Improving who we are

One of the best aspects of life is that we are always moving forward. There's always a next day or a next moment. As people we have to try each day to improve our actions and habits. I think it's important we try to have a positive influence on each other. Positive actions lead to positive results. I want to us to start to live our lives proactively vs reactively. To be reactive is to have a response to a stimulus. Proactive is essentially to prepare for a stimulus. I want us to be proactive in providing a positive environment in our community. Here is how we are gonna do this. Each week I will give you a different group, and you then in turn have to perform an act of kindness to someone who fits in that group. Your first assignment is through the next week I want you to do something nice for your teachers. It can be as small as pick up a paper for them, help by passing papers out. If you really like teacher tell them you appreciate them or thank them. A little bit of kindness can start a chain reaction. I want you to respond to this blog telling me what you have done for what teachers. I know that students tend to think I run hard practices with a lot of conditiong so this is what I'll do. I will check and the person who has the nicest action or the most actions will get a "get out of 1 conditioning drill card."

"Character is doing the right thing when no one is looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to just get by, and the only thing wrong is to get caught." J.C. Watts

I also want you to think about this quote and see if there is a way you can work on your character or how it may apply to you.

first game and goals

Today is our first game and I want to really stress what we have talked about all year. We are not only a team but a program. We are in this together from the youth program up to the varsity program and even after graduation. We have to support and help eachother through all levels, as well as on this team. Remember this:

"Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."

We have to keep in mind what I've told you all year "progress is a process." Let's stay focused on our goals and stay true to what we have preached all year progress, togetherness and pride.

I have come up with three goals for this year.

1.) Hold opponents under 30 pts.
2.) Have every player not on either the ineligible or restricted.
3.) We need to make contributions to make our environments positive. We will have a weekly goal as to how to do this I will explain.

first play

Learning new plays are tough, especially at our level when we are being introduced to our first structured offense. I want you guys to understand that it is a process, and we will learn the plays. This offense is a continuity offense and one means one may be at every position. This is especially true with our low numbers. We need to know how to play every position. I want you guys to understand this as you begin to evolve into basketball players.
With that said the plays arent everything. Our offense is a body of work. The play is just the bones of the body; not the whole body. I often see players just running from spot to spot. I want you to play the game of basketball. If you get the basketball and have an opportunity to get to the basket or have a an open shot, I want you to take that opportunity at all times. I will never be mad at a player for shooting the ball. If we make a pass, take a bad shot or any mistake in general its ok. What we have to do is focus on getting the ball back on the next defensive possession. It's important that move forward and change the next play instead of dwelling on what just happened and cant be changed.

With that says here is the first part of the bones of our offense. Please click on the link you should all know where to go from there. www.coachesclipboard.net

Put a response on this blog to let me know you were here and looked at the play. Remember where to go once you're on the site. If you have trouble logging on talk to Mr. Giroux he is very knowledgable on how you can make a post. Also previous players like Zack Ossit, Kyle Palladino or Kyle Chrismer may be able to help. Any teacher may be able to help.

nutrition

Now when you hear the word diet what do you think that means? Most people associate the word diet with losing weight. This association isnt necessarily true. The diet for a young athlete contains higher levels of calorie intake. Since you are young your body needs nutrients for it to grow. Being athletes we are breaking down these nutrients when we compete, which means we need to be taking in even more nutrients than kids not participating in sports. You may often hear your parents talk about cutting fat out of their diet but this doesn't apply to the young athlete. YOU NEED FAT IN YOUR DIET! This may sound crazy but its true, because active muscles quickly burn through carbs and need fats for long-lasting energy. Like carbs, not all fats are created equal. Now this is not an invitation to run home and buy a bag of Doritos and chow the whole thing down!!! I repeat, This is not an invitation to run home and buy a bag of Doritos and chow the whole thing down !!! (haha) This article talks about all the nutrients your body needs and how much. It tells you what types of fats you should consume and it also talks about what we should eat on a game day. I would really like us all to read this article and take it seriously. Some of us may not eat enough some of us may be just eating the wrong things at the wrong times. We will discuss this article. Read through all the pages please. I want you to respond to this blog and tell me one thing you learned from this article and one thing you can change in your diet to make sure you are supplied with the appropriate nutrients and energy.

http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/eatnrun.html?tracking=T_RelatedArticle#

Remember teen athletes should consume 2,000-5,000 calories a day. I would encourage for this team depending on the individual.