As coaches, it is vital that we check in our players frequently, but especially at certain points during the season. We schedule three basketball team meetings with our players throughout the basketball season. These go beyond just the simple evaluation of a single basketball game. The check-ins allow us to connect with our players and make expectations clear. It provides a forum for open communication, which is always important.
Basketball Team Meetings
The first meeting is the Beginning of Basketball Season Team Meeting. We will always have a beginning of the season meeting where we inform them of what team they will currently be on and what their role will be. This meeting allows us to make our expectations clear, so the players understand how best to improve their games and help the team succeed.
Our second sit down for a team meeting comes in the middle of the basketball season. During this meeting, we review the team and player performances thus far. By the middle of the season, we have a decent sample size for statistics, so that data is helpful. This meeting will consist of going over their stats. We discuss what they’re doing well and areas to make sure they are focusing on for improvement going into the second half of the season.
The final basketball team meeting of the season comes after we’ve completed our schedule. This meeting consists of a season-long review, going over what went well and what the next steps in development are. This post-season meeting provides a launching point for our team’s off-season work.
The Post-Season Team Meeting
The post-season team meeting provides coaches and players an opportunity to reflect on the season. You can touch on the highs and lows of the season, both the good and the bad. This is particularly useful for your returning athletes Improving as individuals and as a collective unit needs to be the emphasis for your off-season plans.
It is important to motivate players about where they currently are and hope to be over the upcoming off-season to prepare for next season. As coaches, we must engage in this dialogue and realize the important role we play. We need to make sure our players can state specific goals and ambitions they hope to achieve to become the best basketball player they can be.
Goals of “getting better,” “getting shots up,” and “getting into the gym” just will not cut it. We need our players to be specific about their goals and ambitions. Think of goals like:
- “I want to make 10,000 shots this off-season,”
- “spend 3 hours a week working on ball handling,” or
- “increase my squat max by 35 pounds.”
These are tangible, specific goals that can be measured. The more specific we can be with our athletes and make them the main character in their story the better player they will become and the bigger impact they will have on our program.
Post-Season Basketball Team Meeting Handouts
In addition to thinking about the physical side of the game, we must consider the mental and leadership side of our players as well. In these basketball team meetings, we strive to get our players reading leadership material. Anything from Jon Gordon will resonate with any high school athletes. Some of the best we have given include “The Energy Bus“, “The Hard Hat“, and “Positive Dog“. We want to make sure we are molding and building our future leaders to help take our program to the next level.
With the reading of the book, we also include a short assignment for them to complete as well to help in their learning of leadership qualities.
Handout 1- Off-season player handout.
We will go through this chart with each player, fill it out together, and they get a copy to take home with them.
| Player: | 22/23 Grade: | Spring: |
| 3 Success from Season: | ||
| 3 Areas of Improvement: | ||
| What do you want from basketball? | ||
| Plan to accomplish? | ||
Handout 2– Spring Leadership Book Assignment.
This is a short assignment they can complete over the leadership reading of their choice.
Assignment: In a 1 page double-spaced paper, answer the following 2 questions:
- Summarize the book. What are important lessons/themes you learned from this book? Be sure to provide some examples.
- How can you take what you have learned from this book and apply it to both your teams and life at large? Be sure to provide 3 examples of how you plan on applying these principles in your life.
We are anxious to see what you learn from this reading!
At the end of the day, we need to make sure our players are improving as much as possible. We need to be their guide on their journey and make them become the main character in their story.
Related: Summer Basketball Prep Work
Basketball Team Meetings Resources:
PDF Download: Post-Season Basketball Team Meeting Handouts
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