CYA Basketball - any additional resources in Chantilly Fairfax to supplement learning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is 10 years old and has been playing recreational basketball for 5 seasons with CYA. I have noticed that the coaches/assistant coaches kids barely pass the ball to my son during games and all he is doing is just running around. I think it is perhaps time to provide him additional practice so that he can gain confidence. Has anyone been in the same boat and can recommend a good basketball coach in the Chantilly/Fairfax area or any other resources?

OP, that's the coaches fault. He/she should be running plays or sets at this age to get everyone the ball. I coach CYA and make sure everyone gets involved...even if it means we lose. The good kids (usually the guards and coach's sons) can't be trusted to make a decision between shooting the ball, passing it to a good player/friend, and passing it to your son. The coach needs to enforce it at this age.

I agree with this poster, and I'm delighted to hear that PP coaches this way. But as a 10 year rec, travel and high school basketball parent I'll tell you that it's super common for kids who aren't as assertive not to get the ball, and this is something that a player needs to learn to deal with because every player will be in a situation where they are not getting the ball as much as they would like.

Working with a trainer can make a big difference pretty quickly (like within a couple of weeks). So can learning to dribble (practicing 15 min. every day for two weeks can make a huge difference for a new player, and it gets easier more fun the more they do it).

But the most effective advice my kid ever got was to go get the ball without waiting for a pass -- rebound, steal and force turnovers. Those are things that kids can learn quickly and that no kids ever practice on their own. Also, parents who aren't basketball gurus can watch youtube videos or see online resources to help kids learn those skills. Kids who aren't tall can get rebounds by learning to box out, learning which way a miss is likely to come off the rim, and learning timing. Google (age appropriate) rebounding drills and take your kid to a court and practice missing shots for them to rebound. Also, if you can get someone to practice passing with you (mom and dad can do this), get your kid to work on stealing passes between perimeter players. It took my kid one session of working on this to get the timing. Also, teach your kid to pay attention to when a kid picks up his dribble without someone to pass to (probably still common for 10 year olds). If your kid understands when a kid has picked up his dribble and how to play aggressive defense at that point, he can force turnovers, especially if that kid is close to half court or the sideline.

Also, if your kid is shy of contact, invest in a karate kicking pad (big rectangular pad with handles) and practice pressuring him and bumping him a bit as he dribbles down court. Getting your kid used to contact in a way that doesn't hurt them can dramatically reduce their nervousness during games and improve their enjoyment a ton. Working with a pad when my kid was a freshman transformed his game, and if I had started a couple of years earlier he would have had a lot more fun in games and been a much better player.

PP Coach here. I totally agree! Besides running plays, I also teach them that if they want the ball, go get it. Steals and rebounds are the easiest way to get the ball at this age because most kids can't pass and at least 70% of the shots are misses so there are plenty of opportunities for rebounds. I also tell them to go to the ball when their teammate picks up their dribble. If a kid can do all of this (it's not too hard to teach), then they will get a lot of touches during the game. They just need to be assertive and somewhat aggressive.

Yes! Takes zero skill and gets a kid tons of touches at this age. Also, teammates appreciate being bailed out and will be more likely to pass to a kid who does this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a coaching problem but five bad coaches in a row is really, really bad luck. My son plays on a team with SYA and his coach has the boys take turns being the point guard. We have played teams where there are other kids who seem to never even get to touch the ball and I think that is really sad for a rec sport.

The N zone in chantilly has a basketball program but I haven't heard reviews on it one way or the other.

Walt Webb runs the program at the N zone. He knows the game and it’s convenient for some people. His summer camps are reasonable if you sign up early. Your kid can get some experience there. I just don’t like the way he runs things.

Same here. There are a few really good kids who get most of the attention and the rest (80%) are just paying the fees.

Webb is a Snake.

[Anonymous]

Webb was advertising travel teams back in the fall. Just looked on the Slam City website and didn’t see any information.

