There is something about first learning a sport it is both cool and frustrating for the teacher. We are starting both Noah and Luke in the local youth basketball leagues this fall, and I am helping out with coaching Luke’s 5 year old team.
It is so cool to see the enthusiasm of the 5 kids we have. They are having so much fun, even though we are just doing drills (shooting, passing, dribbling) right now. Some are doing ok, some need lots of practice, and some (like Luke), are just getting started for the first time.
One of things I’m trying to keep in mind as we are working with these kids is that they need to be encouraged constantly as we go along. I’m trying to find ways to do that for each of them. Some of the kids have problems due to their size or strength just getting the ball a few feet over their head, much less all the way to the 7′ basket. But each shot, I try to find some way to encourage them: “That was much higher than last time”, “That one was right on line”. I try to do the encouraging before I then coach and show them the right way to do it. My hope is that this will help them not to be discouraged as they develop the skills needed to play.
Of course, for me I mainly want the kids to have fun while they are learning, so I am trying to make it fun for them as we go along. Luke told me afterwards that he really enjoyed practice. I’m glad, as this is his first foray into organized sports. I hope that I can continue to help them both get better at the game, and still have loads of fun as they go.