Building Relationships

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope you all have a great day!

I have always believed that half the battle in coaching is getting kids to want to play for you. In order to do that you have to build a relationship early on built on Respect, Communication and Trust.

It has always come natural for me to connect with most of my players. I always tell them based on my own life experiences that I have lived their life and probably have gone through whatever they might be going through so there starts the bond. It helps that I consider myself a BIG kid anyways so I can have fun when it's time to have fun too! We use the term Sir and we always shake hands everyday in order to strengthen that respect throughout the season. In the social media world, I'm in contact with them all the time so there is no gap in communication. It all seems to work out well as our coach-to-player-to-coach relationship builds.

Unlike a lot of coaches I presume, I get down on a personal level with my players. I know their lives, their stories, listen and talk to them on their level. They call me when they need advise or someone to listen to them. I don't talk down or degrade them for that will hurt the building process. My players remark how on the court I'm all business and off the court I'm just like them! lol! This is big part of my process. I don't clock out from the gym and disappear from their lives until the next practice. We do things outside of practice too and that is huge when building the relationships. I found over the years that it's the little things that can make the biggest difference in a kids life. Like checking on them when they are sick, visiting them in the hospital, or a simple text before or after school to see how their day went. My kids know they have someone in their lives they can come to with any problem that they might not be able to go to anyone else for. Having someone like that in your life is golden in today's world and a big part of my process of building a program.

With all that being said you might wonder how I avoid favoritism. There are certain kids I connect with more than others sure, just like your friends and co-workers in the adult world too. But my players will tell you I'm not afraid to call them out on something and pull a starter, or discipline anyone regardless of the relationship. Everyone pays the price for violation of team rules and no one slides. If I let that happen then it just creates problems and those problems you do not need when building a program.

At the end of the day we are all on the same page, we have and show respect for each other and that creates a great environment, a good work ethic and a great season!