The Student Coaches

By Jack Rehm

Our school’s passion for House Basketball has been well documented here in the Sports Blog. But, that love for hoops has stretched past the boundaries of just playing, for some kids. Coaching younger kids within the YMCA youth basketball program has become very popular amongst many students and has caused many to join with their friends to coach teams of younger kids. These students have taken the volunteer positions that have traditionally been occupied by parents and have made the most of their opportunities.           

In fact, many of these high school coaches have been very successful thus far. Seniors Ryan Minion, Thomas Carruthers, Henry West, Jon Magnusson, and Bobby Weaver all coach in the 7^th and 8^th Grade Boys league and have a combined record of 8-1. While the players on the teams are certainly responsible for most of the success, some credit has to be given to the coaches. Minion says, “For the most part we just let them scrimmage in practice. When we see something we don’t like, we stop play and teach the kids how to do it better.”

            The teams have one game a week along with one practice where they are able to work on anything that wasn’t executed properly in the game. Minion also added, “We don’t have a lot of time with the kids and they don’t have a lot of time to learn to play with each other so the practices are very important.” The high school coaches use what they have learned in their own experiences over the years to teach the kids. Most coaches are either currently playing or have grown up playing in the House program. All the knowledge that they have gained over the course of their careers goes into their coaching and makes them better teachers of the game. 

            The main objective of the coaches is for their kids to have fun and learn something about teamwork and the sport of basketball as a whole. The winning is just an added incentive. But whether it be through winning or just by teaching their younger peers how to play the game of basketball, these student coaches have had a lot of fun coaching a game that they love.

Caption: Senior coach Ryan Minion “Tebows” with his team at practice.