Ladder of Priorities

“You give up the right to do your own thing, when you make commitments to other.” -Holtz
The key to any successful endeavor is to have an understanding of priorities of all the participants and aligning them with the goals of group. A sport is no exception.
In school sports the most frequent conflict arises as the incoming priorities of coaches, parents, and players are in opposition. In order to become successful people must supplant their individual goals for the betterment of the group.

Examine the example below, where you have the incoming priority lists of the three key groups.

Parent's Priorities

1 - Athlete
2 - School

3 - Team

4 - Program

Player's Priorities

1 - Individual

2 - Team

3 - School

4 - Program

Coach's Priorities

1- Program

2 - School

3 - Team

4 - Individual

The chart clearly illustrates where conflict arises. While the overall importance of school can be seen throughout, the coaches’ focus must be on what is best for the largest number while the others are more concerned with the individual.

Most coaches are very considerate of the individual’s needs and wants when making decisions but their bottom line the priorities outlined by their job and position come first. In order to have a successful program the coach must manage and guide their players to subvert their instincts of self first. Team success is a product of having the individuals focused on a group end goal, not short term individual goals.

Convincing players and parents that the program must be your primary focus in perhaps the greatest challenge that facing school coaches.

Nutbrown

I've had very few original ideas lately related to basketball. It may have something to do with me trying to focus on Miss V (Verity  - my daughter). To round out my quota for this month here is list given to me by Coach Daye senior that he took from a meeting with Coach Nutbrown.

FYI: Coach Nutbrown is 3 parts coaching  legend, 1 part urban myth in Atlantic Canada.

Dave Nutbrown is one of the most successful Canadian university coaches to ever come out of NB. Not only did he successfully coach high school basketball in this province but he surveyed programs for many years at the university level. Before looking at the players to recruit, he would evaluate the program at a particular school to determine his willingness to associate with it.
The following criteria (in no specific order) are the issues that Coach Nutbrown looked at when determining program strength:

- The most talented kids possible.
- Desire and ability to play year round (at least part time)
- Won/Lost record vs. strength of schedule
- Championships
- Kids aspiring to play at a higher level
- What effect does it have on the school? Community?
- Immediate + Long Range effects on individuals
- Co-operation of administration
- Community and Parental interest
- Kids having to want to play and play often
- Coaches are a model of expectations at practice
- Practices mimic game intensity and expectations
- Coach willing and able to make the person a better player then he/she wants to be
- Strong feeder programs that mimic the attributes of the high school program.
- The prioritizing of long term goals, ahead of short term goals.