Training of Netball Game

Coaching a junior team, how to get them to listen?

Hi,
Me and my friend offered to coach a junior netball team (12 – 14 year olds). We found out what team we are taking, and it has 12 players in it, and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of how we could get them to listen etc?
Because last time we took the team (before it was finalised) there were 7 players and we had trouble gettting them to listen.
Oh and we are both 16, if that helps at all.
Thankyou,
xox

I’ve found that kids tend to goof around more when they’re bored. And since kids have such short attention spans, they get bored pretty quickly! If they have to wait in line for more than a few minutes, they start talking and messing around. If you spend too long talking and explaining things, they start to lose interest and they don’t pay attention. If you give them a task to do, such as “Go over there and do 30 whatevers”, they get bored with it after a few repetitions… and then they start getting silly. And once that starts to happen, it’s hard to regain control of your team.

So the best way to keep your team focused and working is to make sure they never get bored! Here are a few tips:

1) Plan out your practice ahead of time, in detail. Know exactly what you’re going to do, when you’re going to do it, and for how long… and move quickly from one activity to the next. That eliminates any down time when you’re trying to think of what to do next.

2) Don’t spend too long on any one drill or activity. They may need the practice, but if they get bored with something, they’ll stop trying and it won’t be productive. If you notice they’re losing interest, change things up and move on to something else.

3) Avoid having them wait too long for a turn. If there’s only one basket to practice shooting, break them into groups and have some girls practice shooting while the others do something else, and then rotate.

4) To keep things fun and interesting, find a way to make your drills into a game or a contest. For instance, if you’re doing passing drills, have them work with a partner and see which “team” can make the most passes without dropping the ball. Or if they’re practicing shooting, let them keep track of their points: “How many baskets can you make in 5 minutes?” (I don’t know anything About Netball, so this might not be the right terminology, but you get my drift).

5) Make your coaching talks short and to the point, and spread them out throughout the practice. You may have a lot of things to explain to them, but if you talk for too long, you’ll lose their attention.

6) Be creative and try to do something new or slightly different each practice.

If you can keep them busy and interested at all times, they’ll be less likely to goof around and your practices will be much more productive.

Hope this helps some! Good luck!

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