Go Lady Indians! 3rd Grade Girls BB Team

tarcone · 10-26-2008, 08:34 PM

I am taking my 3rd grade daughters traveling basketball team. I have 9 girls on my team. I know them very well from coaching them in other sports. We will be playing in the 4th grade division. I should be competitive by March when it ends. Games start in January. Practice starts on November 6th. So its a long season. Some have dance, most have softball starting January. Its going to be busy.
I cant wait for the start of this though. It will be a great deal of fun. We will lose a lot. So I am having a parents meeting at my house on November 1st. I Know all the parents of the players but i am laying down expectations for the players and the parents. Traveling ball where Im from gets intense. Even at the 4th grade level.
This will serve as sort of a journal. I will introduce the players larter this week.

tarcone · 11-06-2008, 09:54 PM

I had a parent meeting at my house last Saturday. I gave a schedule and outlined how things were going to go. I know the parents so it was more of a get together. The one person who I wanted there was not, though.
I explained to the parents how the traveling team basketball can be "intense". Parents yelling at refs, coaches yelling at refs. It can get ugly. The one person I wanted there to explain the sportsmanship concept was a grandmother who is at the age of "I dont care". She is real loud and opinionated. She is going to be interesting.

Tonight was the 1st practice. One hour long. We dribbled for 25 minutes the shot for 30 minutes. I kept them at the basket and worked on technique. some girls are weak and struggle right now. Others need technique work. Shooting from the hip, feet not pointed at basket. Basic stuff. I was pretty hard on them, discipline-wise. Need to get them on board with how the ship is going to be run. Not too bad, but not easy either.

I will introduce my team now:

Riley-- My daughter. She isnt real athletic, but shoots pretty well. Dribbling not a strong suit.

Megan-- She is an athlete. She gets in a hurry to shoot and it throws everything off. Was thinking she may be my point guard but struggles dribbling with her right hand. Her left hand is stronger, but she is right handed. Will be good though.

Katie C.-- Post player. Big girl. Not a good shot yet. She can shut down at times. She will be strong on the boards I think.

Olivia-- Short and squat. She struggles getting ball to hoop. But should be a gamer.

Kaitie A.-- 1st time ever playing. She is athletic and should be a good player. Quick.

Julia-- Missed practice due to volleyball. She needs to learn to shoot as she shoots like a frog. She may be a post player.

Breanna-- Small and quick. She picks things up but isnt strong.

Emily-- Smart and wants to do well. She may be the sleeper who comes out of nowhere.

Tyler-- Solid, thick girl. Strong. She has the best shot right now. She should be a good player.

Thats your team. Our 1st tournament is January 2-4. Against other 3rd grade teams. It is in west St Louis county, so hopefully the competition is good.

Next practice is nest Thursday.

tarcone · 11-17-2008, 09:12 PM

2nd practice went well. Played a shooting game for about 30 minutes. The girls really seem excited.
I have a big tourney on the line for mid December and one the 1st weekend of January.
This Friday I start teaching them how to play man to man defense. No zones for our girls. It should be an interesting experiment. Im also going to teach them how to play 3 on 3 so they learn to move without the ball. Im excited about that.

tarcone · 11-20-2008, 09:57 PM

Another Thursday night, another night of dribbling and shooting. Girls are having fun and are showing improvement already. I can see 3 starters already. 2 slots are wide open.
Fundraiser was a success. If anyone ever wants a quick and easy fundraiser that can raise thousands of dollars in a week, let me know.
I got us into 2 tourneys that are for 3rd graders. I put us in the lowest division. I did this because these girls have been getting waxed in soccer for the last 3 months. Outdoor and now indoor. I need for them to experience some success.

Friday night brings the 1st night of teaching defense and maybe installing a play. Cant wait.

tarcone · 11-25-2008, 09:27 PM

Fridays practice was intense. 1 and 1/2 hours of work. We started out with how to enter a ball game, since none of them have played this type of ball before. Didnt want any running on the court without checking in. We did agility drills using a ladder. The girls struggled, but improved as they did it. I taught them how to run. Too many of them run in a barrel. Then some defensive slides.
Next was learning our 1st play. It is an inbounds play from under our basket. Very easy, not much movement. The girls picked it up pretty quick. The practice wasnt near long enough. Our 1st tourney is in a month and we have so much to learn. Im kind of worried at this point.
We are taking Thursday off for Thanksgiving, but are back at it on Friday afternoon. I may go 2 hours. I need to work on defense, and get another play installed. So much to do, so little time.

tarcone · 12-14-2008, 04:56 PM

We had our first game today. It was not very pretty. We ended up losing 26-4. My girls play so passive. Im not sure how to teach aggression, but it starts in practice with sprints.
We threw the ball to the other team a lot. We stood around. We backed away from the girl with the ball. So much to do.

No one stood out today. Riley and Tyler made our only baskets.

