CONNECT THE DOTS

Boys Basketball Practice – Thursday Nov 15

We call Thursday our Connect the Dots practice and recap everything we discussed the prior week.  Since the practice was only scheduled for an hour and a half instead of our normal two hours we did not have our team huddle.  We start every practice with a stretching routine and Coach Scott used this time to revisit; Play with all your heart, Don’t ever give up, and Go the extra mile.  Everything we do in practice is for a reason and every reason is a dot.  By connecting the dots we develop a team and more importantly we are trying to develop character.

In order to get a little running in we went to our 6 basket layup drill which will be called the Blue Devil Drill.  The Dribbling Circle followed and we proceeded to the Tar Heel Drill previously known as 6 spot shooting.

We started to implement our offense today.  We had introduced the triple threat position for one player last week and now expanded to 2 players.  The players were instructed on how to run the Give and Go, Back Door, and Pick & Roll.  2 on 2 competions were held as the players practiced all four offensive weapons.  A third player will be added to the offense on Monday, a 4th at the next practice and the 5th player at the following practice.

Practice was wrapped up with wall sits/laps as the players beat their  previous best for 6 sets.  It was another good practice so Coach Scott called for only one Falcon and gave them a chance to shoot their way out.  The Free Throw was missed and the Falcon was run.  Warm up jerseys were handed out as the players left the court.

PLAY WITH ALL YOUR HEART

The first flag football season for Arborbrook’s 11-12 year old team concluded last Saturday at the Siskey YMCA.  We had 11 players and they competed in a league that played 5 on 5.  Our goal at the beginning of the season was to make sure the players had fun, played all the positions, and that the final score did not determine winners and losers.  Our team motto was:  “Play With All Your Heart.”   

We asked who wanted to play quarterback during the first practice, five hands went up.  No one wanted to play center.  By mid season 10 of the players wanted to try quarterback.   By the end of the season, 10 of the 11 players had played quarterback.  All eleven players had played running back, wide receiver, and center.    Nine different players scored touchdowns.  All players played offense and defense in every game.

There were weekly highlights that deserved recognition.  Next year, we will do game by game write ups along with updates on practices.  The players and coaches progress was evident week after week as we all learned from each other.  One highlight that should make each parent proud was not at a game but at the end of practice.   The Siskey YMCA starts each game with a prayer and they ask for volunteers.  No one volunteered at the first game.  Coach Scott asked the players at the next practice who wanted to say the prayer at the next game.   Almost every hand shot up.  Our team said the opening prayer at the beginning of every game for the rest of the season.

We believe the players had fun.  We believe they learned about football.  We believe they learned that winning is not based solely on the final score.  We believe they played with all their heart to the glory of God.  By the way, we finished the regular season with 3 wins, 4 losses, and one tie playing in a league that did not share our philosophy. 

We would like to thank the parents for their support and teaching their sons commitment and responsibility.  We never had to start a practice late because all the players were always on time.   We asked that the players be on the field 30 minutes before game time and most of them were there 40 minutes early.

We are looking forward to next season and began planning while walking off the field last Saturday.   One change has already been implemented.  We are now the Arborbrook Falcons.

DON’T QUIT

The girls basketball team combined their practice with the boys team today.  Our practice theme was “Don’t Quit” -” Don’t ever give up”.  We started practice with our Circle Pass Competition then broke the teams into four separate stations.   Each station was designed to work on conditioning, passing, shooting, or dribbling. 

The Free Throw ladder followed and Alan Fox now sits on top after knocking off Trey Barnes.  The player who spends the most time on top the ladder will receive the top Free Throw Shooter award at the end of the season.

Our team huddle was based on the poem “Don’t Quit” and 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.  The players can give you a recap.  Parents: Please ask your son/daughter what was discussed and let us know if we are getting through. 

We are getting ready to implement an offense and a defense.  We went over the correct defensive stance and worked on balance and sliding back and forth.  The Triple Threat Option was introduced along with the jab step.  The players participated in one on one games using the triple threat option and the correct defensive position.  

Coach Scott demonstrated the proper way to set a screen/pick and how the ball handler moves around the screen.  We broke into groups of three and practiced setting a pick. 

Practice is always concluded with conditioning drills.  We started with line jumps then moved to layups around the gym.   (We have 6 baskets, players follow each other from basket to basket in a continous circle)  Coach Scott called for 2 Falcons but told the players they could shoot their way out of them.  Alan Fox was selected by the players to shoot for the first Falcon.  The ball rolled around the rim and dropped out – the players ran the 1st Falcon.  Mitch Moore immediately offered to shoot for the 2nd Falcon.  Mitch calmly stepped to the line with the entire team standing behind him.  Nothing but net – practice was over.  

GO THE EXTRA MILE

We have a theme for each boys practice and today’s theme was integrity, not taking the easy way out, and going the extra mile. It was a great practice and all the players worked hard and hustled to the very end. 

The Free Throw Ladder was introduced and will become a part of every practice.  Trey Barnes currently sits on top the ladder and will stay there until he is knocked off by one of the other players.  Trey earned the top position by making 12 of 20 free throws.

The 6 spot shooting drill was also introduced and will  become a part of every practice.  Players will compete against themselves in number of shots made and the time it took to complete the drill.  They will try for a personal best every practice and if successful, will be rewarded by running one less set in conditioning exercises.

The players worked on lay ups, both left handed and right handed, participated in dribbling circles, pin ball (clothes pins on back of jerseys), and the circle pass (pass the ball 100 times without the ball hitting the floor while moving to a different spot).   We also had 3 on 2 and 2 on 1 competitions.  The players can go into more detail about each drill.   Everything we do at pracitce is done for a reason which is explained to the players before we begin the drill. 

We always end practice with a conditioning exercise, today was the dreaded Falcon.  The Falcon is the fastest of all birds, flying up to 220 miles an hour.  Our toughest conditioning exercise should have a name worthy of the benefits, so we call it the Falcon.  We normally run 5 sets.   The players discovered today that they can shoot their way out of sets 4 and 5.  They can pick one player to shoot a free throw after the 3rd set, if he makes the shot, the set is considered run.  If he misses the shot, the players run the set.  They also have the option to pick Coach Scott to shoot the free throw.  If Coach Scott makes the shot, they run the set, if he misses, the set is considered run. 

All the players were fitted for uniforms today.  It was a good practice.  Ask the players about today’s theme.   Parents and teachers are encouraged to come when ever they can.  Next practice is Monday at 9:30.  We will try to keep you updated on every practice.

SPORTS INFORMATION

The purpose of the Arborbrook Falcons Sports blog/website is to help keep everyone informed and updated.  While email is generally an effective way to communicate, it has its limitations.

On the right side of the page, you will see practice schedules and game schedules posted under the LINKS heading (schedules for the girls will be posted soon).  They will be available for you to view at anytime.  As things change, we will make sure both schedules are updated accordingly.

Over the next few weeks will be developing a Team Philosophy.  You will be able to follow along with our progress as well as offer any comments/suggestions you might have.  We encourage everyone to participate.

We are also planning to use this blog/website to post game & practice summaries.  We want to be able to recognize the players for their hard work, character, sportsmanship, and off the court activities.  As you will see, the summaries will include a wide range of topics.  In other words, we will do more than just write about who scored the most points or collected the most rebounds.

We are excited to get the basketball season rolling and look forward to watching the players improve their skill and grow as individuals.