Coaching Basketball- Season 2

Date this was actually completed: September-November 2013

Second season was great. The girls started getting some wins and ended up finishing fourth out of seven teams in the competition, which was great looking back on the first season where we ended up finishing seventh out of eight. In the games they had a lot more opportunities to practice skills like shooting which in the previous season they never really got the chance to do because of the tougher competition. The girls gained a lot more confidence and you could see that they were enjoying the games a lot more.

The finals series of the second season was really exciting because the girls actually had a chance to potentially make the grand final- and even win it. Unfortunately though, we got knocked out after our first play off game where we lost by a measly 3 points. This was a really tough game for me- the refereeing wasn’t the greatest and there were rumours that the opposing team had snuck in older players to help them win (which of course is not allowed). A number of parents and players from my team complained about this and I was left with the decision to follow this up and try and steal back the game- or to just let it go and be satisfied with fourth place. Initially my intention was to go file a complaint about the other team sneaking in older players. But if I ended up following through with that- that team would have been disqualified from the competition. This didn’t sit well with me because I know for a fact that it wasn’t the players on that teams choice to sneak in the older girls, they are only 10 and 11 years old so it would have been the coach whom made the decision to do it. The idea of disqualifying that whole team of young girls because of the wrong actions of the coach alone didn’t seem fair on those girls whom were so excited to get that win. So I decided to drop the report and be satisfied with fourth place. I explained this all to my girls and their parents who were surprisingly very supportive. They said that it wasn’t all about winning- that fourth place was a huge achievement anyway and that they didn’t want to stoop down to the level of the other coach. This made me extremely proud because my two goals for this team (and their parents) were for them to be good sports and for them to have an attitude that winning wasn’t everything. Hearing them be so supportive of my decision confirmed for me that they had accomplished these two goals.

 As a result of using my service to coach these girls I believe I received the following learning outcomes:

1.    Undertaken new challenges

-      Prior to these two seasons, I had zero coaching experience. It was a totally new thing for me

2.    Planned and initiated activities

-      Planning out the training sessions taught me the importance of preparing things ahead and also about being able to be flexible when plans get interrupted

3.    Worked collaboratively with others

-      Having to work with a manager, assistant coach, the players themselves and their parents taught me new things about working with others, such as the importance of communication

4.    Shown perseverance and commitment in your activities

-      When games and training sessions got tough  I had to persevere and set an example for my team

5.    Considered the ethical implications of your actions

-      Deciding to move down a division after our tough first seasons took a lot of consideration. At the end of the second season when we lost that final game, I was left another decision- to report the other team for potentially cheating or to just be content with what we had achieved

6.       Developed new skills

-     I learnt a lot of things from coaching, things that I will carry with me for a long time. Skills such as communication, perseverance and commitment- which aren’t just basketball skills, but life skills.

I absolutely loved coaching and will definitely do it again given the opportunity.

Here is a photo of my team and I on presentation night where I presented them all with a trophy and certificate for their hard work over the two seasons I had them

 

They all got together and presented me with this card and a gift voucher for a clothes store. Whilst the gift card was certainly put to use, I really did appreciate the card. Reading all the lovely messages they wrote me was really touching- its nice to know that all the hard work and time I invested into them wasn't for nothing and that they both cared for and appreciated me as much as I did (and still do) for them

 

I was also given a supervisor's evaluation form from the club president which was really great to see that he was please with how id handled the girls. Very encouraging indeed