0-1

tarcone · 12-19-2008, 07:38 PM

We scrimmaged the 4th grade team last night at practice. It was a very controlled scrimmage. I stopped game play regularly to point oiut things to the girls. I think it helped and will find out on Sunday. We have 2 more games.
Defensively, we did pretty well. On offense we arent real strong. the girls struggle getting shots.
Cant wait to see what happens Sunday.

tarcone · 12-21-2008, 08:51 PM

We had 2 games scheduled today. One at 10 am and one at 4 pm. We arrived at the gym, which is the St Louis Abbey. The school there is called Priory. For some reason the electricity was not working. We did get to play at 10 am because they had sky lights in the gym. so it was kind of dark but not too bad.
In the 1st half we were down 6-0. We were playing okay, with the exception of girls standing around and not being aggressive. That changed at half as our defense ratcheted it up a notch. We scored 10 points in the 2nd half and came away with a 10-6 victory. Megan scored 6 points and Olivia scored 4 points.
It was a very exciting game and a much needed win as 8 of my 9 girls have been losing at soccer for the past 4 months (outdoor and indoor).
We are very much alive to win the tourney, but need a lot of help. Unfortunately, the electricity was never restored and our 4 pm game was postponed.

1-1

tarcone · 12-21-2008, 08:53 PM

After today, I see some role players developing. Riley and Kaitie A. look to be defensive stoppers. Megan and Olivia look to be my ball handlers. I hope this type of trend continues.

tarcone · 01-02-2009, 03:48 PM

Played in our 1st 4th grade tourney. We did ok I guess. We still have lots of things to work on, but it is coming.
!st game this morning we lost 37-0. But a couple girls played pretty well. Not much to say, except that Kaitie A. Played a very good defensive game.
In the 2nd game, we played the Pacific 4th grade team. I knew they would beat us, the 4th grade coach knew they would beat us, everyone in the gym knew they would beat us. In this tourney, you can pick up the ball handler at mid court. Which is what happened to us. and they stole the ball and shot lay-ups. At 20-0 I started to talk to the other coach. Lay back little. He told his girls to go into a zone. But in the 2nd half back to picking us up at half court. Its 30-0 and they are still doing it. Im pretty peeved and thisnk they exhibited poor sportsmanship. They cut us no slack. A perfect learning opportunity squashed. We ended up losing 30-0.

1-3

tarcone · 01-03-2009, 07:24 PM

Last game fo this tourney today. My girls played a lot better today. More aggressive. Taking the ball to the basket. A couple good passes. Help defense occurred a couple times. A couple screens.
I need to fix the jogging back and not turning around. Thats a bad habit. Rebounding is non existent. No one jumps. No one blocks out. I have lots of things to teach. Things are improving though.
I will give it up to the team we played. They didnt double team our ball handler. And allowed us to bring it up the floor.
We lost 26-4. But were competitive.
Looks like our make up game is Jan 17th at priory. Spring Bluff is next week. Maybe?

1-4

tarcone · 03-05-2009, 10:00 AM

I slacked on this. Goit busy withg Softball starting and it being the middle of basketball season. I will revisit this week or weekend and give you an update. The seaosn went pretty well. and the grls had fun. The parents were also happy with the whole thing.

11-06-2008, 09:54 PM	#2
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	I had a parent meeting at my house last Saturday. I gave a schedule and outlined how things were going to go. I know the parents so it was more of a get together. The one person who I wanted there was not, though. I explained to the parents how the traveling team basketball can be "intense". Parents yelling at refs, coaches yelling at refs. It can get ugly. The one person I wanted there to explain the sportsmanship concept was a grandmother who is at the age of "I dont care". She is real loud and opinionated. She is going to be interesting. Tonight was the 1st practice. One hour long. We dribbled for 25 minutes the shot for 30 minutes. I kept them at the basket and worked on technique. some girls are weak and struggle right now. Others need technique work. Shooting from the hip, feet not pointed at basket. Basic stuff. I was pretty hard on them, discipline-wise. Need to get them on board with how the ship is going to be run. Not too bad, but not easy either. I will introduce my team now: Riley-- My daughter. She isnt real athletic, but shoots pretty well. Dribbling not a strong suit. Megan-- She is an athlete. She gets in a hurry to shoot and it throws everything off. Was thinking she may be my point guard but struggles dribbling with her right hand. Her left hand is stronger, but she is right handed. Will be good though. Katie C.-- Post player. Big girl. Not a good shot yet. She can shut down at times. She will be strong on the boards I think. Olivia-- Short and squat. She struggles getting ball to hoop. But should be a gamer. Kaitie A.-- 1st time ever playing. She is athletic and should be a good player. Quick. Julia-- Missed practice due to volleyball. She needs to learn to shoot as she shoots like a frog. She may be a post player. Breanna-- Small and quick. She picks things up but isnt strong. Emily-- Smart and wants to do well. She may be the sleeper who comes out of nowhere. Tyler-- Solid, thick girl. Strong. She has the best shot right now. She should be a good player. Thats your team. Our 1st tournament is January 2-4. Against other 3rd grade teams. It is in west St Louis county, so hopefully the competition is good. Next practice is nest Thursday. Last edited by tarcone : 12-21-2008 at 08:54 PM.

