was not optimal. Your first scrimmage or scheduled game will have an effect on your practice planning as well. The typical practice format below is team message, dynamic warm-up, skill development, defensive emphasis, team offensive emphasis, transition segment. How much time is allotted for each segment is dependent on your team needs with skill development typically being 20-40 minutes and 30 minutes on average. Email info@youthbasketballdevelopment for questions on drill descriptions. Practice Number 1 (Install Defensive Concepts) Message (Core Values). Pre-practice shot routine. Walk-through defensive concepts (transition defense, positioning, etc...) Dynamic warm-up with ball. Mass defensive footwork (stance, push step, close out). 1 on 1 from half court and 1 on 1 close outs from wing (keep score). 4 on 4 positioning to help the helper to live (keep score - points for stop, off reb, turnover). 2 on 2 defending ball screen on side and 2 on 2 defending ball screen in middle. Marquette transition defensive drill ( 4 on 4- keep score with 1 pt score, off reb, -1 turnover). Free-throw line transition drill (5 on 5-keep score 1 pt score, off reb, -1 turnover). 4 on 4 cut throat (defend ball screens, dribble penetration, a screen away-point for stop). If time: Finishing off two feet series (Power, Air’em, Donut), Westbrook finishing (rule is off two feet), and team two ball shooting off split screen action. Practice Number 2 (Install Offensive Concepts) Pre-practice shot routine. Point series action walk-through (spacing, over and away actions). Dynamic warm-up. 3-0 over with defender on rail cutter (reject, curl, s-cut actions). 3-0 away with defender on rail cutter (reject, curl, s-cut actions). 5-0 over and away series. 4 out 1 in motion offense whole walk-through (spacing, cutting, hand-offs, ball screens). 5-0 transition (advance opposite, advance same side, keep it with dribble hand offs). 5-5 circle transition 4 trips. 5-5 FT-Line transition. Box base line out of bounds (BLOB) if time. Practice Number 3 Pre-practice shot routine. Message. Finishing series (2 foot-Power Lay Up, Air-Em, Donut). Race to rim finishing. 3-0 over shooting (team timings-keep score). 3-3 Ball toughness (no dribble, 10 points is max score). 4 on 4 Shell positioning and help the helper. 5 on 0 Circle transition missed shot and made shot. 5 on 5 Across FT-Line. 5 on 5 Nebraska Wesleyan transition. Practice Number 4 (60 minutes) Pre-practice shot routine. Message (humility, togetherness, competitive spirit, and mentally tough). Finishing series (2 foot-Power Lay Up, Air-Em, Donut) 1 on 1 Close outs. 3-3 Ball toughness. 5 on 0 Circle transition made shot. 5 on 5 Across FT-Line. 5 on 5 Nebraska Wesleyan transition. Practice Number 5 (120 minutes) Pre-practice shot routine. Message (Discuss what is a good shot-space, time/possession, know thyself). Dynamic warm-up. Finishing Series (1 foot finishes: speed, inside hand, reverse). Westbrook 1 on 1. Shooting (2 ball-3 person, 2 ball split screen shooting-away). 3-3 Ball toughness (you can score). 1 on 1 Full court. 3 v 3 Defending ball screens. 4 on 4 Shell help the helper and defending staggers. Marquette transition defensive drill. 5-0 Motion (Dribble at, Post Up, Drive and Kick, Ball Screen). 5-5 Motion. 5-0 Transition Made Shot (Motion and Point Series) 5-5 Circle Transition Practice Number 6 Pre-practice shot routine. BLOB walk-through. Dynamic warm-up. Finishing series (2 foot finishes). Partner Shooting 3 on 3 off two feet (Paint touch and can only score if off 2 feet). 1 v 1 Half court. 4 v 4 Help the helper. Spacing, ball toughness, paint touch emphasis: 5-0 Half court motion. 5-0 Over and away with Point Series. 5-5 Circle Transition Made Shot. 5-5 Box out transition. 5-5 Across FT-Line. Practice Number 7 Pre-practice shot routine (Hand out uniforms). Zone offense walk-through (X-game and Motion Filler). Dynamic warm-up. X-1 on 1 finishes. 3 on 3 off two feet (Paint touch and can only score if off 2). 1 v 1 Close outs. 4 v 4 Help the helper. Spacing, ball toughness, paint touch emphasis. 5-0 Half court motion. 5-0 Point series. 5-5 Circle transition made shot. 5-5 FT Line box out with situations (teach responsibilities). 5-5 Across FT-Line. Practice Number 8 Pre-practice shot routine. BLOB walk-throughs. Dynamic warm-up. Finishing series (2 foot finishes). Westbrook 1 on 1. 