Coach Files

The Washtenaw County Upward Coach's Corner weekly emails can be found listed below.

Please be sure to read it each week as it will cover any issues teams need to dicusss, rules to review and so on.

Coach's Corner Week 1: HERE
Coach's Corner Week 2: HERE
Coach's Corner Week 3: HERE
Coach's Corner Week 4: HERE
Coach's Corner Week 5: HERE
Coach's Corner Week 6: HERE
Coach's Corner Week 7: HERE
Coach's Corner Week 8: HERE
Coach's Corner Week 9: HERE
Coach's Corner Week 10 (Last Week)

Resources

To better enable you to carry out the mission of Upward Sports, the Upward Basketball Coach Sideline contains a variety of resources that you can use throughout the season. This is a great resource for coaches and we would encourage you to check out all that this site has to offer.

The Coach Playbook shown below is a valuable guide as you serve as an Upward Basketball Coach. The playbook includes skills and drills, rules unique to Upward Basketball and practice devotions.

The Upward Substitution Worksheets can be opened using the link below. Tips to use for the worksheets are also posted below.

Circle of Affirmation

One of the key points in becoming an effective Upward Basketball Coach is choosing the right game day attitude. Actions and reactions on the court will have a lasting effect that either opens or closes the door to ministry. The Circle of Criticism and Circle of Affirmation are simple concepts that illustrate the results associated with negative and positive feedback given to the referee. In Upward Sports, coaches and referees work together as a unified team. The Circle of Affimation goes beyond the referee. A coach's affirmation of players inspires encouragement and positive comments from parents, family members, and other players. Practicing the Circle of Affirmation makes the game a better experience for everyone involved.

Circle of Criticism:

The Circle of Criticism begins when a coach responds negatively to a right or wrong call made by the referee.
The coach’s example gives the parent the implied permission to react negatively toward the referee.
A parent’s example causes the child to assume that it is acceptable to react in the same way. The result can be a negative attitude toward the referee, who represents authority on the court.

Circle of Affirmation (AKA - The Upward Way!):

The Circle of Affirmation begins when the coach gives a positive response to a right or wrong call made by the referee.
The coach’s example influences the parent to react positively toward the referee.
A parent’s example encourages the child to give a positive response. The result is a positive attitude toward authority.

Tips For Opening the Coaches Substitution Sheets (Scroll Down For The File)

Double click the link below for the Substitution Sheet file. It will download onto your computer as an excel file. Open up the file and you are ready to begin. It is recommended to save the file to your own computer so you have it on hand and can also make any changes pertinent to your team.

The first sheet that pulls up is an example page. Do not use this page. Instead look to the bottom of the page where there are many tabs: 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, 1-8, 1-9 and then 2-5, 2-6, 2-7, etc.. The 1 and 2 stand for the game number and the following numbers are the player numbers. So 1-7 would be 7 players for game 1.

Click on the appropriate tab for your team for the upcoming game. If you know you will have 7 players, click the 1-7 page for game 1. Now you can print out as is and fill out by hand or you can type in your player names under the column where #1, #2, #3 .. is listed. Now print if you have typed it in.

Don't forget it is ALWAYS a good decision to have some extra sheets on hand. If I knew 7 players we supposed to come I would also print the 1-6 and 1-5 sheet just in case of those last minute cancellations. Leave them blank so you can quickly fill in at the game.
If any questions or issues arise you can contact marketing@washtenawupward.org and please do not hesitate to email us. And do not worry, once you get it figured out for game 1, you usually have it down. It is just navigating a new file for the first time and we have all been there before.

Additional OPTIONAL Substitution System Notes and Help

One of our veteran coaches, Coach Zebrowski, has come up with an alternative way to make the substitution system user friendly for teams who might be working on more offensive movement when some specific positions are needed, especially as it relates to those players bringing the ball down the court. Here are his notes and sub system below for game week 2. When opening up the file you can disable the macros.

Here is my plan for this week, based on the following evolution for 6 years:

1. Tried mapping position to color for consistency

a. Bad because not all kids can be the point guard, and the offense dies before it starts

2. Tried to adjust just the point guard spot each week for the best 2-4 dribblers/passers

a. Better but younger and newer basketball kids still were lost

b. Especially during plays

3. Rework each week to keep all players in same place/position as much as possible

a. Still adjust point guard among top passers/dribblers. (Tell all players that if they practice the dribbling at home, they can become the point guard by 2^nd half of season).

b. Best so far (for me)

c. Players know what to do in plays

d. Players get “into offense” better because they’re not confused

e. Players start boxing out sooner because they’re not confused

Here’s my latest excel sheet (yes, with macros—but I’m not using them anymore) for next week (2/9) for my team

1. Has 10, 9, 8, 7 sized teams already broken out with players on same position as much as possible

2. Has my first stars (for examples to coaches)

3. Is ready to print with these sizes, instead of 4 separate sheets.