If
you believe your daughter is not getting sufficient playing time we ask that you please express your concerns
with the head coach of your daughters team first. If not satisfied with the response or plan of action then feel free
to escalate concerns to Coach Bone.
As the competition level improves so must the skill of your daughter to warrant higher levels of playing time in key
situations.
Improvement
can only come from focused and fundamentally sound skill development sessions. This means your daughter/s needs to not
only come to every practice, but be an active participant in the development process.
The
most appropriately skilled players for a given situation will often be the same players in the game during that situation. This is the responsibility of the coaches to manage and frankly we are
not seeking inputs regarding playing time from players, parents or family members.
Note: During some situations it may be best to pull higher
skilled players to allow development opportunities for those in greater need.
Practice time is very important to the coaches, and how players perform
in practice is of key consideration when determining playing time in critical situations.
In
a practice setting we have the unique opportunity to stop play, answer questions, demonstrate the correct techniques,
position players in the right spots, re-run plays until we execute correctly and repeat specific items of importance over-and-over
until we are satisfied with the outcome. WE LOVE PRACTICE TIME!
At this age group no player will likely ever be left out of a game completely unless
at your choice or due to injury; however, we are obligated to the team and all players to do my best to get the right
people in the right positions at the right times for the critical concept of TEAM to be fostered, encouraged
and promoted.
This means that your daughter may experience limited (or even no) minutes in a given game due to match-up issues,
specific schemes, competition level, familiarity with what we are trying to accomplish, game situations or repeated
less than desirable performance when given the opportunity to execute.
A core coaching philosophy of FM Lady Thunder is to never leave a player in a game situation where it appears (to the
coaches) that a player is uncomfortable, overwhelmed, not prepared, out-matched or are being physically dominated by
an opponent simply to achieve “equal play”.
Leaving
a player in during these types of situations will negatively impact player development and confidence. Both
of which are fundamental key components to success in the game of basketball as well as life and totally opposite of
what we are attempting to achieve from this experience.
It's
a tough balance and at times a difficult decision but PLEASE leave this up to the coaches to
manage as each will always take full responsibility for their decisions.
Remember,
we are in this development process together so your patience and understanding is very much appreciated.
FM Lady Thunder Coaching Staff
