By Dr. Paul Drew
Welcome to the ninth issue of volume one of Swish, a weekly periodical with recaps and photos of Santa Monica YMCA youth basketball games, and other pertinent info such as standings, schedules, announcements, and updates from the program.
Coaching kids with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
One of the biggest challenges that I have experienced with coaching kids, is working with kids that have ADHD. It can be difficult for a coach to first understand that he may have a player on the team who has ADHD, and not realize that a different approach to coaching a child with ADHD should be used. Personally, I admit that I’ve made mistakes with my coaching approaches with kids with ADHD; however, I’ve learned from my mistakes, especially after conversing with the parents of an ADHD child, in order to better understand which approaches are best to help the child succeed, and enjoy basketball and team sports.
The following is from: https://www.theathletesparent.com/single-post/2016/06/28/Tips-for-Coaching-the-ADHD-Athlete
Coaching athletes with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can have great rewards; however, knowing the proper approach toward coaching them is the key for both the athlete and the coach to experience these benefits. Dr. Chuang, Owner of the ADD ADHD Treatment Center in Plano, TX, has the following advice:
1. Understand that following instructions is the most difficult task for an athlete with ADHD. Understanding is a great starting point! Coaching athletes with ADHD can be frustrating for the coach who is not aware of how the condition affects a young athlete. On the flipside, coaching athletes with ADHD can be very rewarding, as some of the most successful athletes were also diagnosed with ADHD. The key is understanding how the mind of the ADHD athlete works, and how to best harness their athletic ability. When a coach understands that not paying attention isn’t always their fault, it happens to be how their brain works, the appropriate coaching method begins to yield better results.
2. Change the routine and drills periodically. Presenting something new, or changing up a routine can help keep the athlete with ADHD more engaged. Learning the same exercise or drill through different approaches can be healthy for all athletes, as not all young people grasp concepts in the same manner.
3. Occupy Constantly. Avoid having the players wait in line for drills. This tip may take some planning for coaches, but it can also produce benefits for not only those athletes with ADHD, but the entire team. Applying this tip will keep all of the athletes focused on tasks, and it will utilize every minute of practice. Lines for drills sometimes are unavoidable; however, the time waiting in line can be used for specific activity. Of course, there are necessary times for breaks and rest, but even those moments can remain structured.
4. 1 on 1 Communication works best! Coaches of young athletes don’t always have the luxury of time to coach each athlete individually; however, a quick minute to reemphasize instruction can save the coach a great deal of time in the long run. Once instruction is given to the entire team, a quick face to face with the athlete with ADHD to recap his or her task will go a long way. It’s important not to obviously single out this athlete, but to casually check in with him or her. Because the head coach may not always be able to provide this 1 on 1 with each instruction, assistant coaches or team helpers are great people to help facilitate this, and it will keep the athlete on task.
5. Never Humiliate. As addressed in the first tip, following instructions is the most difficult task for an athlete with ADHD. Humiliating or punishing this athlete will not return positive results. It will not cause the athlete to achieve greater success on the field, or cause the athlete to better follow instructions. The best approach when an athlete with ADHD is struggling to follow instruction and to complete the assigned tasks is again, 1 on 1 communication. Pull the athlete aside and reiterate the instruction. Have him or her repeat the instruction back to you. Point out to them how important their role on the team is, and what an important part they play in the drill. The beautiful thing about an athlete with ADHD is that once he or she finds something they love to do, and want to be a part of, their ability to hyper focus on that sport can produce extraordinary athletes!
Rookies
Trivia question related to this photo: I’m the referee, and what call did I make after the ball got stuck?
Answer: Jump ball. The ball was given to team with the possession arrow in their favor.