Anyone know what happened to his travel teams?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone elaborate on Webb sucking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone elaborate on Webb sucking?

I wouldn’t say he sucks. He knows the game and your kids can learn the fundamentals from his training. He’s just not as honest and forthcoming as someone id like to deal with.

He did a summer league where he claimed there would an All Star Game and a Championship. There was neither.

During that same summer league I watched him stack basketball teams. Every week he was moving the players around and certain teams he would never add any weak players to which kept teams from being competitive with other teams in the same division.

During his summer camp he had a championship game. He has two sons that were playing in this championship game. I watched his sons team on the losing end of the game and at half time Webb moved the best player off the winning team to his sons team and he brought them back to win. And his sons team was not short of players.

He’s also a slick talker who will take advantage of you if you don’t understand the way Basketball organizations are run. Fortunately for me, I wasn’t new to the game so he couldn’t get his hustle off on me. That just made me not want to deal with him.

[Anonymous]

What is their to know about how basketball organizations rip you off? I am a single mom who knows nothing about the game but my son loves playing.

[Anonymous]

Some organizations will put your kid on a team either with too many kids (DS was put on an AAU team with 14 kids last year, and this was after they cut 60 kids at tryouts). The competition for playing time was like lord of the flies, which is what they wanted I guess.

Or the will try to field a team when they don't have the numbers -- DS was on another team that published a tournament schedule, had practices and even cut kids and then announced 2 days before the first tournament that they didn't have enough kids and were cancelling the season. DS's first travel game he showed up and there were 4 kids there from his team. They played with 4 (then 3 after one kid fouled out) and got beat like 70-21.

Other teams will tell you about fees, but then charge additional fees for uniforms or for coaches' compensation at tournaments (e.g. asking parents to kick in $20 additional per player per day of tournaments).

Also, find out how many seasons the team plays and what fees are for each season. DS played on an AAU team that divided the AAU season into spring and summer and wanted to charge fees for both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone elaborate on Webb sucking?

I wouldn’t say he sucks. He knows the game but his main training facility (NZone) is in Chantilly. Not exactly a hotbed of b-ball talent. Lots of kids in the Chantilly demographic (you can figure that out) participate in his camps and leagues with no real desire to seriously take up the game. That leaves a small number of serious players that he really focuses on. The parents of the other kids gladly she’ll out the fees because they can afford it and don’t know anything about basketball. I think that makes Coach Webb a bit lazy on the overall quality of the programs. The leagues and camps are full so why worry.

I think he puts a lot more effort into his travel and AAU teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some organizations will put your kid on a team either with too many kids (DS was put on an AAU team with 14 kids last year, and this was after they cut 60 kids at tryouts). The competition for playing time was like lord of the flies, which is what they wanted I guess.

Or the will try to field a team when they don't have the numbers -- DS was on another team that published a tournament schedule, had practices and even cut kids and then announced 2 days before the first tournament that they didn't have enough kids and were cancelling the season. DS's first travel game he showed up and there were 4 kids there from his team. They played with 4 (then 3 after one kid fouled out) and got beat like 70-21.

Other teams will tell you about fees, but then charge additional fees for uniforms or for coaches' compensation at tournaments (e.g. asking parents to kick in $20 additional per player per day of tournaments).

Also, find out how many seasons the team plays and what fees are for each season. DS played on an AAU team that divided the AAU season into spring and summer and wanted to charge fees for both.

Our rec league has travel teams that you try out for and rec teams that everyone can play on l. What's the difference between a travel team like that and an AAU team?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some organizations will put your kid on a team either with too many kids (DS was put on an AAU team with 14 kids last year, and this was after they cut 60 kids at tryouts). The competition for playing time was like lord of the flies, which is what they wanted I guess.

Or the will try to field a team when they don't have the numbers -- DS was on another team that published a tournament schedule, had practices and even cut kids and then announced 2 days before the first tournament that they didn't have enough kids and were cancelling the season. DS's first travel game he showed up and there were 4 kids there from his team. They played with 4 (then 3 after one kid fouled out) and got beat like 70-21.