3 on 3 Ball toughness (Can have 1 dribble). 1 v 1 Full court. 3 v 3 Close outs. 3 v 3 Defend ball screens. Spacing, ball toughness, paint touch emphasis. 5-0 1/2 Court motion. 5-5 Point series. 5-5 Circle transition made shot. 4-4 Marquette transition drill. Practice Number 9 Pre-practice shot routine. BLOB and 2 up press breaker walk-throughs. Dynamic Warm-Up. Finishing Series (1 foot finishes). 2 Pass 1 on 1 finishing. 4 person shooting (2 Ball) and partner shooting. 1 v 1 From wing. 3 v 3 Close outs. 4 v 4 Help the helper. Situation Games: (Side out, press situation, FT-Line, BLOB, Motion with 25 sec left, 2 min game). 4-4 Marquette transition drill. 5-5 Across FT-Line. Practice Number 10 Pre-practice shot routine. 2 up press breaker walk-through. Dynamic Warm-Up. 3 on 3 Paint Touch. 3 on 3 Ball toughness length of floor in lane. Partner Shooting 1 v 1 From half court. 4 v 4 Help the helper. 4 v 4 Chaser 5-0 Motion (NBA line: drive and kick, post touch, ball screen). 5-0 Point series. 5-5 Line box out drill. 5-5 Across FT-Line. Parents have a tremendous influence on their children and it is important to include them to help influence a positive atmosphere. We recommend having an inclusion mindset versus one of confrontation as supportive clear minded parents tend to have coachable non-excuse making kids. During your parent meeting a good agenda to follow would be a brief introduction of yourself (no need to list all your accolades or accomplishments), your team core values and standards, clear expectations in regard to the parent-player-coach relationship, playing time considerations, logistics and scheduling, and close with answering of any questions.
As previously stated by having clear core values you help set a foundation for positive behavior both on and off the court. It also becomes clear to your parents that you care about more than basketball, that you care about the development of their child as a person. Parents will also have a better understanding of what helps guide your decision making and can assist with reinforcing. We do not recommend a long list of rules beyond these core values but rather two to four standards for your players that your parents have an understanding of. An example of standards may be having fun, great effort, being on time, and no whining or complaining. Discussing the parent-player-coach relationship helps set clear communication expectations. In regard to the parent-coach relationship, a parent should expect to know your coaching philosophy and core values, team and schedule requirements, fees, and how playing time is decided. As a coach we expect parents to express any concerns directly to us versus in front of their child based on their strong influence. Concerns should never be addressed immediately following a contest since when emotional the best words and decisions are not chosen. Parents should encourage their child to voice any concerns they may have to their coach directly with their parental support and notify you of any schedule conflicts in advance as appropriate. Things that are appropriate for parents to discuss with you as a coach include the treatment of their child either mentally or physically, behavior concerns of their child, and ways to help their child improve but we recommend team strategy, play calling, or discussion of other kids on your team as not being appropriate. We also recommend not discussing playing time if it is coaches discretion at the age you are coaching which we will review later. In the parent-player relationship, Bruce Brown, founder of Proactive Coaching, recommends that if your child is in a safe and appropriate environment, “Release your child to the game.” By doing this as a parent we improve our child’s ownership, enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation for playing basketball. As a parent, setting high standards for our children in regard to effort and values is ok as long as it is within their control (not based on winning) and clearly communicated. Also, parents should avoid the PGA, or post game analysis as if done consistently it becomes toxic for your child’s enjoyment of the game. For the coach-player relationship, tell your players it is an open door to discuss playing time and to communicate any concerns you may have in a respectful and direct manner. Tell them that this takes courage of which you greatly appreciate. We