KA-KAW! CROWS ARE ROOKIE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS — You need a winning streak to make a tournament final, and both the Tigers and the Crows looked stacked coming into Championship Sunday. It was also a rematch of a regular season, hotly contested shootout that ended with the Crows narrowly on top (14-12 in that one) against an outstanding, tough Tigers basketball team. True to the tradition of big game jitters, scoring for both teams started off slow, but Ethan Pages broke the seal with a bucket in the first quarter, and center extraordinaire Veronica Machala hit 1 of her halftime free throws. However, in the second half, the Crows pulled away thanks to Player of the Game, Alan Larkin nailing 4 baskets for 8 points in the 3rd quarter. (he had 10 total). Dylan Kravitz played cool and decisive with 4 points in the final quarter leaving no doubt. Final Score: 19-8. This Fall, the Rookie League Tournament Champions are strictly for the birds. Go Crows! Submitted by Coach Pete Harris
With the league championship already locked up, our Bulldogs were set on finishing on a high note with a solid victory. The feisty Cats did not cooperate, as they battled us throughout the tight game. Bella Kariger hit 2 buckets and Vitalina Moncher hit 1 as we barely escaped with a 6-5 victory. We did attack the basket well and got off many quality shots, but the rim and the Cats defense wouldn’t allow more scores. Fortunately, our strong defense again saved us.
In addition to Bella and Vitalina, our league champions include Conor Durcan, Brendan Still, Aiden Harvey, Mariama Belew, Luca Samson, Tanner Lehmkuhl, Eloise Siegler, and Noah Levy. Submitted by Coach Rick Moncher
Hawks vs Swans final game of season 12/1/18
Including the preseason game these two teams faced each other 4 times this seasons with Hawks getting the best of Swans the previous 2 games.
In the final game of the season Swans were without their tall power girl Lara Masood and defensive minigiant Max Enestein and reliable Benjamin Bassett but the Hawks were missing their big man and standout Amir Enayati.
The remaining 6 players on Swans all chipped in on both ends of the floor – Jaxton Moore showing his size on defense and offense including big rebounds, Oguz Aghaya displaying his offensive improvement with ball handling, and Elliot Israels showing his improvement on court awareness with passing.
Brother Brandon Israels showed again his defensive toughness and non stop “hustle” mode helping to hold Hawks scoreless in first half other than a free throw at end – he also chipped in a basket in second half.
Jonathan Watson played big on both ends with smothering defense and 3 buckets for 6 points and another solid rounded game as usual – really great season for this guy. Tristan Hayes played his best game of his young career and matched Jon’s 6 points and was effective in basically all categories both ends of the floor earning him player of the game – good job buddy.
In the end Hawks made another valiant showing ending with 7 points including usual solid performances from Chase Jenkins & Kingston Andes, but Swans took it 14-7 in the end. Submitted by Coach Holden Hayes
Dubbed “The Battle of Birds”, The Hawks squared off against the Swans for the 4th time in one season (including the season-opening scrimmage). The game started off slowly with a lot of battles for possession of the basketball and several shots that barely missed the mark. The Swans opened the game up in the second quarter, taking a 10-0 lead after a couple of turnovers and offensive rebounds gave the Swans extra chances to score. Chase Jenkins made a free throw at half-time to break the scoreless drought for the Hawks.
A refocused effort in the second half made the game interesting. Ryan Drew, Kingston Andes, and Chase Jenkins all scored baskets during a furious 6-0 run in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 10-7 with plenty of time left on the clock. Juney Jones returned to form with some solid perimeter defense, collecting a couple of steals to give her team extra possessions. David Casparian was tough in paint (as always), securing several rebounds and steals. Spencer Nelson and Diego Gonzalez added a couple of rebounds and some unselfish passing to set up the Hawks for shot opportunities. Devon Shao and Regan Shao brought their usual joy to the game, along with more defensive intensity; causing several tie-ups and winning the ball. Watch out for Devon, she made 3 shots in a row in warm-ups!
