Coaching Youth Basketball With Faith and Fundamentals Sports have always been an important part of our society. Often what we learn playing sports at a young age becomes the foundation of our value system as an adult. The life lessons we learn in athletic competition often stay with us throughout our life. In many respects coaches are more influential than parents. It’s natural to idolize a coach who can easily demonstrate the skills you dream about having as a young player. Their power to influence in a positive or negative way is frightening. It is also undeniable.
The greatest coach I ever had was Mr. Tresoline, my Pop Warner football coach. He taught me to be tough and how to play hard. He taught me how to be aggressive and confident, and to never let a lack of size or skill keep me from competing at a high level.
I learned how to play smart from my CYO basketball coach Rock Lamana. He also taught me how to act off the court. He would begin every season with the same warning, “No smoking, drinking, or hanging around the pool halls.” This always made me laugh when he said it, but his message was consistent and clear, and I haven’t forgotten its meaning.
I learned from a high school basketball coach, John Mosny, that there was a right way and a wrong way to do most things. He taught me that the only way to get better was to master the fundamentals. The hours of practice this required was the price to pay for success.
In recent years there have been many well-publicized displays of poor sportsmanship and shockingly negative behavior at the professional, collegiate, and even youth sports level. Each incident seems to be worse than the last. Can we do something to reverse this negative trend?
I think the answer is yes, but it has to begin with our youth sports programs. Our youth sports programs of today will not only produce the leaders of tomorrow, but also play a critical role in developing the value systems that will guide much of society. Youth sports coaches today have a daunting task in front of them, but one in which they can not turn away from.
This book describes the Stewards of the Game youth sports mission as seen through its basketball program. My hope is that the pages that follow will provide valuable information about how to run a youth sports basketball program. I also hope it will inspire coaches and parents and players to be all that God intended them to be.
In God’s name we pray and in God’s name we play.
Mike Kayes
Co-Founder of Stewards of the Game