Parents Playbooks- Capture & Preserve Memories

Any of you have followed my blog, realize I have been doing research on past boys and past girls basketball teams. To do the research, I have go to our wonderful public library to look at old newspaper articles. It is an amazing experience to sit down and go through an entire season at one sitting. 

Several weeks ago when I was doing research on the 1960 team, it struck me how much I could find in the paper. There were box scores with points, free throws, rebound leaders, and fouls. While they were blurry, there pictures and I got a sense the size of Bob Coe and Bumpy Nixon. There was an article describing players being disciplined and players being injured. For people from that era- tons of memories. 

Coaching 101- Daily Dozen

Years and years ago, I attended a clinic where Sam Alford (Steve Alford’s father) of New Castle, Ind gave a talk on developing a program. One of the concepts he talked about was giving his JH coaches a set of 5 drills to do each day in practice. The idea was that the first 30-45 minutes of each JH practice “belonged” to him as the Varsity coach. 

I thought it seemed like a great concept. The person who we hired to coach any of our lower level programs (JH thru FS), they were often inexperienced in coaching and often limited in their basketball knowledge. 

Coaching 101- Practice Scrimmage Game

 

Scrimmage Game

1- 5 on 5 playing to 11 points. 

2- +3= 3 pointer, +2= 2 pointer, +1= offensive or defensive rebound

3- Defense gets steal or rebound, they break the other way.

4- Offense scores, play stops, it is make it/take it with offense going in half- court 5 vs 5 again.

5- If a team turns it over twice, game over, they lose.

6- First team to 11 points wins. 

Maine West Summer Tourneys

 The Illinois Basketball Coaches Association had been organization for boys basketball only. At the end of the 1984 season, the IBCA took in girls basketball and girls coaches. I had the opportunity to be on the first All-State Board that met at the end of the season. That meeting was the first real chance to network with coaches from the suburbs and southern Illinois. 

At that first meeting, Derril Kipp of Maine West told me that he hosted summer tourney and would like to get some downstate teams involved. We went for the first time then in the summer of 1984. That first trip, we had no school transportation and we had to get someone else to coach the team according to IHSA rules. Cessy Burga’s parents offered their station wagon and a coaching friend, Mike Jaskoski offered to coach. 

Willam Allen- Knox Grad, GHS Teacher- Killed in WW2

 William Allen was a 1939 graduate of Knox College. While at Knox, he became a political activist. He was part of a large group of students who were unhappy with the school’s “chapels.” They felt that the chapels had become a way for the college to indoctrinate students with conservative, pro-business speakers. His activism led him to take a leadership role as the editor of the Knox Student (school newspaper). His outspoken approach caused some to label him as un-American and a Communist.  

After graduation, he taught three years in Fairview. He moved back to teach at Galesburg High School in 1942. He was an English teacher and in charge of all of the drama activities. At this time, before TV, school plays were performed almost monthly. 

Streaks Scrapbook- 1999 Girls 2nd in State- Part I

 

1999 Girls 2nd in State

33-2

(State Rank- #2)

The 1998 Streaks lost in the Elite 8 game, but had no seniors on their roster. The entire starting five returned for the 1999 season. In terms of playing time, the top 9 players on the ‘99 time were:

Jaque Howard (5’4” Jr, Pt Gd) 8.0ppg, 6.2apg

Michelle Flaar (5’7” Jr, Guard) 3.5ppg

Megan Pacheco (5’8” Jr, Forward) 11.8ppg, 5.4rpg

Whitney Snyder (5’10” Jr, Forward) 8.0ppg, 6.2rpg

Sarah Larson (5’11” Sr, Post) 22.6ppg, 8.5rpg

Jenny Zolper (5’9” Sr, Post) 2.4ppg, 3.5rpg

Rachel Bicego (5’6” So Guard) 4.0ppg

Sarah Pacheco (5’10” Soph Guard) 4.7ppg, 2.0rpg

Friday Fotos- 1999- Back Again

What A Run!- In 1999, the Streaks were in the middle of a great run (and it wasn’t done yet).

The Last Word- Coaches always say that your “star” sets the tone, the culture for your team. If your “star” is unselfish and hard working, your team will be unselfish and hard working. In 1999, the Streaks had many stars, but Sarah Larson was “THE STAR.” This interview with Sarah captures her focus- on the team!!

Strategy- 1999 Soft Man to Man Press

If we had the lead with under 10 seconds left, usually we wanted to play what we would call our “Soft MM Press.” We are wanting to just slow down the offense and make them have to take a long shot. In a dead ball situation, our initial alignment in “Soft MM Press” was to not allow any long passes, not to allow a guard to catch and go on the dribble. 

We showed pressure but backed up just 4-5 feet. With the initial show of pressure, it was our hope to force the offense to go back to the ball. We wanted the offense to have to “go back” to catch the ball. So they did not have forward momentum. 

After showing the pressure, the bounce back assured we would keep the ball in front of us. The defender on the inbounder acted as a center fielder to help on a dribble. 

If the other team has one great player that you know they want to get the ball inbounds to, I have seen teams take the inbound defender and have them face guard that good player, while the good player’s defender can stay behind. I am more cautious and preferred the have the inbounder defender in position to cover up mistakes. 

Strategy- 1999 Larson’s Three in Supersectional

We were in a battle with Machesney Park Harlem in the Supersectional at NIU’s Chick Evans FH. Late in the game, we down three with the ball. We ran a play that we called, “Carthage.” It was a play that we had stolen from Carthage, who was a very good small school. 

