10 Expectations—On and Off the Court
By Mike Durbin, Head Basketball Coach at the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph, MN
Courtesy of Winning Hoops at www.winninghoops.com
The accomplishments of your players on the basketball floor
only represent half the battle. Part of
a coach’s job is to help players develop character and prepare them for adult
life.
Here is a list of 10 expectations that you can give each of
your players that will hopefully help them prepare for everyday life on and off
the court.
- Take
an active role in your classes.
Sit up front in the classroom and participate in your
education. Your academic
priorities should be paramount for you, your parents, and all your
coaches. We build our basketball
program around individuals that want to be successful in the classroom.
- Develop
people skills. Communicate,
communicate, and communicate!
Always be positive and encourage others. Our team has one of the most vocal and supportive benches of
anyone we play—and it makes a difference.
If you have a problem or a conflict, please talk to someone about
it. Players that are able to
communicate with coaches and teammates play an important role on this
team.
- Team
chemistry, unity are vital to success. If you are part of our team, you will have a role. Our team shares the ball on offense and
we are equally unselfish on defense.
Check your ego at the door.
- Set
goals and work to achieve them.
Goal setting is a life-long necessity. Individual and team goals are a major part of our basketball
program. Focus on being the best.
- Success
is not a part-time job!
Continuously work at your game and physically conditioning. Never take your position for
granted. Improve your skills to
help the team improve. Be
dedicated and loyal—to yourself, your coaches and your teammates.
- Strive
to learn. Never pass up an
opportunity to learn. When you
quit learning, you’ve quit! Pick
the brain of your teammates. Ask
questions. Watch basketball games
on TV, watch your teammates play, watch game tape and learn from all of
these experiences.
- Keep
the competitive fires burning.
Never back down from a challenge! Compete in the classroom, with
your opponents and with—not against—your teammates. Even more importantly, compete with
yourself. You may not win every
time, but you can be successful if you compete and aggressively go after
each challenge.
- Absolutely
no trash talking! Let the
final score do your talking. Also,
understand that player’s play and officials officiate. Make sure your team is looked upon as a
first-class team.
- Develop
friendships. Whether you play
basketball 1 year or 4 years, you’ll make lifetime friends. If you want to have more friends, be
better friends to more people.
- Develop
balance in your life.
Basketball will only be a small segment of your total development
as an individual. Get involved in
other activities such as student government, campus ministry, clubs or many
other opportunities in school and in the community.
For questions or comments,
contact Coach Mike Durbin at Mdurbin@csbsju.edu.
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