Frank Watts - Coaching Kids: All Team Sports

Published by Price World Publishing, LLC
1300 W. Belmont Ave, Suite 20G
Chicago, IL 60657

Copyright 2011 by Frank Watts

All rights reserved. Neither this book, nor any parts within it may be sold or reproduced in any form without permission.

Cover Design by Dianne T. Goh
Book layout by Raja Sekar R
Illustrations by Howard Venezia
Editing by Lisa Reuter
Proofreading by Jenn Sodini
Printing by Sheridan Books

Second Edition, February 2011
ISBN: 978-1-936910-72-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010920934

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What ever happened to playing ball in the front yard? Pick-up games at the park? When we were kids, wed come home from school, grab a snack, and head outside to play. Everyone in the neighborhood would gather in the street, choose sides, and start playing in our favorite sport, whichever one was in-season.

We created games using the equipment we had. We played every position and called our own plays. Often times wed play until mom called us for dinner by flashing the porch light a few hundred times.

Things are different now that technology has changed the world. Kids play video games instead of riding their bikes. They text and tweet instead of playing Nerf hoops in the garage. Man, we had some killer Nerf hoops tournaments back in the day.

Now we parents have to schedule everything. With schools cutting physical education and sports programs, club sports have become increasingly popular, thus increasing the need for volunteer coaches and parental involvement.

I know this because Ive seen it from all angles. Ive coached, directed, and administered basketball teams, camps, clinics, and tournaments for over 25 years. Ive coached boys and girls, men and women. Ive coached my two sons teams (flag football, Pop Warner football, t-ball, basketball) since they were three years old.

I was fortunate enough to be the head coach of an NCAA Division I womens basketball program at Santa Clara University that played in the NCAA Tournament, which was broadcast on ESPN no less. I was head coach and president of operations of a mens minor league professional team, which basically meant that besides coaching I had to sweep the gym, sell the tickets, and call time-outs. Today I run my own company called NetScouts Basketball.

Between my time as an NCAA coach and today, I had the pleasure of working as the coach and director of a basketball club in London, England. In London, we had young men, women, and kids from over 20 different countries on our teams, along with the one thing that brought them all together basketball

The differences in youth-sports culture were illuminating. It has always been very important for me as the coach to have some help coordinating all of the various responsibilities that go along with running one team, not to mention four. Parents in the UK arent accustomed to driving kids to games, or even to attending the games for that matter. Snacks? Forget about it. Kids hop on those cool red buses or ride the subway to and from games by themselves. Its amazing that there are no soccer moms in London! I needed help, so I had to change all that I had to get the parents involved.

By the time my family and I left London, my organization had changed. It now had great parental involvement, with record numbers of kids joining. The parents were really enjoying being a part of something as well. Also, after parental involvement improved, my job became a little less hectic, which allowed me to coach their kids and teach them the game.

If youre reading this, youre probably thinking about coaching your son or daughters little league team. Or even better, you already decided to coach and youre wondering to yourself what do I do now?

Well, lucky for you Duke Watts came along and wrote this book. It will answer most, if not all, of your questions and give you the tools to be successful as a youth level coach.

On my most recent basketball business trip to Europe, I saw two things that made me smile. The first was a pick-up game of basketball in a park in Madrid. These kids were playing three-on-two, using a soccer ball that didnt bounce very well, and loving every minute of it. The other inspiring thing I saw was a two-versus-two game of soccer at a bus stop. The kids were using an aluminum can as la pelota (the ball). It made me think of our own ad-hoc games on the sandlot. Those were the days.

-Chris Denker, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball LLC, The International Basketball Connection

Have you ever:

Heard an angry coach hollering at his kids to play ball and wondered what that meant?

Coached a kids team against the league organizer, who just happened to have more talented kids on his team?

Heard a parent lament that sports shouldnt be so competitive?

Been asked by the Recreation District to sign a pledge to stay out of the process?

Seen bottom performers forced off their team?

Witnessed a parent hollering obscenities at a coach or official?

Witnessed a coach who allowed his players to swear on the field?

Seen the parents malign the coach

Heard the coach malign the parents?

Witnessed a coach who obviously didnt want the parents to interfere?

These typical problems make it sound like we have some bad people involved in coaching. By my experience, it usually isnt the people its the process.

Much has been written about coaching kids. Most books are sport-specific, covering only one sport. They go into considerable depth on that sport. Certainly, if youre going to coach any sport, you should find and read a book on that sport that is applicable to young kids.

Some other books are general, mostly feel-good stuff. They often focus on how to make the participants feel better, not necessarily perform better. This refers to sports with no winners or losers as if there is some sport that exists in which there are no winners or losers! You will find little written, however, that relates directly to the basic challenge of coaching kids of young ages, regardless of the sport. Youll find even less on organizing kids sports from the coach and league viewpoints.