11-17-2008, 09:12 PM	#3
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	2nd practice went well. Played a shooting game for about 30 minutes. The girls really seem excited. I have a big tourney on the line for mid December and one the 1st weekend of January. This Friday I start teaching them how to play man to man defense. No zones for our girls. It should be an interesting experiment. Im also going to teach them how to play 3 on 3 so they learn to move without the ball. Im excited about that.

11-20-2008, 09:57 PM	#4
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	Another Thursday night, another night of dribbling and shooting. Girls are having fun and are showing improvement already. I can see 3 starters already. 2 slots are wide open. Fundraiser was a success. If anyone ever wants a quick and easy fundraiser that can raise thousands of dollars in a week, let me know. I got us into 2 tourneys that are for 3rd graders. I put us in the lowest division. I did this because these girls have been getting waxed in soccer for the last 3 months. Outdoor and now indoor. I need for them to experience some success. Friday night brings the 1st night of teaching defense and maybe installing a play. Cant wait.

11-25-2008, 09:27 PM	#5
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	Fridays practice was intense. 1 and 1/2 hours of work. We started out with how to enter a ball game, since none of them have played this type of ball before. Didnt want any running on the court without checking in. We did agility drills using a ladder. The girls struggled, but improved as they did it. I taught them how to run. Too many of them run in a barrel. Then some defensive slides. Next was learning our 1st play. It is an inbounds play from under our basket. Very easy, not much movement. The girls picked it up pretty quick. The practice wasnt near long enough. Our 1st tourney is in a month and we have so much to learn. Im kind of worried at this point. We are taking Thursday off for Thanksgiving, but are back at it on Friday afternoon. I may go 2 hours. I need to work on defense, and get another play installed. So much to do, so little time.

12-14-2008, 04:56 PM	#6
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	We had our first game today. It was not very pretty. We ended up losing 26-4. My girls play so passive. Im not sure how to teach aggression, but it starts in practice with sprints. We threw the ball to the other team a lot. We stood around. We backed away from the girl with the ball. So much to do. No one stood out today. Riley and Tyler made our only baskets. 0-1

12-19-2008, 07:38 PM	#7
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	We scrimmaged the 4th grade team last night at practice. It was a very controlled scrimmage. I stopped game play regularly to point oiut things to the girls. I think it helped and will find out on Sunday. We have 2 more games. Defensively, we did pretty well. On offense we arent real strong. the girls struggle getting shots. Cant wait to see what happens Sunday.

12-21-2008, 08:51 PM	#8
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	We had 2 games scheduled today. One at 10 am and one at 4 pm. We arrived at the gym, which is the St Louis Abbey. The school there is called Priory. For some reason the electricity was not working. We did get to play at 10 am because they had sky lights in the gym. so it was kind of dark but not too bad. In the 1st half we were down 6-0. We were playing okay, with the exception of girls standing around and not being aggressive. That changed at half as our defense ratcheted it up a notch. We scored 10 points in the 2nd half and came away with a 10-6 victory. Megan scored 6 points and Olivia scored 4 points. It was a very exciting game and a much needed win as 8 of my 9 girls have been losing at soccer for the past 4 months (outdoor and indoor). We are very much alive to win the tourney, but need a lot of help. Unfortunately, the electricity was never restored and our 4 pm game was postponed. 1-1

12-21-2008, 08:53 PM	#9
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	After today, I see some role players developing. Riley and Kaitie A. look to be defensive stoppers. Megan and Olivia look to be my ball handlers. I hope this type of trend continues.

01-02-2009, 03:48 PM	#10
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	Played in our 1st 4th grade tourney. We did ok I guess. We still have lots of things to work on, but it is coming. !st game this morning we lost 37-0. But a couple girls played pretty well. Not much to say, except that Kaitie A. Played a very good defensive game. In the 2nd game, we played the Pacific 4th grade team. I knew they would beat us, the 4th grade coach knew they would beat us, everyone in the gym knew they would beat us. In this tourney, you can pick up the ball handler at mid court. Which is what happened to us. and they stole the ball and shot lay-ups. At 20-0 I started to talk to the other coach. Lay back little. He told his girls to go into a zone. But in the 2nd half back to picking us up at half court. Its 30-0 and they are still doing it. Im pretty peeved and thisnk they exhibited poor sportsmanship. They cut us no slack. A perfect learning opportunity squashed. We ended up losing 30-0. 1-3

01-03-2009, 07:24 PM	#11
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	Last game fo this tourney today. My girls played a lot better today. More aggressive. Taking the ball to the basket. A couple good passes. Help defense occurred a couple times. A couple screens. I need to fix the jogging back and not turning around. Thats a bad habit. Rebounding is non existent. No one jumps. No one blocks out. I have lots of things to teach. Things are improving though. I will give it up to the team we played. They didnt double team our ball handler. And allowed us to bring it up the floor. We lost 26-4. But were competitive. Looks like our make up game is Jan 17th at priory. Spring Bluff is next week. Maybe? 1-4

03-05-2009, 10:00 AM	#12
tarcone Coordinator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Pacific	I slacked on this. Goit busy withg Softball starting and it being the middle of basketball season. I will revisit this week or weekend and give you an update. The seaosn went pretty well. and the grls had fun. The parents were also happy with the whole thing.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)