By Mike Anderson
As both an elementary school principal and a U17 Girls’ Basketball Coach, I know how important it is for youth to face challenges in positive environments, outside of the traditional school setting. It gives young people an opportunity to be mentored in a focused way, and it expands their identity and community. Team sports provide a structure that enables players to learn what it means to sacrifice for a goal, rely on others, and have others rely on them, to accomplish those goals.
We all need role models
As coaches, we are modelling for kids all the time in the tone we set. When coaches become dysregulated at a sporting event, they are imprinting so many things – how to manage stress, how to handle winning and losing, how to communicate, how to lead, and what this game is really about for youth.
There is a belief out there that good coaches win, and bad coaches lose. If all you are focusing on is winning, you are supporting a toxic culture where we are teaching young people to win at the cost of respect for their teammates, sportsmanship, and their humanity. When your stake in the game runs deeper, you can appreciate good ball and the beauty of the sport of basketball. The same applies in life.
Sometimes we need to redefine what a “winning culture” means for our players. You can have a losing season and call it a win by taking away valuable learning. I would rather coach my girls and win zero games and learn than win every game and have no learning or growth as a team. One way to measure whether you have a winning culture is: Do the players want to continue playing the sport and/or on your team at the end of the season?
Culture is a win-win
Imagine a team with a bunch of superstars that can beat other teams, but no one is having fun or feeling good about how they are playing. Those teams don’t thrive and grow and create memories. At end of the day, sport, just like life, is about your enjoyment of the experience. Whether you are coaching rookies or seasoned athletes on their way to professional levels, instilling in players a love of the game will inspire them to continue playing, or be part of the game as coaches or referees later on which strengthens the fabric of sports over time.
The highs feel so good especially when you have gone through adversity. Sometimes we see a challenge of confidence in a player. When they are in tears on the court, our player needs to know we believe in her and she is allowed to make mistakes if we are going to shift the energy.
Taking risks makes us better
Similarly, when we are coaching a player to be a better shooter, we encourage them to take risks. Some coaches would say don’t take that shot, it’s not a sure thing; it will put the game at risk. A great coach will say take the shot and it’s okay if you miss. We give free reign on the court. Everyone is a shooter. When you are open you shoot. And if you have a lane, you drive and, if you can pass you pass. Our team doesn’t have set plays. We teach the fundamental principles and then encourage them to read and react. When you teach them how to think it’s really empowering. It also sends the message it’s okay to take risks and fail. If you make a mistake, we will help you learn from it. This is more important than ever in today’s world.
Harness human connection
Basketball is all about the shared experience. You never know when a star player may have a serious injury (like tearing their ACL) and the team may collapse. It’s an opportunity for others to step up and learn and rebuild together. The human connection between our players is always going to trump winning. We could just play our five best players and win more games but in the long run you need to develop all of your players.
From a practical perspective, they are developing so variably in the teen years, you need to allow for things to shift in capabilities and advantages like height. Some coaches will instruct tall players to not dribble. It’s one of the biggest mistakes. It’s so easy to specialize your players’ roles in the name of winning that season but it hurts their performance over time. When you sacrifice the individual, you are harming the overall potential of the team and club.
The role of self-awareness
Being present and intentional and grounded in the moment is everything. Players need to be aware of themselves, anticipating, reading other players, faking passes and shots and drives. When you are in flow and engaging your whole self, the outside stresses go away. That is the chemistry we see in high performance teams – being completely absorbed in the moment, playing full-on, in-sync and covered in sweat. It is a pure joy to watch.
Self-awareness also yields self-leadership. It orients you to your personal goals and team goals – and the balance between the two. We have players write down their goals at the beginning of the season. What do you want to get out of the experience? What do you want to improve/ learn? What do you think our team needs to do to improve?
Encouraging a sense of agency and autonomy better enables players to manage their internal state and inner drivers. During some practices, we give what we call free-choice time where players can choose to work on different skills. It is highly effective because it engages them with what is on their minds and preoccupying them in their game.
Balance work with fun
We also do a lot of game-based drills even at our level and age to encourage fun on the court. It greases the wheels and heightens the level of competition combined with play which helps players relax under pressure. Our players know that the main objective is they are learning all the time. The game becomes a place where players can take risks, not to win, but to learn how to follow their instincts, and to better themselves. It’s an invaluable life skill.
Don’t be afraid of failure
We don’t discourage kids from stretching themselves or convey frustration when they fail. We tell them “You will hit the next one.” We remind them that statistically it’s the law of averages. This helps objectify failure and build confidence. It is a coach’s role to set the tone on prioritizing development and to hold space for the growth of players.
When we take this approach, a failed shot is logged in short-term memory as they move onto the next shot. Conversely, if a player experiences shame around a failed shot, it becomes a long-term memory and impacts not only their game but their potential going forward. We live in a time of highlight reels where everything goes well and we only see the exceptional. Michael Jordan reminds us “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.”
Vulnerability is the pathway to greatness, and that means taking risks. If you are only taking shots that go in you aren’t shooting enough. The same applies to life.
Mike Anderson is an Elementary Principal at Mitchell Woods PS with the Upper Grand District School Board. He is also a coach with the Centre Wellington Celtics Basketball Club.