Austin Girls Basketball Team for 7th Graders

Announcing “Fierce” – A 7th Grade Girls Select Basketball Team

What: A Select Basketball Program with a focus on personalized development.

Where: Practices, Real Run, and training to be held at Fitzhugh Baptist Church gym (https://www NULL.google NULL.com/maps/place/Fitzhugh+Baptist+Church/ null@null 30 NULL.2475605,-98 NULL.0303776,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x865b463053e23759:0xf8c272a712c5d2f2!8m2!3d30 NULL.2475559!4d-98 NULL.0281889?hl=en) in Southwest Austin. Tournaments to have local focus.

Why: The girls need a great deal of development if their goal is to play in high school. We also aim to teach them to play and live their lives with a sense of Passion, Purpose, and Power. The team name will be “Fierce” and we hope to challenge the girls to play with a sense of confidence and aggressiveness while still balancing emotional intelligence and happiness.

When: February 1 thru June 29th.

Team Practice: Tuesdays 6:30 – 8:30

Real Run Practice: Wednesdays 7:30- 9pm

Skill Development: Thursday 6-7pm

Who: Consultant & Trainer Chris Corbett, Head Coach Cheryl Dunn, , Trainer Geoff Harner, and Team Administrator Heather Corbett

For years I have written, been consulted on, and spoke publicly and privately about “select” basketball choices and our children. The kids we train and their families have often come back to me and complained about a lack of fun, development, and results in the select basketball marketplace. Now I am faced with my 7th grade daughter and many of her friends wanting to play “select” basketball.

My wife Heather has asked me to put together some alternatives to the traditional system. She is going to administer a team for Ellie and her friends (and other interested 7th graders that we train at Austin Youth Basketball.) I have found a talented and passionate coach. I will also train the kids in offensive skill development and shooting. After speaking with USA Basketball, and the many high school coaches I know, in addition to all the kids and families we train, we have developed a system that is not a magic wand, but the best available approach to help the kids be rewarded for their efforts to get better while also balancing fun and other pursuits.

The goal is to provide the girls with an opportunity to develop athletically, develop their skills, and increase their game IQ. As a certified USA Basketball Coach and trainer, we have offered many coaches clinics on the subject, and this program is my recommendation and also follows the advice of people like Greg Popovich, Mike Krzyzewski, USA Basketball, and hundreds of coaches who graciously advise and consult with me.

If I saw this in the marketplace currently, it would be much easier for us to have our daughter and her friends just join an existing program. We don’t see the quality of coaching and training, court time and balanced approach that USA Basketball is mandating for the kids. Here is the outline:

What is included:

Head Coach Cheryl Dunn

A weekly 2 hour practice with Coach Cheryl Dunn. They will go over skills, systems, offense and defense. Tuesday nights. Cheryl is a former collegiate Division 1 Basketball scholarship player at Lamar University and has coached at the Middle School Level. The kids will be impressed with her passion and also her day job.
A weekly 1 hour skill training session with professional basketball trainers Chris Corbett and Geoff Harner Thursday nights at 6pm.
A weekly 1.5 hour “Real Run Program” (click here for details on how this works). 1 hour of organized and refereed pickup basketball with differentteam designation each week. 40 minutes guaranteed playing time. The last 30 minutes is devoted to basketball specific prehab (ACL strengthening work as an example) and speed and agility work. Our trainer Geoff Harner is a referee, personal trainer, and a USA certified trainer. And he is fun. The kids are not allowed to be coached during this time. No parent coaching, no trainer coaching, no coach coaching. This is about fun, trying new skills with reduced fear of failure, conditioning thru play, and just getting them court time.
We will play in approximately 1 – to 1.5 tournaments per month. Tournaments will have a local focus. We may go out of town for one tournament and that may be as close as San Antonio. We do have to remain somewhat flexible on this, but my goal is to keep the girls in the gym, not on the road. Sitting in a Dallas gym and only shooting 12 times all weekend will not make you a better player.

Additionally, the following will be included:

A personalized 1 page personalized player development plan after observing them for a few weeks and chatting with the player. This is to highlight 3 goals for their development this season. SMART Goals.
Access to our “No Excuses” Bodyweight Workout Live Seminar for them to do at home on their own as they develop healthy habits.
Access to our February “Intro Discussion to Playing College Basketball Seminar.” This was a big hit last year and helped many families have some direction in addressing their children’s hopes, fears and questions. Families are invited. We have helped many players reach the collegiate level, consult and train some college teams, and have friendships with many college coaches. We bring that experience to the table. (Click here to view the last seminar details…)
Access to a our “Food is Fuel” nutrition seminar. We hope to secure my own personal trainer and nutrition expert/author Rusty Gregory (http://rustygregory NULL.com/thank-you-rusty/# NULL.WH067PkrI2w) to speak to the kids about lifestyle, choices, and healthy mindsets about food. Rusty has helped change my life and I do want to share him as food is a neglected element of basketball performance.
Access To “The Solo Basketball Workout Clinic.” Your kid is motivated… they have a hoop and a ball… how do they make this time productive and fun? The answer to all basketball development is not tournaments, trainers, and coaches… you writing checks the whole time. Does your kid love the game? Let’s show them some work ethic and purposeful, intentional, development techniques. The rest is up to them.
Access to our “Ballhandling and Buckets Clinic.” This clinic has proven to increase the confidence and enjoyment of ballhandling. (View outline of past Ballhandling and Buckets curriculum here…)
Access to our “Shooting to Win Clinic” where shots will be analyzed from the feet up and proper technique will be shared. We are known from California to Lithuania as being great shooting coaches. We can really help your coach-able child with shooting form. (Here is a link to a recent shooting clinic we held)
Sand Training Clinic – We will show the motivated youngster how to use the sand to decrease impact on joints, while increasing stress on muscles. Safe plyometrics for growing bodies. We will have this at the sand courts in Circle C.
Parties: We will have 3 parties one at Kickoff, mid, and end of season. We may ask for pot luck type approach but will provide the venues at the gym or a pool.

What is not included:

Uniforms – we are pricing currently. We need home and away or quality reversibles Expect to pay less than $200. We are bidding around for the best value.
Insurance – very modest cost that each player will pay for. Cost appears to be less than $15 per player thru the AAU. We are just looking at easiest option.

Cost: $899

Payment Plan: $199 per month. This is still a full commitment to pay over the course of the season. Not a monthly signup. Meaning if you move half way thru, you are still responsible for the full amount.

What is next: Tryouts and Info Night This Wednesday at our Real Run Program 8pm – 9:30 at Fitzhugh Baptist Church. Kids should bring a reversible jersey if they have one, a bottle of water, and be ready to have fun and work hard. The Real Run program on Wednesdays
does is primarily organized scrimmage based and we will watch your kids in this environment to see their natural tendencies. There will be no cost for these scrimmages.

Value: Your player will receive 114 hours of basketball instruction and participation. if they attend the outlined curriculum above. That does not include the tournaments or the parties. We will aim for 1.5 tournaments per month. Meaning 1 in February, 2 in March etc. The team practice and Thursday skill sessions are required. The Wednesday program very strongly encouraged and will most likely be the girls favorite. At $899 per season, that works out to less than $8 per hour. It is unlikely we can do it again at this rate next season, but thanks to Coach Cheryl’s generosity with her time… we can have this inaugural rate.