also recommend telling your players to not compare themselves to others and focus on the things they can control such as their attitude and effort. As a coach it is important that your expectations and standards for your players are simple and clear. Playing time concerns tend to be more of an issue as players get older when playing time is no longer equal. In alignment with USA Youth Basketball we recommend equal playing time for ages seven through eight years old, equal playing time for ages nine through eleven years old with coaches discretion the last two to four minutes of the game, and full coaches discretion for ages twelve and above with common sense being utilized. As long as there are no serious behavior concerns we recommend that every one of your players gets into the game and plays. Most youth associations have clear guidelines that you will need to follow in regard to playing time which may slightly differ from above such as equal playing time through sixth grade with coaches discretion following. As a youth coach these guidelines can simply be communicated to your parents. If it is coaches discretion at the age you are coaching there will be multiple factors that go into you or your staff’s decision on your player’s playing time. These factors should be communicated to your parents and players and include skill level, behavior and work ethic, athleticism, practice and game performance, and potential match up considerations. Summary
As we reach February many youth basketball programs have been practicing consistently for up to three to four months and practices may have become somewhat monotonous for both players and coaches. Below are five potential strategies to breathe some life into your practices.
Situation Games: Add a 10 minute block to your practice where you play out various situations in one to three minute mini-games. These tend to be focused and intense segments that your players really enjoy. Examples can include:
Shorten Practice Time: Keep practices intense and crisp but shorten them to one hour. You will be able to keep your players attention better along with keeping the intensity high. Sometimes less is more especially at this time of the year. Additionally, by ending practice sooner it may allow you or your staff to work more individually with certain players on specific skills areas following the scheduled team practice time. Your players will appreciate this individual or small group time. New Drill, Game, or Set: Add a new finishing at the rim game, a different competitive shooting game, or set which the players have a say in to give them ownership. There are hundreds of different drills and games in our library at youthbasketballdevelopment.com or simply go online and search. End Practice on a Fun Note: John Wooden, in his book They Call Me Coach says, “End practice on a happy note.” This could be done by doing your team’s favorite drill or playing some type of game. For this reason we do not recommend running conditioning drills at the end of practice. If conditioning is an issue there are a lot of transition drills to get your players up and down the floor with a ball in their hand along with working on team defensive concepts. Cancel Practice: Instead of having practice, cancel it and go as a team to your local high school or college game. Emphasizing fun, life-long participation in basketball is important. Having your team find a positive role model or group in basketball that they identify with and makes them say, “I want to be like them or I want to be a part of this group.” can be a very powerful motivator for long-term commitment and improvement. Youth basketball State Tournaments and rankings have become widely prevalent over the last 10 years in multiple states. If you have ever been at one of these events, coached in one of these events, or have been a part of a youth association board meeting where State Tournament participation and rankings have been discussed you realize quickly that parents have come to hold these events and rankings with some importance. At Youth Basketball Development we believe these “State Tournaments” and rankings of youth teams ages 9-14 are detrimental to long-term development and participation in sport and have little bearing on future success. We understand this may anger some but feel strongly that it is the truth for multiple reasons.