Old School Coaches- Talking About Parents

“Old School Coaches” are veteran coaches who look at some of the tough questions that all coaches face. In the group we have HOF coaches from football, volleyball, boys basketball, and girls basketball. The group also includes four retired athletic directors. 

In future if you have some questions that you would like addressed- put them them in the comments at the end. 

Greg King- Sterling HS

In his head coaching career at Sterling, his football teams went 78-28, and had 10 straight play-off appearances and 5 conference titles. In addition to his success as a football coach, he was inducted in the Illinois Athletic Director's Association HOF. 

Mark Massey- Clinton HS

Mark was the head volleyball coach at Clinton for 38 years. His teams won 818 games, and twice took second in State. He is in the Iowa Volleyball HOF and Clinton HS HOF.

Thom Sigel- Rock Falls/Rock Island HS

Thom coached basketball for 32 years. His teams won 502 games, and he has the distinction of winning the State Title at both Rock Falls and Rock Island. Thom is in the IBCA HOF.

Mike Tracey- Alleman, UTHS, Moline HS

Mike coached football at Alleman, UT, and Moline for over 20 years. By most, he is considered the premier football coach in WB6 history. His teams won 140 games, and twice finished second in State. Mike is in the Alleman HS HOF and the Illinois Football HOF. He was also selected Illinois AD of the Year. 

Tom Wierzba- Farmington HS

Tom coached basketball for 38 years, coaching 26 years at Farmington. At Farmington, his teams won 7 sectionals and made 5 trips to State, including a third place and fourth place finish. For his career, his teams won 611 games. In addition, he coached softball at Farmington for 10 years- going 225-50. His softball teams won the State title twice and took fourth once. He has been inducted into both the IBCA and Greater Peoria Sports HOF's.

Bob Anderson- Williamsfield HS

Bob is retired as boys basketball coach at Williamsfield. At a school of only 89 students, in 45 years, his teams won 732 games along with numerous tourney and conference championships. His 1997 team made it to the Elite 8. 

Mike Cooper- Ottawa HS

Mike is the retired Athletic Director at Ottawa HS. He was varsity girls basketball coach for 22 years, as well as sophomore football coach for many years. He was inducted in the the IBCA HOF.

Tim Engebretson- United HS

He was varsity head football coach for many years at United HS. He also has coached basketball at different levels. His 2005 team won the Illinois State Title, and Tim is in the Illinois Football Coaches' HOF as well as the United HOF.

My Question

Obviously parents play a crucial role not only in their son/daughters sports experience but they have the ability to impact an entire sports program. What did you do to help get parents on the same page? What advice would you share with parents?

Coaching 101- Organized Pre-Practice

I always asked our players to do an organized “Prepractice” at the beginning of practice. Doing this served several purposes:

1- It concentrated on three basic skills- weak hand dribbling, finishing with weak and strong hand, and form shooting. My belief was that if our players did this before each practice it would have a cumulative impact of making them better with their weak hand, better finishing around the basket, and improve their shooting form.

Coaching 101- Stick With FS Prelims or Swith to JV Prelims

There are fewer students choosing to play both boys and girls basketball in Illinois and also nationally. Traditionally most schools have offered three levels of competition- freshman, frosh-soph, and varsity. As the number of players has decreased, in order to maintain three levels of play, schools are often having freshman players play multiple levels. A freshman may play two freshman games and two frosh-soph games per week. In the meantime, juniors are caught in a situation where they are on the bench for the varsity and not playing any games. 

Schools are looking at ways to handle this decrease in participation in HS basketball, especially in girls basketball. I did an informal survey of 12 athletic conferences to see what someone of them were doing to accommodate the decrease in numbers. It appears that one of the common threads is for more and more conferences to play JV and Varsity level competition instead of the more traditional FS and Varsity levels. 

In girls basketball, 7 conferences are now allowing schools to play freshmen, sophomores, or juniors in the prelim games- so it is a JV contest. Five of the conferences are still playing a FS game for the prelim game in girls basketball. In boys basketball, because of larger numbers, only 3 of the conferences are playing JV prelim games.

Streaks Scrapbook- 1960 Galesburg’s “New, Unnamed Gym”

In basketball terms, the 1959-1960 team is referred to as the 1960 team. So although the new school opened in the Fall of 1959 school year, I will be referring to the 1960 season. So not to confuse, the 1960 team played in 1959-1960.

In 1959-1960, Galesburg High School moved to West Fremont Street. When it first opened up, it was definitely on the edge of town. You could see more corn than homes at that time. There was no industrial arts wing, there was no learning center, and there was no foreign language wing. All of those things would come later.

There was a new gym. The Register-Mail referred to it as the “new, unnamed gym on West Fremont.” Jimmie Carr and his 1959 teammates were very disappointed that they had not gotten to play in the new gym. Jimmie described first going into the gym on Fremont St, and being struck about how “bright and light the gym was compared to Steele Gym.” 

Friday Fotos- Great Rivals, Great Gyms, Great Quiz

There are some great gyms in Western Illinois- I have a quiz for you about these gyms. Can you pass the test at the end!!

Canton HS

Super 7- Streaks Alums Playing College Hoops

There are 7 Streak’s alums who are playing college basketball this winter. Audree Peck (Clarke- Senior), Lauren Livingston (Dubuque-Senior), Riley Jenkins (Minnesota-Crookston- RS Soph), Juniper Schwartzman (Grinnell-Soph), Capre Ferguson (Sandburg- Soph), Kiarra Kilgore (Missouri S&T-First Yr), and Antonia Kisler (Sandburg-First Yr).