Medallist and the Newfoundland and Labrador Winter Games.
“Grassroots need to be fostered”
By Jason Pike
St John’s, NL – I find myself in a lot of gymnasiums over the course of a year whether it be basketball or soccer and in the past a lot of softball and baseball. Its ofeten the same face kids in school play on multiple teams. Inevitable, as children age they let some sports go as the choose to focus on their dominant or preferred sport.
It’s a fact of life and often to the disappointment, and sometimes ire of some parents, who hope that their child will follow in their footsteps as they attempt to live vicariously through their children. It’s a common natural thing in the cycle of life, to want your child to continue a legacy that you started or to succeed where you could not.
Ultimately, it all comes down to time effort and development in no particular order and lets not forget money. It’s very expensive for kids to play any high level of sport these days and even at mid level the pricing is not all that far from the top levels.
Growing up in the 90s throughout the school system you had your core sports at different times of the year not unlike its academic counterpart. Math, English, social studies and science were the four main course subjects and equivalently in the Phys Ed program once upon a time it was hockey, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and maybe badminton were the main core school sports for the majority of the province of Newfoundland.
In recent conversations with coaches of several different sports teams they say they’ve reached an impasse in development of sport in school because not all gym teachers are teaching the core sports anymore. They’ve elected to develop and create their own alternate versions of the sports and adjusting the rules. Which is all good and fine for a bit of fun but when it comes to learning the rules and developing the skills within the physical education program a lot of kids are then out of the loop.
One coach I spoke to decided to take over a basketball program and the basketball team was littered with some of the school’s best athletes and other sports which gave some hope for a potentially competitive team.
He told them all just to have a basic scrimmage so he could have the opportunity to assess the players and their basic skill levels.
And he was horrified to find out that none of them knew the rules, they didn’t play the lines on the court, the ball wasn’t out of bounds unless it hit the wall… This is this was one of just several altered versions of basketball which had been known to the kids as basketball golf.
I’m sure that basketball golf is a lot of fun, just like soccer softball was. And there is a place for that and its called Inter-murals.
It’s fun and it keeps you active and teaches team spirit but not at the cost of learning the actual rules of the actual sports. There are standards you have to live and play by if you want to provincial or national level sports.
I know people will disagree with me on this but anyone who is a sports aficionado or coach will get exactly where I’m coming from. Because once you develop these bad habits and lack of knowledge of the rules early, when the time comes that you’re under the guidance of a coach who’s trying to develop a competitive team it makes the work that much harder to break bad habits and get a player and or a team to the required level that they need to be to be competitive.
Now some people are just into the sport for the fun of it but some people are in it for the long haul. More and more over the last several years you are seeing athletes from this province excel and post-secondary small ball colleges and universities throughout the country and even into the US.
In the past you only heard about such things for hockey here in this province but now since Carl English’s return to Newfoundland there’s been a more core focus on the competitive side of basketball and development of players to try to get them scholarship offers at D1 schools and anywhere in a post secondary education that offers a sports pathway. And it’s slowly but surely a trickling of kids have been getting those offers.
Three come to mind automatically English’s son, Rider English, Gander Collegiate’s Sean Gray, O’Donel Patriots Kylie Sooley and Caleb Sooley all attend or have attended Prep School and Sean Gray now attends Holland College playing for the Holland hurricane. So the idea of going on to play at prep school or college or university ball and potentially on to a pro league either Canada, Europe or the US is not as far-fetched as some would like to believe.
It’s become an imperative that we start at a young age and teach the basics and accepted standard of each sport at the school level. Let’s be honest, not everyone can afford to go and play club ball so either gym class or school teams are the only avenues that some kids have. Honestly, even school ball has become less than free anymore for kids. But by not teaching them the core skills and rules of these main sports it definitely hinders the ability to advance.
I’ve come under much criticism lately for my views and opinions. Saying the things that a lot of people are thinking but no one else has the gumption to speak out loud. It’s been alleged that my reviews and opinions aren’t positive enough. That’s fine if that’s what you’re into, always happy positive holding hands and singing Kumbaya. That’s what intra-murals were created for.
Have you ever watched a high school basketball game between O’Donnell and Gonzaga or Holy Heart in a championship final?
There is not one player on that floor that isn’t working like a dog to outplay their opponent. Chasing that next step of a dream of playing elsewhere. Of playing something other than high school basketball, hopefully at a College or University level.
Patrick Slaney’s Gonzaga Vikings are prime example of such dogged determination. Players like Lucas Mate, Jacob Shepherd and Ben Collingwood make up a core of athletes that have become a new generation of basketball player unlike anything this province has seen before. It shows what is yet to come.
Now this generation is developed nicely I look forward to seeing what the next decade has to bring. I recently watched the K to 12 program at ce23 Club program as well as the U10 program and all I can say is the ball handling skills and fluidity of these little players is unlike any that I’ve seen in past years. The future is bright for basketball in this province if this is any indication of what’s to come.
First and foremost we have to stop short changing our players at the young ages especially in the school system because ultimately that’s where they are everyday. This is where they are affected and inspired the most so if the gym teacher is substituting in basketball golf for core basketball all of the time I’m of the opinion that that’s not acceptable.
Core skills come first, variations come later. Ultimately to play any game core rules and drills are the basic necessity of the grassroots of any program. If you pluck the grassroots before they’ve had a chance to grow then you are setting an entire program up for failure and doing a disservice to young athletes.
I just feel like gym teachers really need to take note of this and do better, this is a position of trust and the ability to inspire these young athletes toward whatever goal they may have in their sports future
