Editor's Note: In part 2 of this series below, below Jeff Huber covers the first 4 of 7 questions that you should ask yourself when coaching a team or building your program... Also, if you missed part 1, you can read it here: [Are You Coaching a Team or Leading a Program](   I believe you should set aside some quiet time and reflect on the questions below to evaluate yourself and your program.  1 - Do you use a curriculum?   If you arenât, you need to be! Schools talk about curriculum all the time, and with good reason. A curriculum is hugely beneficial for your coaches and players.   What should a basketball curriculum look like?   It should include the skills and concepts (offense and defense) you want players to learn at each grade/level.   Skills can be further broken down into things like ball handling, shooting, finishing, etc.   Concepts would consist of team tactics and principles. So perhaps it's a simplified version of the offense you run at the varsity level.   For each area (i.e., ball handling), include the skills (a 3rd grade ball handling standard might be a pound dribble with head up), the drills (practicing your pound dribble with a coach holding up fingers to count), and applicable games (dribble tag).   A key part of building a program is developing culture.   Thus, your curriculum should also include what players should be learning in terms of culture.   Itâs easy to take for granted that our players know what it means to be a good teammate. They donât - we must teach them! This section could include things like sprinting to help up a fallen teammate or pointing to the passer after a basket.   For your coaches, a curriculum creates clarity and accountability.   Most of the coaches who coach for us want to do a great job. They just need some direction.   This is especially true for those of you who have youth programs you are responsible for. In those scenarios, the coaches are unpaid volunteers who are giving up their time to help.    A curriculum gives them a way to measure the progress of their players and teams. It is also a great tool for you at the end of the season to use when evaluating your coaches.   For players, the curriculum is a measuring stick.   By the end of the season, it shows them what they should be able to do. This can be motivating to those seeking improvement. For this reason, share your curriculum with your players and coaches.   This transparency keeps everyone aligned on goals.   It can also be a good reminder that at the younger levels program development is more important than winning.  2 - Are you visible and engaged at non-varsity events?   If you are the varsity coach, you are most likely attending your teamâs freshman and junior varsity games. That is a bare minimum expectation.  Do you go beyond that? Do you attend any middle school events? Do you attend any youth games?   If so, great. Being visible is huge!   Sit at the end of the bench - not to coach, but just to be encouragement for the players.  Too many coaches never attend games below the high school level and then donât understand why players feel no loyalty to the program.   Letâs go one step further.   Do you know the names of the players at those levels?   The use of names has been proven to be incredibly powerful. For a young player in your program to be called out by name by the varsity coach is tremendously powerful. Are you taking the time to learn the names of the players? If not, start today.   At the high school levels, do you watch your freshman and junior varsity teams practice?   That is a great way to know whatâs being taught. Furthermore, done respectfully towards your other coaches, it also provides you the opportunity to jump in and coach those players.   They like that because it shows the varsity coach is interested in their development.   Youâll also find that your coaches will appreciate this, too. They are looking for guidance, and this gives you a chance to coach your coaches, ensuring they are teaching what you want taught.   Consider sharing the accomplishments of your youth teams on social media.   This small step is a great way to recognize their achievements and share the great things happening in your program at all levels.  Kyle Johnson, the boys coach at North Olmsted High School (OH), publishes a newsletter that features the good things going on in his program from grades 3-12 (see below).   This is a great way to share program successes and create a program that is aligned from youth through high school.     3- Is Your Youth Program Connected to Your High School Program?   There are a number of ways to do this. Â
- Conduct youth nights Have your youth teams be recognized at your varsity game. Then, let them play at half time. This is really exciting for young players and is something theyâll remember. Even better is to invite them into the locker room before the game as you meet with your team. Â
- Do a program wide team building event Winter break is a great time to do this. Have all your teams come together for a couple hours of fun and bonding.   Do some basketball related contests. Do some team building games. Share a meal together where everyone at the table must be on a different team.   This allows players to get to know each other and develop real relationships. Â
- Have your varsity players âcoachâ your youth players Every two weeks require your varsity players to help for 60 minutes of a youth practice. I have found it most effective to assign players to a team so they get to know the coaches and players throughout the season    One hour every two weeks is a reasonable ask. It is a good way for your varsity players to learn the value of service. I have found our varsity players really enjoyed helping out.  As much as your varsity players will enjoy it, your youth players will enjoy it much more! They look up to the varsity players, and getting to know and work with them is exciting for them.   Itâs also a huge help to the youth coaches. If youâve ever coached a youth practice, you know it can be pretty chaotic. Having a couple other people there to help is a huge assist.   Finally, ask your players to attend at least one of their youth teams games during the year and sit on the bench. The youth players will be thrilled to see them!  4 - Do you regularly meet with your coaches?   Not just talk, but meet. Are you intentionally setting aside time to find out whatâs going on with your sub-varsity teams and provide guidance?  You should be meeting with your other high school coaches every 1-2 weeks.  These meetings do not need to be long. 10-15 minutes should suffice.  Start by having the coaches share. You might want to give them questions in advance to reflect on. By starting with questions, you will get a good idea of what they are seeing.  After theyâve shared their thoughts, you can give your feedback. Provide 1-2 areas of focus for the next couple weeks.    Beyond regularly meeting about where each team is at, consider spending 5 minutes of each meeting on a coaching concept or topic you want your coaches to implement.   As the head coach, you need to teach your coaches as well. This is a great forum to build their coaching toolkit.   I would also suggest a weekly email that you ask coaches to respond to.   This can help with getting feedback in between meetings and staying up to date on whatâs going on with each team. Have 4-5 questions you repeat weekly that your coaches respond to.   Hopefully, that gives you some things to consider when building your program! In the next couple of weeks, we'll cover the remaining 3 questions for helping you build a great program year after year...     All the best,  Jeff Huber Breakthrough Basketball  This email was sent to {EMAIL} because you indicated that you'd like to receive emails and updates from Breakthrough Basketball on 2016-12-16 05:42:39. If you don't want to receive such emails in the future, please [Change Your Email Preferences]( or [Unsubscribe All]( Copyright © Breakthrough Basketball, LLC. All rights reserved.
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