In the end, the Swans kept enough distance and added a late basket to secure the win. Congratulations to the Swans for a hard-fought victory. Submitted by Coach Charles Ellinwood
Bantams
The Bengals and Jets played the “B “ tourney final, which turned out to be an extremely exciting game that saw the Jets make a last minute comeback to win by a point. Tough loss for the Bengals, but well played by both teams. Everyone showed vast improvement with their skills and team play. Camden Goetz and Julian Weinerman had multiple baskets. Dominic Drew had a beautiful swish bucket, and played a flawless game. Ryan Cohen had a nice basket off of a rebound. Kai Mavasse, Austin O’Brien, and Alex Segal played solid defense. Asher Zaczepinski and Gavin O’Brien displayed great dribbling and ball control. It’s been a fun season, now off to the All Star games to continue our success in our development in the game of basketball. Submitted by Coach Paul Drew
The Bantam Rams battled the Titans on Saturday for 3rd place in the “A” Tournament. It was a close game that came down to free throws, but the Titans emerged victorious despite another balanced scoring attack from the Rams. Bora Kocataskin led the Rams with 3 points. Jack Carter, Michael Mikhail and Cam Pariser each chipped in a bucket for the Rams. Submitted by Coach Peter Brown
Minors
The Eagles vs. Chiefs faced off in the Minor League “A Tournament Championship” for the first time since the opening game of the season. The undefeated Chiefs were the winners of the first bout, but it was a long-anticipated rematch as neither team had lost a game since. The first half was a defensive battle, with the Chiefs’ 1-3-1 zone defense holding the Eagles to only a single basket, and the Eagles man-to-man lock-down keeping the Chiefs’ score in the single digits. In the second half, the Eagles double-teamed the Chiefs’ all-star point guard Arjun McIntosh in hopes of forcing turnovers and scoring on the fast break. It was a full team effort, that started to pay off toward the end of the third period with a series of steals and outlet passes. Soon the game was neck and neck! It couldn’t have been much closer, or harder fought on either side…but the Eagles managed to walk away with the win, thanks to a scoring spree late in the game that lead to their 20-13 victory. It was a truly great season for the Eagles… one I hope they all enjoyed and remember. Submitted by Coach Michael Jones-Morales
Majors
Our Packers went into the weekend knowing we could win the championship if we could somehow win 2 big games in a row. The odds weren’t with our ballers, but at least we had a chance if everything would go our way. Unfortunately, nothing went our way and our slim chance at first turned into a 4th place finish in the league. Overall, that is a good showing for our small team, but it would have been nice to finish on a better note.
Our first game on Saturday against the Rams was one that we thought we could win, as we beat them earlier in the year and we match up well with them. With only 5 players, we couldn’t do much of our usual full-court man press, so we didn’t generate turnovers. Without height, we didn’t get many rebounds. Oh, and we also didn’t shoot well. Although the first half was tight, we fell behind in the second half and could never put together a solid stretch of offense and defense to get it close. All 5 Packers scored (Lukas Greblikas, Jesse Lister, Timosha Moncher, Dom Kajota, Sam Rubin), but we picked a bad day to play our worst game of the year. Submitted by Coach Rick Moncher
Our Sunday game was over before it started, as our top player Sam couldn’t make it; leaving us even shorter and slower than usual. We did have a strategy to try to make the game somewhat competitive, but that hinged on leaving some of the Broncos wide-open on 3’s and hoping they missed. They hit their first 3 shots and didn’t stop. In (by far) the most prolific offensive performance I’ve ever seen in youth basketball (not just at our Y), every single Bronco hit anything and everything. When the final buzzer sounded, the Broncos (as well as our Packers) broke plenty of league records.
We scored 60 points; which is enough to win virtually every game ever played in the history of the program. Although fully accurate records are no longer being kept, I believe we hit on 16 of about 32 3-pointers. Dom Kajota and Timosha Moncher were draining 3’s all day; hitting 12 in total. Xavier Echiribel, who had only a few buckets this season, went 2-4 on 3’s in a great game for him. Bruno Picazo is never bashful when it comes to 3’s and he hit 2. Jesse Lister didn’t get in on the 3’s, but he hit some 2’s. All that said, we should have spanked the Broncos, right?
