Thursday, September 5, 2013

I'm Back!

It's been 15 months since I last posted in this space, and in that time my career has taken a number of sharp turns from where it was headed in the spring of 2012. In May of 2012 I made the difficult decision to leave Houghton College, where I had spent the previous 6 years - first as a student assistant and then as the head assitant coach for the men's basketball program. In the time that has passed, I've had three fantastic coaching opportunities open up for me.

The first is that I started my own skill training business, called Dynamic Basketball Development. DBD opened in June of 2012, and since that time I have hosted two camps, been invited to speak at 4 others, hosted multiple skills clinics, and worked with other 200 individual athletes. Additionally, in the spring of 2013 I was able to lead the first ever DBD AAU team - a select U17 team made up of 10 players from 7 high schools. We what I would call a successful first year, and ended the season on a high note by finishing 2nd in our last tournament.

The second opportunity, which was brought about through my work with DBD, was to become and Alpha Trainer for Point 3 Basketball. Point 3 is a performance-based apparel company out of Atlanta, and the Alpha program is made up of skills trainers around the nation who are dedicated to teaching the game at the grassroots level. As both Point 3 and the Alpha program have expanded since I joined them in March, I have developed great relationships with a strong network of coaches and trainers, who have inspired me to be a better coach myself.

Lastly, but certainly not least, I was hired in August of 2012 as the head coach of the Campbell-Savona Central School varsity boy's basketball team. Some people may see the move from full-time college assistant to high school coach as at the very least a lateral move, and probably a downgrade. For me, that could not be farther from the truth. To have a chance to become the head coach of the school that I proudly played for, and to be given the opportunity to restore the program my family had helped build into a sectional power and state championship contender, was a dream come true.

Taking the Campbell-Savona job is actually what prompted the hiatus in my blogging. Being a first year coach, I wanted to focus completely on the court. With a new business, new job, and new players I felt like I wouldn't be able to devote the time necessary to continue this project with the standards I had set. Entering year two of all of those opportunities, I feel ready to again produce content that is thought-provoking, motivational, and instructional. I am excited to begin writing again, and looking forward to sharing a number of the lessons I learned over the course of the last year in the coming days. From there, it'll be full steam ahead with skills development, leadership, coaching, and motivation.

In the mean time, please feel free to browse through older posts and comment on any that you enjoy!

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