The Life of a Varsity Girls Basketball Intern: On The Road, SCOUTING

(Sandersville, GA, 2009)

Scouting Trip to Sandersville, GA

One of the aspects of my internship as an assistant coach involves traveling to cities, which probably still have 56K dial-up internet connections, to scout teams that our girls will play in the near future. What a blast.

On my most recent trip to Sandersville, GA, which is 3 hours round trip from Athens, GA, luckily, one of my best friends, Rob Murry joined me. Rob is engaged to be married in March and is a full-time pharmacist. So, for him to join me on my scouting venture to Sandersville really meant a lot.

Considering Rob and I don't even travel 5 min to Stegeman Coliseum to watch the #9 Lady Bulldogs basketball team, but we traveled 3 hours round trip to watch Varsity High School Girls basketball, I can only imagine what Rob's fiance thinks about our recent excursion. I'll leave the explanation part up to him...

When we went to scout Brentwood, we sat on the home team's side. I'm sure the home crowd was a little baffled by the presence of a graduate student and full-time pharmacist at a Varsity Girls' game in "Civilization Central." They were probably really confused because of our presence, especially during the most intense part of the game, when Rob and I yelled statements that were ambiguously clear...Some examples included yelling "Cat in a Corn Field" after a bad call and "Pickle in a Pea Patch" after a missed free throw.

Considering they didn't know us, I'm sure they were wondering what the heck we were doing there. Rob and I thought about this before entering the gymnasium, and concluded we would tell them that "We were Uncle Ned's Kids," if asked.

(Owen Wilson and Vince Vaugh would have told the Brentwood faithful that they were "Uncle Ned's Kids" too)

Aside from the game itself, which reminded me so much of "the intensity of a home Georgia football game," Rob and I had a great trip.

On the way to Sandersville, somehow, we got into a "real light"discussion of free will vs. predestination/determinism. We even discussed R.C. Sproul's book, Chosen by God, which offers a Reformed view on the matter if you're interested. I really value our conversations together and am glad we could talk about such interesting matters.

Due to our fatigue, we had slightly less discussion on the journey home, but more "male bonding" time. And, by male bonding, I mean listening to reflective music that a lot of guys would admit they liked behind closed doors, but would scoff at amongst peers. We felt it was ok because we're secure in a our friendship.

Some of the Music from Our Post-Game Soundtrack:

1. Now We Are Free- Gladiator Soundtrack
2. Something in Celtic/Gaelic Language- Enya
3. Braveheart Theme
4. Revelation Song- Kari Jobe
5. Our Great God- Fernando Ortega
6. Comfortably Numb- Pink Floyd
7. Stairway to Heaven- Led Zeppelin

(Enya's Watermark CD creates some great road Easy Listening, which we found out)

The Life of a Varsity Girls Basketball Intern: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, BUT, some Women are from Mars, Part II

Different Audiences

Knowing your audience definitely helps, but sometimes, audiences are composed of members with different preferences and personalities that cannot be lumped into one box or formula!

Yes, there is some general truth to the statement, Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus, asserting that men and women are different, but sometimes, some of the girls I coach seem to be from MARS!

Recall the scenario in Part I, with the basketball player missing a wide open lay-up, where I broke down how I would generally handle the situation with a guy vs. a girl. I said that I would normally criticize a guy for his mistake, while encouraging a girl...Trying to apply that formula to each girl backfired once or twice.

Some of our varsity girls' respond differently! For example, one time, one of our forwards missed a lay-up, and I began clapping, saying "It's ok, you'll get it next time." She did not get pissed, but nicely told me to basically "stop B.S.-ing her." She told me that if she screws up, she wants to know it because it motivates her to play better when a coach criticizes her for mistakes.

I took her advice, and given my edgy sense of humor, have found creative ways to apply criticism to her. For example, after she shot the ball, and it was an "air-ball," hitting nothing and going out of bounds, I "encouraged" her, stating, "WOW! That was an NBA-caliber shot!"

For those who don't know what the acronym stands for besides "National Basketball Association," it also means "Nothing But Air."

Conclusions

From my observations of Coach Hamilton and my experiences, I have found that getting to know your players is one of the most important aspects of becoming an effective coach. Knowing your players can help you better understand them and treat them differently in different situations.

But, most importantly, I have learned that in coaching girls, as a coach, where I would normally criticize a guy several times for the same bone-headed mistakes until my corrections were entrenched in his brain, with most girls, sometimes, you just have to let it go and let them figure it out themselves.

