Parents and Coaches,
We want to use this page as a guide to help parents give their son or daughter and their teammates the best experience when playing basketball. There is so much more to sports than winning and losing, therefore, we want to make sure the kids understand.
 
Remember, we are teachers first and coaches second. 

Some important things to remember: 

1. Kids need to have success in some way to keep them excited about playing sports. We also need to ensure they are having fun to have passion for the game. They also like the competition to keep the game interesting. Therefore, creating a balanced approach to team selection is very important. 

At the younger levels, especially 1st to 3rd grade, success for all kids is more important. Focusing on all players equally and having equal playing time is always important, but especially when they are young. 

As kids get older, Town Travel and AAU can offer more competition for kids. The time is not equal, but is where kids can try to take their game to the next level. Recreational basketball is focused on developing all kids equally and having fund. We see many Rec kids develop into competitive basketball players so is very important to keep them all in the game. 

As kids go to high school and thereafter, we are now seeing groups of kids playing more often at the play grounds which is great! This is why we need to keep as many kids playing youth basketball so more can continue to play as they get older. 

2. Positive reinforcement from parents is so important. Kids want to hear the positive cheers. They need to see parents and coaches setting a positive example in a fun environment to get the most out of sports. Yelling, micromanaging, or pointing out to many mistakes will turn them off. Professionals make mistakes so we can let our kids do the same. It is how they learn to get better. Let coaches correct any mistakes in a positive way and at practice. 

3. Referees will make mistakes too. Let the coach talk to the referee if anything needs to be discussed. Some referees are in training and some are seasoned veterans. They can not see everything and will always make mistakes as they are human. We need to show respect as our kids our watching how we handle any issues or mistakes. We also need to work with the younger kids who we are developing to be our future referees. To keep the best referees in the game takes us to treat them with respect. 

4. The primary goal of our coaches is to teach life lessons; sportsmanship, working hard, team work, etc. This is an organized league so we need parents to help teach the importance of being on Time, respecting coaches, following gym and team rules, etc. 

5. For some kids, this is the first exposure to the game. We need to teach the very basics and build from there. Some players are advanced and others need to be guided and need extra attention, but if we work with all the players they will continue to develop. 

6. All kids develop at different rates. It is important that coaches pay attention to all players and treat them equally. We see small kids grow past the taller kids so it is also important to teach all youth players all positions and all fundamentals. 

We will continue to build this page so any suggestions or articles are welcomed. Please send to the email address.

Articles:

The article below is an eyeopener on how to handle the post game conversation. Everyone is going to have a bad game or not be at their best all the time. We need to use every game as a way to build on their confidence and knowledge of the game. Please read and you will be thankful you did.

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/more-family-fun/201202/what-makes-nightmare-sports-parent

Handling Referees:

Referees have a very hard job, especially, the younger ones that are in training. We need to help them develop as well so we can build a network of good referees.

It is not the end of the world if a call is missed. Our children are listening to us and pick up on the way we act, so it is important that we are always positive.

Coaches are encouraged to gently give advice to these kids to go over calls. It is only the coach who should approach the referee so please see your coach if you have any comments.

Anyone that has been a Referee will understand if calls are missed.

Coaching:

Coaching is one of the most gratifying ways to spend time with your child or sibling. Your building memories that can last a life time. Therefore, All of us want to make this a positive experience for the entire team. Men and Women are encouraged to coach in our league to become role models for all our kids.

We don't hire coaches, it is on a volunteer basis and they are parents too. Some coaches are stepping up to fill the voids in coaching spots. We need to support our coaches in every aspect!  

Coaching does have the responsibility of hosting weekly practice and being available for games - it is typically 2 hours a week. If the coach can not make it then we encourage the coach to recruit a few parents that will assist. All parents helping do need to fill out the CORI form, but it takes the burden off coaches if they have a difficult work schedule that week. We want the gyms that we pay for to be used for every practice.

The guidelines of coaching are outlined in the Coaches Handbook. If you do have an issue with a coach, you can talk to them or contact a board member. Also, if coaches have any issues with parents then you can contact the board as well.

Remember, the recreational leagues are for all kids. We stress even playing time. The Travel teams are more competitive and represent the town of Northborough so they can have limited playing time. In addition, you can try AAU programs in the spring and fall, if you think you want additional and more competitive basketball.

For Coaching templates and drills, please refer to the coaching tab. We will continue to build this information to help our coaches.

Please refer to the Coaching Handbook and other documents. Any questions can be forwarded to our main email above.