General Notes:
Open Gym September and October
Evaluations early November
Season starts November 1st.
LaSalle tournament around Nov. 28th (A Team only)
Ambler Catholic Tournament begins Nov 28th
Region 20 games begin the 1st week in December
SMG Christmas tournament over the holiday week. tba
Playoffs late January.
Parent Child Game in February.
We practice and scrimmage an average of 2 times per week after school
or in the evening for about 1.5 hours each practice.
Almost all games are held Friday evening, any time Saturday and Sunday Afternoons.
There is usually a maximum of 2 games per weekend. (thanksgiving tournaments
may have 4 or 5 games)
More than just basketball
At some point your child must be exposed to a very competitive world and
compete with dedication, committment and responsibility. Varsity CYO may
offer your child possibly his first exposure to real competition and as
coach I place a strong emphasis on dedication, commitment and being responsible
to prepare your child for the increased competitiveness that he will see
in high school in just a year or two. This year a unique opportunity exists.
Most of the players are 7th graders and I would love the opportunity for
a full team to play together for 2 full years. Because of our B division
Championship, for the first time in many years, SMG will field an A level
team. This means we will compete with the best teams in our Region. In seeing
the talent level we have, I am confident that we can surprise our fellow
A division teams this year and be very competitive.
The following are my views on SMG basketball issues that arise on a yearly basis. I hope you trust my judgement in this regard. My experience in this area helps me put your child in a position to succeed and gain confidence and avoid failure and poor self image.
Playing time: A players playing time is based on his level of participation in practices, Skill level, and ability to play well with team mates.
Practices & Games: Missed practices or games will directly affect playing time for the subsequent game. At every practice, new plays are learned and new drills are practiced. Every game missed is a missed learning experience. Also, full participation in practice is necessary to prepare for upcoming games. Anything less than 100% effort in practice and games shows me that you don't care enough. Actions such as, playing or practicing at less than full speed, talking while I'm talking, eating, not paying attention will also affect playing time.
1 missed practice the week preceeding a game - Player will miss
at least the first quarter.
2 missed practices the week preceeding a game - Player will not play for
at least the first half.
Skill level- My goal is to build confidence of players of all
levels. This presents quite a challenge. Players with the highest skill
level will normally be rewarded with the most playing time. Yet, even the
best player(s) still need confidence building at this age. For them, being
asked to be leaders is almost always appropriate. Asking them to play a
majority of a game is also appropriate. With the weaker players, I am very
cautious not to put them in positions where failure to perform is probable.
Embarrasment of failure in front of team mates, friends and family is an
issue. So weaker players will be put in games based on the level of talent
of the other team that is on the floor. They will also be introduced into
a game where they may be largely overmatched in talent, but only for a short
period of time. It's ok to make mistakes but to continually be outplayed
for a prolong period of time is not helping anyone but the apponents confidence.
As the season progresses, players improve and gain confidence, you may notice
they will start to play more. Sometimes the improvement may never come.
That is not to say that your child has not been a valuable contributor to
his team. I constantly remind the players that success comes from the entire
teams participation in practices and their support of each other throughout
the season.
Team players- I rarely have any problems in this regard. But sometimes
spectators catagorize a skilled player as a 'ball hog'. Boys of this age
are almost always conscious of their teamates and not 'ball hogging' many
times to a fault. I spend most of the season encouraging players to be aggressive,
drive to the basket and shoot more regardless of the possible failed outcome.
It would be unfair for any team mate or spectator to catagorize a player
as a 'ball hog'. That is my responsibility.
Winning vs Losing: I subscribe to the old saying 'winning isn't everything, but it helps!' Everybody likes to win. players, coaches and parents. However, because of varying levels of talent each year, sometimes placing an emphasis on winning is unrealistic. Rather the emphasis is more focused on competing and improving and not quiting.
Goals: It is important to set realistic goals as the season begins
based on the talent and athletic abilities of the current players. However,
several goals remain the same each year.
Increase basketball knowledge, skills and strategies.
Learn how to be more aggressive and overcome fear of competing in a contact
sport.
Yes! basketball is a contact sport.
Learn why dedication, participation and responsibility is so important in sports and in life.
Improve respect for team mates, opponents, coaches and referees.
Establish or reinforce friendships
Improve conditioning, strength and coordination.
Cuts: Each year our goal is to get enough players to make two teams and avoid excluding any players. As a coach it is important to have a limit of participation in order to accomplish the above goals. Therefore it has been sometimes necessary in the past to have cuts before the season starts if there are too many players for one team but not enough for 2 teams. Recently though a no cut policy has been instituted. Every effort will be made to make sure a player is on a team.
CYO participation thoughts for Prep Parents
New starting Fall of 2007. League rules specify that a player MAY play for both his CYO and school team at the same time. This new rule was established to encourage additional participation by non SMG schooled students. So if your child is a good athelete or just wants to make new friends, SMG CYO is a great opportunity. However, my rules above are clear. If a player consistantly misses practices and/or games, his playing time will be limited.
Here are some athletic reasons to play for your CYO team:
More games 20-30 vs only 8
Longer season Nov 1- Feb 1 vs mid Jan-Feb
Extended playing time (many school teams all players play even)
tournaments min 3 vs 0
Playoffs min 2 vs 0
Skills training in depth vs short season, large team numbers, limited
Structure Full uniforms vs ??
2 PIAA refs
scoreboards
cheerleaders
Some players feel they need to play for their 7th and 8th grade school teams in order to have a better chance of being noticed for the following year's high school team. This is primarily a myth. While coaches may occasionally watch 7th and 8th grade games, a year is a long time. Your son will normally go through some pretty significant physical changes in that time. The way you make your team the following year is through your actions on the court in tryouts. The 25-30 games in the CYO program will improve your sons skills far better than the 7 or 8 games his school has to offer.
Additional reasons to play Varsity CYO sports:
Expand your childs ability to be independent and conquer shyness by having him establish new friendships instead of staying comfortable with existing friends. Your child probably sees his class mates at other school functions, in the nieghborhood and at community sports programs.
Increase your parish involvement. I'm sure both parents and students have considered ways to be more involved in your church, yet many times it's hard to donate time. CYO Sports are a great way to donate your time in the form of participating(child) and spectating (parents/siblings). This involvement is easy, fun and fosters development of the parish community.
Every CYO game starts with a prayer. What starts a 7th & 8th grade school game?