The Rare Player

At the conclusion of tryouts I always tell the players that if they don’t make the team, they can contact me and I will give them a written evaluation and a program to work on. If they work on the program it will give them the edge up on tryouts next time.
It’s also not uncommon for a parent to call me while the season is in progress with the next MJ. It would be easy to dismiss these parents and their children, but what does it hurt to give them a look. At the very least, it could demonstrate to the player and parent what level their child is at and how they can work towards reaching their goals. At the very most you could find a diamond in the rough. I invite these players to a practice and have my assistants put them through the same type of testing they would have seen in a tryout, before they can get into a drill.
In these situations, I give the player and parent a program to work on and thank them for their interest in playing.

In these situations it has been my experience that only a handful of players will take the initiative of contacting me for the evaluation and program. Out of that handful, it’s my experience only a small few that will work on the program. Those are rare players.

I had the pleasure of coaching “a rare player”. He did go away with his program and worked on it. He did attend my clinics and worked hard, and he did make our competitive team. He turns every disappointment into motivation to get better. I remember in a game where his defensive assignments were more athletic then he was. He got taken baseline several times. Disappointed yes. Did he quit no! He did extra. He worked on his slides, keeping player in his bubble, keeping active feet trying to make players react to him; he worked on his direct and rakes. He did this on top of what we did as a team. He did extra.

Erick you motivate me to be a better coach.
Thank you
Coach Paul