Coaching Traits 

●     What traits will we make sure we emphasize as coaches in the program?

○     Patience

■     Remember we are coaching kids. Young people need CONSTANT TEACHING, but also the opportunity and freedom to make mistakes. OUR ROLE AS COACHES IS TO TEACH AND THEN HELP PLAYERS LEARN FROM MISTAKES. Rather than expecting players to play flawlessly, it’s essential we allow them to make mistakes. This approach requires an immense amount of patience.

○     Emotional Maturity

■     Basketball games can become heated, bottom line. IT IS YOUR DUTY AS A BASKETBALL COACH TO ACT LIKE A RESPONSIBLE ADULT UNDER EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE. This means keeping your temper under control even if you feel like you are being wronged during a game or things aren’t going your way. Our players will mimic the emotional maturity we showcase, and we need to make sure the example of emotional maturity is our standard of excellence.

○     Basketball Knowledge

■     We will set ourselves as a program by making sure all our coaches are equipped with a tremendous amount of basketball knowledge. But realize it is also your duty and responsibility to be a student of this game for life, eager to constantly learn.

○     Time Commitment

■     Games are important, but the bulk of your time will be dedicated to efficient practices with your team. To be effective you will need to organize effective practices, provide fundamental skill instruction, communicate frequently with players, communicate frequently with parents, and much more. Coaching is a commitment of your time for the main goal and objective of developing future characteristics and skill sets we believe will be effective for the rest of their lives.

○     Prioritization

■     Winning is important, but it’s not the main objective. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE AND GOAL OF OUR PROGRAM WILL BE TO ENJOY THE JOURNEY TOWARDS ACHIEVEMENT and emphasis on individual commitment statements. A truly effective coach will evaluate a team's level of play, set attainable goals, and then assess outcomes based on development RATHER THAN WINS OR LOSSES. Identify your players’ values and establish your commitment statement and values as a coach, they use those core values as guiding principles in prioritizing team and player goals.

Unacceptable Misconduct

• What is acceptable player, parent, and coach conduct?

  • 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18.

    • 90% of abuse happens by someone they know.

    • Growing trend of peer-to-peer sexual abuse.

    • Typically happens and occurs when coaches DON’T report things.

    • Realize as a coach there is a huge amount of trust created between yourself and your players. There is also a huge amount of trust created between players and players, as well as players and parents.

  • Any form of sexual or unwanted abuse between ANY PLAYER TO PLAYER, ANY PLAYER TO COACH, ANY PLAYER TO PARENT, OR ANY COACH TO PARENT WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

  • What are some proactive tips you can take as coaches to avoid such situations?

    • Make sure what you are posting on social media is not anything derogatory or personal in any negative way or form about the organization, your team, or your players you are representing.

      • In addition, make sure anything you post on social media is not inappropriate in any way shape or form for youth to view.

    • Implement group texting at all times, avoid private streams with players.

    • Never engage in 1 on 1 communication with athletes, make sure a third party or other people are present whenever communicating with athletes.

      • It is especially helpful to have these combinations during crucial conversations with athletes:

        • Player, parent, and coach

        • Player, coach, coach

    • Share all schedules and itineraries with parents in advance.

    • If you are ever in a locker room setting as a team, do not allow any recording devices to be used by either players or coaches, gather cell phones from everyone once in the locker room (they should be paying attention anyway).

    • If you are ever in a situation where you need to travel to a local tournament, make sure you provide:

      • Parent contact information for others to communicate and a carpool schedule

      • Clear communication that parents/guardians are responsible for transportation

      • If a situation arises where an athlete needs a ride home and you are the only option available, make sure there is a 3^rd person in the car and NEVER a situation where it is you and 1 athlete in the car.

        • Example: a player gets a concussion that drove themselves to practice alone, the player cannot drive home and no one can get a hold of parents to come pick the athlete up. The coach could drive the injured athlete with another uninjured athlete to a common location (such as a school, etc) and have a fellow parent come pick up BOTH at the location. Then kindly ask fellow parent if injured athlete can stay at their location until the injured parents are contacted. But DO NOT take injured athlete home privately. HYPERLINK "http://www.pgcbasketball.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2012-Commitment_Culture.pdf"