Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Just curious to know thoughts. Anyone think it’s possible that the top teams in Elite are out coaching the bottom teams, rather than simply having significantly better skill? Like, could one of the bottom elite teams make a coaching change that fixes everything and find success with the same crew?

I think you'll find a few key factors:

- how much practice time. twice a week starting in March or 3 times a week starting in Jan as a team.
- efficient practice time. No standing around, working it, on a schedule, marking where things are working or not working.
- can the coach hold players accountable and make change.
- raising players lax iq to handle game situations. Do they back each other up? Can they change the play?

You can have better coaching. Many teams do not however increase their practice time and do not hold their players accountable to change. If the same kid who does a hero run, loses the ball, gets put out again as a starter that's poor coaching.

So you're at bottom trying to get better. But your competition, teams like the Hawks, are practicing 2-3 times as much over a year. If they're that good, only getting better, and you do less how can you be as good. The coaches have certain amount of control over this and they're limited by their resources: players, time. I've seen clubs demand coaches keep certain players on and play them.

If your club isn't supportive I'd say that's when parents need to speak up to get more. In some cases I've helped pay for extra practice times and clinics.

This is very true, I'd argue that very few clubs below the top 2-3 in Hoco elite, all the way down to B-ball, are improving kids' skills, year to year, relative to the competition. That has to come with individual training, off-season sports, and individual maturity. Most club coaches show up in September and their goal is to challenge the kids but not necessarily grow them to do new things.

Trajectory, relative to other kids' talents, is important too. I'd rather have an on age kid who played A in 6th, AA in 7th, AAA in 8th and got playing time through that whole period, than the holdback kid who was "#1 in the country" in 6th grade, a solid elite starter in 7th grade, 2nd line elite in 8th, and doesn't touch the field in 9th. A few more speed bumps, and THAT kid will quit the sport. Which..........I know that nobody here wants to hear this, but it's happening right now. If you looked at a list of the "best" 2028s from 5th grade HoCo, you'd see about 1/3 that are still all stars, 1/3 that are still legit ballers somewhere between AA and Elite, and 1/3 names you do not recognize anymore, quit the sport, etc.