A Guide to Choosing the Best Select Basketball Team

Cities are oversaturated with basketball teams whose driven objective is to create accommodating systems for specified skill levels. Those accommodating systems are more attractive than systems that have concrete structure and order. Finding a team that has non-negotiable standards and demands a high level of commitment may be difficult to land. It is simply a matter of what's valued and what type of exposure you're searching for. Are you searching for recreational or competitive placement?

There is an overwhelming present theme in youth basketball where parents consistently vent about their daunting experiences. Parents of players openly share their displeasures and present their inexperienced opinionated agenda to provoke favor. These unwarranted behaviors cause players to be misplaced, often resulting in regressive, developmental stagnation. Too often, psychological manipulation and egotistical driven agendas have been tolerated and take precedent over what should be a harmonious experience. There are a lot of variables to consider when choosing the best select basketball team for your athlete that provides a results-based experience. We’ve created a guide to navigate through summer basketball team selection - Know Your Goals, Ask Questions, & Analyze Player Development.

Know your Goals

Your driving force should be your immediate and long-term goals. Goal setting doesn't have to be complicated. Your objective can be simply to want your child to learn basketball and develop their skill. Maybe playing a sport is solely a social aspect for your child. Contrarily, other families navigate with the purpose of seeking exposure so their player can receive athletic scholarship offers for D1 basketball. Your objective determines what kind of team to choose. If playing a sport is recreational, chances are the passion that makes an athlete dedicate time to development doesn't not exist. Consequently, they'll have a lower skill level, lack of connectivity, & lack of anticipation for growth. Attaching your family with a team of high caliber athletes and competition wouldn't align with your objective. For those who want exposure to network with college coaches for recruitment, a summer travel basketball team or one that plays in a well-known circuit against great talent is best.

Ask Questions

Seek information so you can make a well-informed decision. Don't only ask questions to the team's director and coaches. Ask people in the community. Reputation and prior experience tell a story- you can tell a lot by a little. Trust people and things as you see them.

Questions to consider are: Is the basketball team local or is it a summer travel basketball team? Some teams compete within the city. Most grassroots teams stay local. What days and times are practice? If that information isn't known yet, ask when it will be known.

Are practices at the same location? Can you provide a tournament schedule? Knowing information in advance allows you to plan better. What's known and unknown differentiate a well-organized team structure from a flyby system.

What are guidelines for missed practices or being late? Is there a reprimanding system in place? Will attendance affect playing time? How is playing time determined? Higher level teams have standards and expectations in place that are fully understand and followed. Typically those teams require players to sit out a certain amount of minutes or a quarter based on the number of absences. Lower level teams typically do not have an established protocol and divvy up play time equally.

"What other guidelines are in place?" My high school coach, Al Flannigan, required all players to attend summer training sessions and open gym; Mon-Thurs for 4 weeks. I call it voluntarily mandatory. He gave it to us straight as the school year ended that if we don't have a job, we needed to be the gym- and if we weren't there it would show him our level of commitment to becoming a key player on varsity. I hear his words to this day, "If I don't see you, don't bother coming to tryouts." His explanation was that those individuals weren't serious about helping our team dominate and continue our tradition. I was the only player that lived far from the school and had a job. I still managed to attend all the summer training. His concept was a vetting system and the standard was non-negotiable.

Analyze Player Development

Mastery and skill development should be part of your athlete's basketball journey. It's not common for a coach to also focus on player development, which is why outside basketball training is crucial. If a summer basketball team has time allocated for skill mastery, that's great! As a player gains experience, they should gain knowledge- becoming a more efficient player. Their basketball IQ should expand. Know that teaching a sport, or anything for that matter, is a talent that not every person has. A great coach may not be a great basketball trainer. That's why the titles are different; the focus of these two functions differ. Do your research on who or what entity is providing player development for a team. Find out their qualifications; what their experience is. While your athlete receives development, ask yourself "Is my child advancing?" "Are they getting the attention and correction they need? "Is the trainer breaking down technique and explaining the whys?" Know that every team that markets development may not have the program structure to meet your child's needs, which aids in accomplishing their goals. When you're consistent, it doesn't take long to see results. When you pay attention and analyze what's being gained, it must be determined if your family should transition to something different or if you're in good hands.