Research Current research has shown that overemphasis on results and short-term success in youth sports (State Tournament Championships and rankings) may limit the benefits of participation, and could increase the risk of injury, burnout, and disengagement from physical activity. Additionally, emphasizing short-term results at the youth level has been shown to lead to early single sport specialization and highly intense overtraining during childhood years. State Tournaments and rankings are results and winning oriented. As such, State Tournaments and rankings inherently put results and winning ahead of development and ahead of participation. Research also shows that competitive success at the youth level correlates modestly at best or not at all to success at the senior level. Parental Ego State tournaments and rankings at the youth level are created by business organizations looking to generate revenue. For a lot of parents we tend to value ourselves by how well our children do and that our children’s behaviors and accomplishments are a reflection of us. Because the results of our children’s actions can sometimes be outside of our control such thoughts and actions can be toxic for ourselves and our children. Additionally, children are very preceptive at picking up on our verbal and non-verbal energy and aim to please their parents. If your energy as a parent or coach is tied to qualifying for or winning a state championship and improving team ratings our children will pick up on these cues and tie their own self worth to these results. This leads to fear of taking on challenges, anxiety, and greater dropout rates. Is it actually a true State Championship? The short answer is no. The State Tournament is used to determine the best team in a particular state and by definition is considered to be the top achievement in the state (again, this is heavily results oriented which at the youth level has been shown to lead to multiple negative long-term effects). For a true State Tournament to occur all similar sized schools and associations in the entire state would participate. In the vast majority of cases this is not the case as in order to participate a large entry fee may be needed, which inhibits lower income communities from participating, schools and parents may choose to opt out of participating due to travel and expense concerns, and in some cases your team may have needed to participate in a certain amount of prior tournaments owned by the organization running the State Tournament. A youth State Championship is a championship by title only and not a true State Championship of importance. Winning Youth sports is about improvement, positive core values and relationships, playing with great effort, and fun. Winning is important but not at the expense of long-term development. Parents and associations that focus on small improvements and developing a work ethic versus results and winning tend to have competitive, growth mindset oriented, and high performing children. Team Rankings Businesses that are in charge of youth rankings do so in order to promote competitive balance, seed tournaments, and drive traffic to their websites. These rankings are based on winning. As previously noted a heavy emphasis on winning and results at the youth level is to the detriment of development and participation. There are also many other ways to promote competitive balance. When signing up for youth tournaments there can be different levels of competition of which to participate (A, B, and C or highly competitive, competitive, recreational, etc…) or tournaments based on school size (large school and small school divisions) which would not involve rankings. Also, youth basketball associations have become heavily reliant on outside tournament organizations to run and organize tournaments due to organizational ease. We recommend supplementing a few of these tournaments with “jamborees” by inviting two similar sized or competitive teams to your school and playing two games on a Saturday morning. Parents and kids love it because there are less negative parental and coaching behavior concerns related to outcomes, they do not consume a full day, are cost-effective and easy to organize, and are competitive and developmentally based. Summary If your youth association does make the decision to participate in a youth State Tournament remind your coaches and parents that it is not a true State Championship, has limited bearing on future success, and we are emphasizing great effort, improvement, our core values, and fun over winning a youth tournament. This should lead to a positive experience for all involved and greater long-term success. References: 1. Güllich A, Emrich E. Considering long-term sustainability in the development of world class success. Eur J Sport Sci. 2014;14(Suppl. 1):S383–97 2. Moesch K, Elbe AM, Hauge M, Wikman JM. Late specialization: the key to success in centimeters, grams, or seconds (cgs) sports. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2011;21(6):e282–90. 3. Moesch K, Hauge ML, Wikman JM, Elbe AM. Making it to the top in team sports: start later, intensify, and be determined. Tal-ent Dev Excell. 2013;5(2):85–100. 4. Van Rossum JH. Deliberate practice and Dutch field hockey: an addendum to Starkes. Int J Sport Psychol. 2000;31:452–60. 5. Güllich A. Developmental sport activities of international medalists and non-medalists—a matched-pairs analysis. J Sports Sci. 2017;23:2281–8. 