Tools to Scout & Develop Middle School Players

Recruiting Middle School Players Might Be Perfect Science (with the Right Tools)

When a child shows an interest in basketball at an early age, it can be a daunting task to figure out how to best help them develop, not to mention gain the skills that you yourself need to help make the best decisions for them in the long run.  I started with two books — Coaches Clipboard and Breakthrough Basketball. These tools can also be incredibly useful for scouting Middle School players. While predicting if an athlete will have the physical make up to succeed can be difficult, (weak ACLs or other problems typically don’t surface until an athlete is further down the road) understanding the skills they need to master to be successful is key to being able to evaluate them completely, and that goes far beyond a player’s physical size and into their capacity to grasp key fundamentals.

I memorized Coaches Clipboard, and subsequently wrote everything I remembered in a black book. Ink stretched page to page, even on the front and back cardboard cover. I still couldn’t write Coaches Clipboard word for word, but I had the concepts as a solid foundation for moving forward, both as a coach and in helping to develop my own child’s skills.

I constantly practiced the techniques and mechanics, and I fell in love with the “book.” When I lost it, I simply bought another one and started writing again. It was a drill I took myself through, and I used a similar technique with Breakthrough Basketball.

I recall printing Breakthrough Basketball, before heading to my ninety-eight years old grandpa’s funeral. I vigorously read it during the road trip from New York to North Carolina. A few days later, I buried him with a part of me; the thick stack of papers.

We encourage coaches and parents to look at Coaches Clipboard & Breakthrough Basketball.  See if it’s right for you. It can be a great drill for you, too — as a first step to coaching your own children or even in leagues. Begin teaching children some fundamentals at an early age with the goal of teaching him/her the whole book.