On the weekend it was my turn to do drop offs for Magic training for my son & daughter. This meant that I not only had the pleasure of listening to children talking about basketball in the car but I also had the chance to watch a number of our coaches in action. All of them had given up their Sunday mornings to coach and what struck me was their dedication, their enthusiasm and their expert knowledge. Coaching at a representative level is not easy. It is never enough simply to teach individual & team skills and build fitness. Coaches have to deal with a range of issues relating to management of individual players & their psychology, and they also they have to deal with parents.

Parents of representative basketball players will always have high expectations of their children’s achievement. All parents want to protect & stand up for their children if they think an injustice has been done. This is normal & expected but it does occasionally result in conflict between coaches & parents. It is for this reason that Hawthorn Magic has guidelines & clear rules about what is expected of parents. These guidelines are set down in our handbook but I would like to emphasize the following:

Parents should never approach coaches with criticism or complaint directly after a game. Coaches are usually happy to talk through issues at appropriate times and after due notice. Complaints should go through the team manager & if necessary can also be directed to Kelly, our Director of Coaching, or to me as Chairman.

Hawthorn has a policy of giving all players, on average, at least 40% court time in a game. Wherever possible this is adhered to. There are times however when this is not possible or appropriate. In particular, coaches of teams competing at VC level must have the freedom to play their best players at important moments in key games. All coaches will have ‘must win’ games in grading or leading up to finals where court time will not be balanced. Sometimes players will play less in a given game then more another week to compensate - the 40% rule is an average over the season.

Players miss training & team events for a variety of reasons & most of the time these reasons are legitimate. However, if players miss training on a regular basis then the coach must have the freedom to give them less court time in response. This is not necessarily to punish the player who misses training. It is more that the players who attend every training session must see some reward for their dedication. Also, the player who misses training will inevitably be less familiar with team structures & often behind in fitness. In my first season of coaching I had a player who rarely trained because of year 12 study - in retrospect I was wrong to give her the court time I did because it was at the expense of players who worked hard every session.

I am sure most of us as parents understand the need to have these guidelines in place. I am always happy to discuss issues with parents & most of the time we can work together as a club to overcome difficulties and concerns.

Grading is almost over & the real season about to begin. Congratulations to the teams that have qualified for VC & who play this week. Good luck to all teams in their cross over games and for the season to come.

Jamie Keck
Chairman