Mark Makeever- Parent Instilling Work Ethic as a Skill

Mark Makeever is a Galesburg High graduate of 1980. While at GHS, his senior year, he emerged as a great basketball player. He went onto Parkland JC, where he was JC All-State. He finished his basketball career at Panhandle State, where the team was nationally ranked, and Mark was All-District.

Mark went onto coach both boys and girls high school basketball in Oklahoma and Texas. His teams have gone 531-218, and had numerous state appearances.

I talked to Mark earlier in a Q/A about his playing days and about his coaching days. The earlier interview with Mark-- http://masseybasketball.blogspot.com/2017/08/qa-with-mark-makeever.html

This time I wanted to talk to Mark about being a coach and being a parent. Mark and his wife Kim have been married for over thirty years. Mark’s son, Corey was an all-star in high school and went onto play college basketball. Twin daughters, Mandy and Amber were high school stars and went onto play at Colorado State University.

As a coach, Mark has seen many parents of athletes. My interest was in talking to him about his parenting and his coaching.

As your daughters and your son started showing an interest in basketball, what did you do when they were in grade school to encourage their interest? 

With me being a coach and my kids constantly around great kids and teams. Seeing that work ethic, that enjoyment of improvement and accomplishments. They saw the respect good athletes and teams received. They just gravitated towards that and obviously I cultivated that attitude to help them be successful.

When they were first getting started in basketball, were there any skills in particular you tried to develop in them as youth players?

Work ethic is the main skill I wanted to instill. I believe that is a talent. Basketball skills- shooting! If you can do that it opens up so many other areas. Also always stressed head up constantly looking for open teammates. Defensively- first and foremost knowing where ball is and how is your opponent scoring on your TEAM.

How would other people describe your behavior at you kids games as a spectator?

Intense

When you went to a JH game if you saw a flaw in their game, how did you handle this? 

We talked about that later if it was an individual skill problem. And worked on it. My kids were pretty self-motivated so they were already aware of problem and fixing it.

Obviously at some point your children probably expressed they had high goals as a basketball player. As a coach, you know it is a lot easier to say you want to be great, than it is to really work to become great. And if your son and daughters said they wanted to be great, you know things they need to be doing to make their goals come true. How did you handle the fine line between pushing them to do what you knew they needed to do to be great vs. feeling you might be burning them out?

First there has to be that love. I’m not a big believer in burnout if the love is there. If you know your kids/players you will know which ones you can push a little more. I also believe most of us need to be pushed whether we like it or not. We all experience game slippage. But, building that relationship is so important to be able to push people where they don’t think they can go. “To get something you’ve never had you must do something you’ve never done.”

What role did you wife play in helping you not push too hard?

My wife was great! Kindergarten teacher with great empathy for people. Most honest person I have ever known. Even with me!!😊

As a parent and as a spectator, is it more nerve racking then being a coach?

Yes! We all want the best for our kids. And as a coach you know people are watching even closer. The fishbowl on steroids.

As your kids got older in high school and college, how did you learn to approach them after a tough loss or a bad performance?

Tough loss. Give it time. Heard the most important 5 min in an athletes life. The 5 minutes right after a game. It can have very devastating long lasting affects if not handled well. Sometimes also we would say to players and kids. When you take your shower wash it all down the drain. It’s over. Next play! With mistakes we had in our locker room. Admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it.

What advice do you have to athletic parents?

All parents. Build those relationships. Kids don’t care what you know until they know you care. And not just about their athletic abilities.

Lastly, with everything shut down right now. And you give young people reading this- 4-5 drills or workouts they could do by themselves?

Wow, tough one. They have access to so much with internet now. First what type of player do u want to be? Work towards your strengths. Improve weaknesses. I still think shooting!! Work on form in close. One hand shots. Muscle memory. To many shoot to far out when they aren’t strong enough. Also I know ball handling is big now days. But I still believe the best players are efficient with ball. Work on live ball moves, triple threat footwork on covering as much ground on as few dribbles as possible.