JCCSF Raptors

This winter I helped to coach a 4th grade girls basketball team. It was the assistant coach to the head coach Josh, and later on to the head coach Amanda. I came into this experience not really knowing what to expect. I know that I can play basketball but I had never coached anyone else but myself. 

It turned out that I was matched with a team who could dominate the league. The girls on the raptors were used to winning, loved winning and would not settle for anything but to win. They worked hard in practice, specifically loving rebounding and passing games/drills. In games scoring was there forte and they ran other teams off the court. In the middle of the season we had a head coaching change, but that did not put a damper on the kids work. By the end of the season we were undefeated, besides one forfeit. However, going into the semi-finals,  our best player got pneumonia. Despite a great effort by our team, we lost a close match in the semi-finals, a huge upset. The girls were upset, but they had a great season and were an amazing team for my first coaching position.

Personally I learned a lot from this first coaching experience. I led a lot of practices, especially during the period of changing coaches in the middle of the season. I even coached a game when the head coach was out of town. I learned how to get the kids attention and how I needed to earn there respect if I expected them to listen to me. I learned how to motivate them and what to say in team huddles. For me, these girls taught me a lot and I will always remember them since they were my first coaching experience of many more to come.