6. Cathey RM. Retrospective practice histories of expert and nov-ice baseball pitchers (Doctoral dissertation). University of South Carolina, Columbia. Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. 2010. [UMI No. 3413286]. 7. Barreiros A, Côté J, Fonseca AM. From early to adult sport suc-cess: analysing athletes’ progression in national squads. Eur J Sport Sci. 2014;14(Suppl 1):S178–82. 8. Schumacher YO, Mroz R, Mueller P, Schmid A, Ruecker G. Suc-cess in elite cycling: a prospective and retrospective analysis of race results. J Sports Sci. 2006;24(11):1149–56. 9. Brouwers J, De Bosscher V, Sotiriadou P. An examination of the importance of performances in youth and junior competi-tion as an indicator of later success in tennis. Sport Man Rev. 2012;15:461–75. 95. Davids K, Güllich A, 10. Ford PR, Ward P, Hodges NJ, Williams AM. The role of delib-erate practice and play in career progression in sport: the early engagement hypothesis. High Ability Stud. 2009;20:65–75. 11. Elferink-Gemser M, Visscher C, Lemmink AP, Mulder T. Mul-tidimensional performance characteristics and standard of per-formance in talented youth field hockey players: a longitudinal study. J Sports Sci. 2006;25:481–9. 12. Ford PR, Williams AM. The developmental activities engaged in by elite youth soccer players who progressed to professional status compared to those who did not. Psychol Sport Exerc. 2012;13:349–52. 13. Haugaasen M, Jordet G. Developing football expertise: a foot-ball-specific research review. Int Rev Sport Exerc Psychol. 2012;5:177–201. 14. Ward P, Hodges NJ, Williams AM, Starkes JL. Deliberate prac-tice and expert performance: defining the path to excellence. In: Williams AM, Hodges NJ, editors. Skill acquisition in sport: research, theory and practice. New York: Routledge; 2004. p. 231–5 15. The NBA and Youth Basketball: Recommendations for Promoting a Healthy and Positive Experience. Sports Medicine 48(1) · June 2018 This is a difficult question that many large youth associations must tackle and and the current evidence out there is poor. After a PubMed search we were unable to find any good-quality articles from peer reviewed journals that directly addressed this issue. The current basis of recommendation for when to start A and B team versus equal level teams is based on expert opinion and customary practice. Below is a list of common arguments for initiating A and B teams as well as arguments against.
Arguments for an A and B team:
Arguments against an A and B team:
Emotional stress and B team stigma. If youth associations, coaches, and parents emphasize that getting the opportunity to play and player improvement is more important than outcomes or what team you were on in middle school the stress or stigma of being placed on an A or B team can be partially mitigated. Additionally, there are countless examples of B team members going on to have successful high school and college sport careers. In fact, several studies have shown that competitive success at the youth level correlates modestly at best, or not at all, with long-term senior success (early success is not a valid predictor of long-term success). Just because your youth team won the so called 6th Grade State Championship does not mean they will automatically have great success in high school. Early drop out. The main reasons cited for dropping out of basketball is lack of playing time, not having fun, lost ownership of experience, afraid to make mistakes, and feeling disrespected. There was no note of an A and B stigma for dropout reasons reported. Equal coaching quality. It is extremely important that the quality of coaching and practice opportunities be equal at the youth levels for ages 14 and below for proper development. By doing this you are just not focusing on early maturing kids who are more advanced compared to their peers and thus are developing potential late bloomers as well. So what age should we start an A and B team? It is important that whatever age your youth association decides to form an A and B team that your reasons are in alignment with your youth association philosophy and that the youth association and high school coaching staff are on the same page. There are many factors that go into this decision such as number of players, gym space, skill level and talent of players in each age class, coaches available, high school staff preference, and what neighboring youth associations have chosen to do for whom you play against. In our opinion and based on our research, it is not necessary to provide A and B teams for children under the age of 12 (elementary aged children) and that A and B teams can be initiated for those 12 and older (middle school age children from 6th grade above) as appropriate. Other alternative to A and B teams. No set rosters (roster fluidity) and no posting of teams to take the focus away from team assignments. Teams at the different age levels are thus interchangeable to provide opportunities for athletes to gain confidence and at other times, “stretch” their abilities to promote growth. The coaching staff considers the competitive level of each athlete prior to assigning them to league/tournament experiences and practice and game schedules are posted on your youth association website and emailed to families. If adequate gym space and coaches the teams can do fundamental skill work and games together and then break up into separate teams for team offensive and defensive concepts. References
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