Other teams will tell you about fees, but then charge additional fees for uniforms or for coaches' compensation at tournaments (e.g. asking parents to kick in $20 additional per player per day of tournaments).

Also, find out how many seasons the team plays and what fees are for each season. DS played on an AAU team that divided the AAU season into spring and summer and wanted to charge fees for both.

Our rec league has travel teams that you try out for and rec teams that everyone can play on l. What's the difference between a travel team like that and an AAU team?

AAU can go 3 seasons. How many does your rec travel team play each year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some organizations will put your kid on a team either with too many kids (DS was put on an AAU team with 14 kids last year, and this was after they cut 60 kids at tryouts). The competition for playing time was like lord of the flies, which is what they wanted I guess.

Or the will try to field a team when they don't have the numbers -- DS was on another team that published a tournament schedule, had practices and even cut kids and then announced 2 days before the first tournament that they didn't have enough kids and were cancelling the season. DS's first travel game he showed up and there were 4 kids there from his team. They played with 4 (then 3 after one kid fouled out) and got beat like 70-21.

Other teams will tell you about fees, but then charge additional fees for uniforms or for coaches' compensation at tournaments (e.g. asking parents to kick in $20 additional per player per day of tournaments).

Also, find out how many seasons the team plays and what fees are for each season. DS played on an AAU team that divided the AAU season into spring and summer and wanted to charge fees for both.

Our rec league has travel teams that you try out for and rec teams that everyone can play on l. What's the difference between a travel team like that and an AAU team?

Lots of organizations have travel teams that have tryouts and developmental teams that anyone can sign up for. Sometimes those are private organizations and --- at least in DC -- others are run through DC rec centers. Emory Recreation Center, for example, has really strong travel teams and also --- I think -- normal rec teams that any one can play on.

Strictly speaking, "AAU" refers to teams that play in tournaments sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union. Kids and coaches have to have AAU cards and be certified by AAU. Age requirements are enforced.

People also use AAU to refer to travel youth basketball generally, which includes a broad range of teams and competitions not sanctioned by AAU.

For example, there are select leagues that lots of local travel teams play in that have nothing to do with AAU. For most teams, those don't involve much travel. Then there are teams that play exclusively in large tournaments mostly in places like Atlanta, Las Vegas, Atlantic City etc. put on by companies like HoopGroup (JamFests) or Adidas (Sliver Gauntlet events). Finally, there are sponsored grassroots basketball leagues run by the shoe companies (Adidas, Under Armour and Nike) that a limited number of outstanding teams are invited/given money to play in. People call all of this "AAU", but none of it has anything to do with AAU, and one notable difference is that nobody seems to check ages for the local leagues and for tournaments like Jamfests teams are based on grade, so you have a LOT of kids who reclass to an earlier grade and play down one or two years (this applies at the high school level).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is their to know about how basketball organizations rip you off? I am a single mom who knows nothing about the game but my son loves playing.

If your son is good and your worried about getting ripped off, don’t f with Webb.

Check with some of the local travel organizations like the Fairfax Stars, Nova94, etc. If they aren’t conveniently located for you, ask them for a recommendation. And if your son isn’t an advanced player, these organizations usually have developmental teams too. And if it’s training you want, they can give you a recommendation for that too. This will give you something to compare to Webb’s service.

[Anonymous]

If Webb is the guy who runs Slam City I have nothing good to say about him. I called his number maybe 3-4 times, left messages, etc. He didn't even have consideration to call me back. If you are not going to call parents back dont advertise!!!

[Anonymous]

Check out "Hoops the Right Way" in Ashburn. Coach Ken provides quality instruction. I wasted my money sending my kid to a well known training group in the Fairfax area . Most of the clinics and training
in this area is poor. That's a fact not an opinion. When you are just running kids through drill that's not instruction.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Ken!