Making the Team

Many years ago, I had a young athlete and her parents come to my office and ask “what does my daughter need do to make the team?” At that time, I was the head varsity girls basketball coach. This particular athlete was a fine player, fast, gifted, but a little inexperienced. I knew her parents were really good people and wanted the best for her daughter. So, the four of us sat and talked.

As I began to explain what she could do that summer to prepare to tryout for the varsity team a set of 10 principles came into my mind and I shared each one with them.

After they left my office I wrote the principles down and have used them ever since to help coach young people who are interested in making their high school varsity team.

These principles come from my experience as a coach and my experience as a varsity player who had to compete vigorously for a starting role. The 10 principles are:

1. Be your own coach.
2. Be your own fan.
3. Scaling the competition.
4. Individual commitment.
5. If it is not fun – make it fun!
6. Camps and clinics.
7. Student of the game.
9. What coach wants.
10. An experience to share.

I am happy to make this booklet available for free. Please feel free to share the booklet.

Best of luck on making your team.