Research Paper and Position Paper

Nia Davis

W899072

While working with Coach Nicholas McLendon and the Oak Grove Girls Basketball Team, I learned a lot of different things such as: leadership, ownership, discipline. I was assisting in day-to-day activities contributing to the girls basketball team. I started by learning their everyday practice routines and workouts, and as the semester went on, I was given more duties.

To begin, my first month started with strength and conditioning, try-outs, and player development. Because the 9th grade season was coming to an end, many girls wanted to play JV, so we held a miniature JV tryout for them. We mostly worked out Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and maybe some weekends depending on how the game went or how practice went the beginning of the day. I helped assist the Head Basketball coach with instructing players in the rules regulations, equipment, and techniques of the basketball. I helped by placing on the board what practice would be based on an hour or so prior to practice being held.

While there, in the beginning, I organized and developed individual and small group practice activities/exercises as directed by the head coach. I assessed the players skills, monitored them during competition and practice, and kept the head coach informed of the athletic performance of each student.

For example, before practice, we would stretch and run. I would make sure every athlete stretched properly and correctly and I would do the same for running. Afterwards, we would split off based on the athlete’s position. So at one end we would have all guards and on the other end we would have post players. Some days, we would let down the side goals and split them by Point Guards, Shooting Guards, Small Forwards, Power Forwards, and Centers.

We would discuss and go over their main focus, so once we run the play, it will be synchronized. This came into play with assisting with determining game strategy. When we would add defense into the play, we could discuss what each player should do to allow an open basket for us while on offense.

This helped with team communication and also helped with allowing the athletes to know the coaches trust them with decisions that they make if they think wisely. With that, it helped me have an open mind and know that just because someone has been doing something longer than another person, that minority still may see a better strategy, so it is always good to have intake from whomever it may be whether it is a coach or a bench player.

With rules and regulations, to play basketball at OGHS, you must maintain at least a 2.5 GPA. If this isn’t successful, you will sit out until your GPA meets the minimum standard. Another rule is there is no arguing on the court. If this takes place, they are disciplined by suicides are bear crawls. Those disciplines also go for talking back to any of the coaches. Having a lot of girls with different personalities, there was a lot of running and bear crawling throughout the week, but this only makes them better. As for attitudes, this could also suspend them from a game or two. It depends on the incident.

For equipment, we had to have busses, shoes, jump suits, and uniform apparel prepared no later than 24 hours before we head out for a game. That can be a hassle. Many times, the head coach would drive the bus, or his wife would because she is a bus driver at the school. The girls owned 2 pair of shoes, so the day before the game, they would vote and decide which color shoes they wanted to wear and which jersey, depending whether home or away, which jersey they wanted to wear.

In basketball, if a head band, arm sleeve, or leg sleeve is worn by one teammate, they all must be dressed uniformly, so they have to be the same color. I would maintain the equipment room in orderly condition and assume responsibility for its security. I also distributed the equipment, supplies, and uniforms to students as directed by the head coach. If there was an away game, I would also assume the responsibility for the security of the locker room.

In the event that an athlete got hurt, there were certain procedures that had to take place. If an athlete got hurt, I would have to contact the Athletic Training Director and explain what happened. For example, during practice, one player went up for a rebound but fell head first. We immediately had to clear her way, call Doc, and ask her certain questions to make sure she did not have a concussion.

We sat her up and gave her ice to place on her head and we kept her feet elevated. It took doc about 10 minutes to get there, so while we waited, we had to make sure the player stayed alert at all times. Another even that happened was during a game, one player tore her ACL. Luckily, Doc was there, so there wasn’t much we had to do, but we made sure we continued to motivate her and the team because she was a star player. When a star player gets hurt, the team can lose hope and will let themselves down.

As a coach, you must try to always remain positive regardless of the outcome. We made sure the girls held their heads high, and we made sure the injured player didn’t get down on herself but instead pick herself up and look at it as another opportunity that will be given to her. Her incident happened the beginning of the game, so before halftime, we were down by 20. It was obvious the team lost faith and hope.

We made them pray for her, her family, and the team as a whole. Without their star point guard, the girls made it all the way to South State, but lost to Murrah by 8 points. That was the furthest OGHS Girls Basketball Team had made it in years, so during this practicum, I learned that coaching isn’t just coaching, but is more of being a Mother or Father figure to many kids and building a bond with one another.

At the end of the season we held an Award Ceremony for the team. During the ceremony, I would assist the head coach with submitting a list of award winners at the end of the season. I also participated in parent’s night, banquets, award nights, and pep assemblies. I performed support tasks such as distributing and maintaining eligibility forms, emergency data cards, and other related records.