The Life of a Varsity Girls Basketball Intern: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, BUT, some Women are from Mars, Part I

Lessons Learned

This is the first experience I have ever had coaching girls in any sport. While I have some prior experience mentoring guys in basketball, coaching girls is a completely different story...and, trust me, I knew this coming in. However, putting theory into practice is a not always easy.

I once learned in English to know your audience. This principle definitely applies to Varsity Girls basketball. Therefore, when I try to coach the girls dealing with technique or fundamentals, I have utilized, or at least tried to utilize, different tactics that I probably would with guys. Listed below are some examples:

Scenario 1: During a game, a player comes down the court and misses a wide open lay-up...

Coaching a Guy: (Foot Stomp!) What the crap was that? You can't just run 90 mph at the goal and expect the ball to go in. Missed lay-ups can lose ball games!

Coaching a Girl: (Clapping) That's ok, your form looked great on that ... lay-up. I "know" you'll make it next time, get back and play good defense.

From this scenario, we can clearly conclude that often guys and girls respond to different stimuli. Guys often respond to criticism, which can even be negative at times, because in the South, criticism "threatens their manhood" and they want to prove the criticizer wrong.

I have found that girls generally respond well to positive reinforcement. Most girls seem more secure in their abilities and aren't out to prove something to everyone in the world. However, if someone, such as a coach, negatively points out a flaw, it generally does not go over well and causes a reverse response from guys. Sometimes girls can then become too concerned about that one flaw, completely focusing on it, and blocking out the rest of the game. In contrast, if a coach positively reinforces a mistake, most girls respond well because there is less pressure on the mistake, allowing them to not focus on the mistake, but the game.

(Don't make comments to girls that reference size)

Scenario 2: I am working with forwards/centers with post moves around the goal...

Coaching a Guy: Listen, Offensive Player X, you are much bigger than Defensive Player Y, use your size as an advantage to score. If Defensive Player Y is right on you, put your butt into him and back him down!

Coaching a Girl: Listen, Offensive Player X, you are much bigger than Defensive Player Y, use your size as an advantage to score. If Defensive Player Y is right on you, put your butt into her and back her down!

Ha, ha, ha...yikes. Notice, there is no difference in the way in which I handled coaching a guy and a girl. This scenario actually happened, unfortunately.

If you are guy and haven't already noticed the problem, let me lay it out for you.

Problem #1: Girls do not appreciate comments about their size. While as a coach I was thinking nothing negative when I told one of the girls that she was bigger than the other and to use her size as an advantage, she probably did not share the same feelings as me. She probably felt obese after that comment. Fail.

Should've Said: You have more height than the other girl, use your height as an advantage!

Problem #2: I told one of the girls to put her butt into the other player. While it is hard to describe to a girl to "body up" to the player behind them and play more physical without saying "put your butt into her," coming from a 24 year old college student to a 12-14 year girl sounds a little Uncle Trickett-ish. Fail.

Should've Said: Play more physical, backing the defender down!

(One may expect a "butt" comment from Uncle Trickett, but not me!)

The Life of a Varsity Girls Basketball Intern: The Intro

Background Info

I am currently serving as an Assistant Varsity Girls basketball coach at Westminster Christian Academy in Watkinsville, GA.

Interestingly, the high school that I graduated from was a part of the AISA (Alabama Independent Schools Association), a league of private schools in Alabama. Similarly, Westminster belongs to the GISA, which is basically the same as the AISA, except in Georgia.

While my high school was one of the larger schools in the AISA, Westminster is one of the smaller schools in the GISA. So, despite belonging to similar sports leagues, the two schools sizes' make them different to some degree.

How Did I Obtain the Internship?

I am currently pursuing a master's degree in Sports Management from the University of Georgia, and will be finished in May with this degree. The program requires students to either write a 75 page thesis, or complete an internship in the realm of sports. I obviously chose the internship.

I am a member of a Presbyterian (PCA) Church just outside of Athens in Watkinsville, called Christ Community Church. Coincidentally, the gym that houses Christ Community Church is also the gym that Westminster plays in. Further, a friend of mine in my community group, Mark Hamilton, happens to the Head Varsity Girls Coach.

Mark has been the head coach for the past 3 seasons, and the team has steadily improved each season under his leadership. Coach Hamilton led the team to their best season last year, winning the region championship and losing to one of the best teams in the state during the playoffs. Considering that I was a starting PG in high school and have played basketball my entire life, I possess pretty extensive basketball knowledge. Coach Hamilton was looking to expand his team's capabilities, hopefully winning the state title, and I was looking for an internship in sport.

A match was made...

Billy Christmas