Not quite, as the Broncos shattered the total points record by going off for 94 points…..in just 32 minutes! We were hitting contested shots in the first half, but since they built up a big lead, we hit uncontested 3’s in the second half. On the other hand, we were guarding them (occasionally) and they still hit everything. It was magical. Every Bronco was on fire on this record-setting day. Viewing the final score, it seems hard to believe that we beat the Broncos earlier in the season when both teams were at full strength. The good thing about this game was that it was not one of those ugly, boring blow-outs. This was a fun and very entertaining game for all players and parents. Submitted by Coach Rick Moncher
This week’s Profile:
Each week, Swish has a profile of a coach, player, or someone in the program who inspires all of us involved in Santa Monica YMCA basketball.
For this week’s profile , I decided to have some nepotism, and have my 8 year old son Dominic Drew, who has been playing every season at the Santa Monica YMCA since he was 4½ years old, and is currently in his 11th season at the Santa Monica YMCA. This season, Dominic will break the all time record of consecutive perfect attendance seasons with seven, a record that he is very proud to achieve. Dominic has also played for the U7 select team, the Santa Monica YMCA Stars, the past two summers that won championships in the Culver-Palms YMCA basketball league.
Dominic has been an inspiration for many of his classmates, friends, and other YMCA youth basketball players. He went through the adversity of having broken his arm with a fall in the gym after basketball practice last winter season, but still manage to shoot post game free throws to keep his perfect attendance streak alive, and inspire his team to excel that season, by providing support from the bench. After healing from the injury, he came back in the spring season, to not only help his team win the Rookie championship, but also to receive the Rookie League MVP and All Santa Monica YMCA 2017-18 1st team honors.
Even at an early age, it was apparent that basketball would be his first love, as evident from this video on YouTube which has over 30,000 views
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTj-VLjTg90
DocDrew: What do you enjoy most about playing basketball at the YMCA?
Dominic: It’s fun, and you get to play with all your friends, and compete against your friends. Your parents can coach and watch you play. You get better and better each time you play.
DocDrew: What are some of your favorite moments from your basketball career?
Dominic: When I scored 10 points this past summer for the Santa Monica Stars in the Summer U7 Culver-Palms league. I always remember my first basket ever when I played for Charles Ellinwood’s team, and I was 5 years old. And scoring 10 points in my first game back after I recovered from my broken arm.
DocDrew: Who are some of your favorite players and why?
Dominic: I like Steph Curry because he can make shots from half court, and I especially enjoy watching LeBron James when he gets the ball ahead of everyone, and makes a Monster Slam!
DocDrew: Any advice that you would give to young kids entering the league for the first time?
Dominic: Just listen to your coach, have a good time, be nice to the referee, and get some buckets by using the BEEF method of shooting.
DocDrew: What’s the BEEF method?
Dominic: It’s the same method of shooting that Steph Curry uses.
B is for balance, so have both feet point at the basket and don’t be falling down
E for eyes that are looking at the basket
E for having your elbow bent pointing at the floor, don’t look like a chicken wing.
F for follow through, flick your wrist with fingers pointing to basket, and your shooting arm and hand look like a goose neck when your done, just like MJ taught me, he helps me with my game at the YMCA.
Thank you son, for not only motivating your teammates, other players, and parents involved with YMCA basketball, but also for inspiring me to be the best coach that I can be, and to have me become involved in this wonderful program of youth basketball at the Santa Monica YMCA.
