You have chosen your team and it's practice time.
At the youth level, you have to be careful not to get too involved with wins and losses. Ten (10)years from now the kids won't care or remember how many games they won or lost.
They will remember whether or not it was an enjoyable experience.
They play because it's fun. If it wasn't fun, they would just quit.
You can have a team that will win consistently, but are you developing players individually?
My belief is at this stage (U-13), the coach is a teacher who needs to stick to the basics and develop the individual player. This doesn't mean they don't play to win, you teach them winning basketball by teaching them the basic fundamentals.
For example: You have the tallest player in the league, and he/she is great at grabbing rebounds and scoring off those rebounds.
The player is a center on your team, and you play the 2-1-2 zone.
During your practices, all the player does is hang out under the boards and grab rebounds. Your team wins lots of games.
But what have you fundamentally taught the player?
What happens when 2 years later the player is no longer the tallest player in the league or your team? Can he/she dribble to create their own shot? Is the player able to play man-2-man defense out on the wing?
My true basics are dribbling, defense (foot movement), passing, proper layup form, and shooting form. Then everything else falls as a sub drill of the above basics.
This especially holds true if you are coaching in a rec league. The time you have with your players is very limited, and the basics are necessary if you want you players to move up to more competitive leagues, such as select/travel, AAU, and high school.
We all like to win, but there is limit to what effect you have on a player to just play to win. Teach a player for a lifetime with the basics, and you will help create a winning player.
