The End of My First Season

I just finished my first season of basketball this past weekend. It has been a busy busy time. Some successes, some failures, some definite improvements for next year. My junior high team had it’s ups and downs, mostly downs. We worked on some skills at the beginning of the year, but unfortunately there are some major gaps in talent on the team.

Something I did not anticipate when beginning coaching, I did not realize how much your bottom fourth can really effect the rest of the team. This is something I have seen on the basketball team and in my classroom. If you have some learners that are just too far behind it really can slow down and cause disruptions in the rest of your flow. For instance, most students who are in that bottom fourth are the students who end up being behavioral problems. This, for me at least, directly relates to them not getting it. For instance, they do not do their homework or reading so then they are behind in class and behind on quizzes. Then, as a result they are bored in class or do not care enough to pay attention because they feel they are too backed up to make it up.

This same thing happens in basketball. Some are eager to learn but they struggle so much that they get easily frustrated or just make a joke of themselves. Because no one else cares to help them, then they get made fun of, laughed at, and just pushed to the side. This is really what happened on my junior high team. For me, I think some people just aren’t meant to play a sport. But, that’s not what happens here at CHS. So, that’ll be something I need to be prepared for in the future.

My senior high is a different story. I had some great athletes on there and a team that liked each other. This fluid attitude and support system built the team up and we ended up tripling our wins from the previous year. Last year the team won three games, and this year we won nine total. Next year will be an interesting year. We are losing our three biggest point leaders, and unfortunately some of our biggest leaders as well. But, the team has a great attitude and is committed to each other - so I think we’ll be allright. I am excited for next season, but also ready for a break. I felt so tired after Saturday with practicing every day and games two or three times a week.