Scores
Saturday, December 1st
Rookies:
Tournament consolation finals
Hawks 7, Swans 14
Bantams:
“B” tournament 3rd place game
Buccaneers 16, Steelers 7
“A” tournament 3rd place game(6-4-2)
Rams 9, Titans 12
Minors:
No games scheduled
Majors:
“A” tournament semi-finals(6-4-2)
Colts 52, Broncos 51
Packers 33, Rams 46
“B” tournament semi-finals
Raiders 30, Panthers 35
Ravens 35, Dolphins 60
Sunday, December 2nd
Rookies:
Tournament 3rd place game(6-4-2)
Bulldogs 6, Cats 5
Tournament finals(7-5-3)
Crows 19, Tigers 8
Bantams:
“B” tournament finals(6-4-2)
Bengals 14, Jets 15
“A” tournament finals(7-5-3)
Packers 17, Broncos 27
Minors:
“B” tournament finals(6-4-2)
Seahawks 23, Vikings 24
“A” tournament finals(7-5-3)
Eagles 20, Chiefs 13
Majors:
“A” tournament 3rd place game(6-4-2)
Packers 60, Broncos 94
“A” tournament finals(7-5-3)
Colts 34, Rams 40
Standings:
Teams are awarded 5 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 1 point for a loss, 0 points for a forfeit. Tournament games have greater point value. Teams are listed in their place in the standings with W-L-T and team points
Rookies:
Bulldogs 8-1-0, 43 points *League Champions*
Crows 6-3-0, 36 points #Crows beat Tigers head to head twice
Tigers 6-3-0, 36 points
Cats 3-6-0, 23 points
Hawks 2-7-0, 17 points #Hawks were 2-1-0, head to head against Swans
Swans 2-7-0, 17 points
Bantams:
Broncos 7-2-0, 40 points *League Champions*
Titans 6-3-0, 35 points
Packers 5-3-1, 34 points
Bengals 5-4-0, 30 points
Rams 4-4-1, 29 points
Jets 4-5-0, 26 points
Buccaneers 3-6-0, 21 points
Steelers 1-8-0, 13 points
Minors:
Chiefs 8-1-0, 44 points *League Champions*
Eagles 7-1-1, 42 points
Giants 4-2-1, 27 points
Vikings 4-5-0, 26 points #Vikings beat the Seahawks twice head to head
Seahawks 4-5-0, 26 points
Bills 4-4-0, 25 points
Bears 1-6-1, 14 points
Falcons 1-7-0, 12 points
Majors:
Rams 7-2-0, 40 points *League Champions*
Colts 7-2-0, 37 points *3 points deducted for unsportsmanlike conduct fouls
Broncos 6-3-0, 35 points
Packers 5-4-0, 31 points
Dolphins 3-5-0, 20 points #Dolphins beat Raiders head to head
Raiders 3-5-0, 20 points
Ravens 1-6-1, 14 points #tied head to head with Panthers, win against higher place Packers
Panthers 1-6-1, 14 points #tied head to head with Ravens, but win against lower place Raiders
Upcoming Schedule
All games are played in the gymnasium of the Santa Monica YMCA
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2018
Minors
“B” TOURNAMENT 3RD PLACE GAME
1:00 PM BEARS VS FALCONS
“A’ TOURNAMENT 3RD PLACE GAME (6-4-2)
2:10 PM BILLS VS GIANTS
Majors
“B” TOURNAMENT 3RD PLACE GAME
3:20 PM RAIDERS VS RAVENS
“B” TOURNAMENT FINAL (6-4-2)
4:30 PM DOLPHINS VS PANTHERS
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2018****ALL STAR SUNDAY****
ROOKIE LEAGUE
10:30 AM ROOKIE ALL STAR GAME
INTERLEAGUE CHALLENGE
11:40 AM ROOKIE STARS VS BANTAM STARS
BANTAM LEAGUE
12:50 PM BANTAM ALL STAR GAME
INTERLEAGUE CHALLENGE
2:00 PM BANTAM ALL STARS VS MINOR ALL STARS
MINOR LEAGUE
3:10 PM MINOR LEAGUE ALL STAR GAME
INTERLEAGUE CHALLENGE
4:20 PM MINOR ALL STARS VS MAJOR ALL STARS
MAJOR LEAGUE
5:30 PM MAJOR LEAGUE ALL STAR GAME
6:40 PM MAJOR LEAGUE ALL STAR GAME
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2018
ROOKIE LEAGUE
4:20 PM ROOKIES VS PARENTS GAME
BANTAM LEAGUE
5:30 PM BANTAM VS PARENTS GAME
–END REGULAR SEASON—
Thank you very much,
Dr. Paul Drew, editor and publisher of Swish
