We are heading into the end of the first half of the season.  Thanks to everyone for the effort in the 1^st half. 

You have a practice on both the 5^th and 12^th .  We hope you have fun with the 12^th because (except for 4 of the high school boys teams) there is no game on the 15^th.  It is assumed all parents follow the instructions of the club and check these schedules each Tuesday and Saturday before heading out but you may want to pass on the schedule change if your team is affected by it.  The club does not email parents on schedule changes as they all are posted online.

Parents will receive an email from AllStar on the 1^st half end and expectations/scheduling for the 2^nd half.

The plan is to start off the 2^nd half with an AllStar Coaching Clinic Jan  5^th.  We will email everyone once it is 100% but we wanted to give everyone an advance notice.  We held off the start of the 2^nd half of the season simply to be able to get our coaches together for a group meeting before it begins.

Please remind all your players of the Panther Team option and if any coach has a desire to do something after the AllStar season ends with basketball let us know.  Usually about early February we get requests for more basketball in a team format but if it goes that long we have no options.  Grade 7 and 8 boys are at Tansley this Saturday 2:30-4:00 and it is assumed this Panther tryout supercedes the AllStar practice if they overlap.  Thanks for your support.

If you need a flip chart score board please let me know.  We will need them when competitive games begin.

NON-Competitive shifts:  As a coach you will run into times when your team has developed at a rate different than your opponent or you have a line of players that simply is more advanced than their competitors.  In order to challenge your team and maintain the “FAIR” nature of the AllStar program you must employ some coaching techniques that benefit both teams on the floor.  Here are some recommendations:

-        Have your strong shift use weak hand only for all ball handling

-        Have your shift attempt 3 pointers if they are strong going to the basket but weak shooters

-        Have your shift attempt only layups off a give and go

-        Have your team attempt 5 or more passes before a scoring attempt is made

-        Put your weakest player with your stronger players and have them work at getting the weaker player scoring chances

-        Have your players only attempt bank shots

-        Go with a NO Dribble option once half is crossed

-        Take off the press even if not asked to by opponent

-        Make Man to Man a 2 foot from man defense instead of the AllStar required 4 feet rule

It is important that the stronger shift not feel this is letting up on the weaker shift nor should it be viewed as giving the weaker shift a break.  The best players always challenge themselves when provided an environment to get better.  Setting these rules allows the weaker shift to help the stronger shift become better players while allowing ‘Fair” competition between players of different development levels.

Kids develop in different ways and at different times.  In a grade 7/8 division of AllStar you will have kids almost 3 years apart in age by the calendar but as many as 5 years different on the physical maturity scale.  That means you can have a “grade 6 like mature” player competing against a player who is “Grade 10 like”.  This is a reality.  Let’s be sure all players get an equal development opportunity each week.