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DocDrew’s Swish Issue 2, Volume 3

Welcome to the second issue of volume three 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.

Changes

With the change of seasons, there has come a changing of the guard in the Santa Monica YMCA youth basketball program.  The youth basketball coordinator Christian Gonzalez and I, the assistant coordinator, are trading places effective as of this week.   Christian has become a veterinarian technician and has accepted a full time position at a vet clinic. He will stay on as the assistant youth basketball coordinator until the Santa Monica YMCA has found a qualified replacement.  We can’t thank Christian enough for all that he has done to make the program remain successful since Peter Arbogast’s retirement; furthermore, I can’t thank Christian enough for helping me to learn how to run the program, and guide me through all the processes, procedures, and situations that will be encountered as I take on this challenge of helping to maintain the high quality that the Santa Monica YMCA basketball program has held over the past 8 years since Pete Arbogast first resurrected it.

Dr. Paul Drew, youth sports coordinator at the Santa Monica YMCA.  Photo by Elan Mevasse

5 Keys to Being a Great Basketball Coach

About 4 years ago, I was a parent who was sitting in the mandatory new parents YMCA youth basketball meeting for my son who was 4 1/2 years old at the time, not realizing that I would eventually become a coach and then the coordinator for the program.  But when I first started coaching, I wanted to know the best way to bring a positive experience for all the kids that I would eventually coach, so the following was the first article that I read, which comes from USA basketball:

https://www.usab.com/youth/news/2010/10/5keys-to-being-a-great-basketball-coach.aspx

5 Keys to Being a Great Basketball Coach
Author: Tony Fryer  Date: Dec 26, 2014

If you want your youth basketball team to have an All-Star experience all season, there are a wide range of ideals you need to focus on to make the experience as positive as possible.

Here are five ways that you can be an All-Star basketball coach.

All-Star Qualities
Sportsmanship – Remember basic courtesy and good manners? Use your practices and games to reinforce these basic principles. Make sure your players can give a firm handshake with eye contact to officials and opposing coaches, as well as a high five to opposing players.

Teamwork – Teach your players that “we over me” is what most often leads to “us over them,” in team sports competition. Encourage your players to be selfless and supportive teammates in both losing and winning efforts.

Positive Attitude – Life is not fair and basketball is worse. Help your players get over it and still do what they need to do to succeed. Playing sports is one the best ways to practice overcoming adversity and preparing to handle tough times in life. Humor helps!

Respect – Pay it forward and get it back. How a coach interacts with other adults–coaches, parents and officials–will naturally influence the behavior of your players. Be mindful that you are a role model and are always being watched. Insist that your players respect coaches, officials and opponents–like you do. Have the courage to enforce your rules with every player and parent involved with your team.

Coaching
Philosophy – Want a surefire way to be a great youth coach? Lighten up! Here’s a tip. Not one of your games will be Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Billions of people don’t even know you exist, let alone feel that your practices and games are important. Recreational league and even elite travel team coaches should understand that kids want to play sports and to have FUN! Let your players figure things out. Ask questions, but don’t give instruction or answers. Stop teaching so much and give your players a chance to learn. Watching them grow will be fun for you too!

Communication – Have a team meeting to start the first practice of the season, or as soon as possible thereafter. Limit your postgame analysis to positive things that occurred in the game and deal with what went wrong by establishing a specific goal to work on starting at the next practice. Ask parents to delay or even eliminate the dreaded postgame interview with their child. When you need to correct a player, use the “compliment sandwich” State something positive the player did well, give a very specific correction, then restate the first positive thing.

Continuing Education – All-star coaching requires continuing education. I have been privileged to learn the game of basketball from seven coaches who are in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Each one of them was always striving to learn more. In your efforts to learn, make sure the substance of the material is appropriate for the skill, age and maturity level of the players that you coach.

Use Resources – There are several organizations that offer assistance to youth coaches. Do an online search for youth coaching information sources. Read books, watch videos and attend coaching clinics in-person whenever possible. One hour online could make you a better coach.

Practices
Play to learn, play to practice, and you will win when you play in games. Remember how much fun you had growing up when you used to just go outside and play with your friends? We advocate using the “compete to learn” approach to practice–it lets kids play and have fun while competing. This type of practice, using competitive drills, does a better job of preparing players to compete in real games. Technically, this is called transference. What you do in practice carries over into what you do in games.

Individual Skills – Want to improve your team’s ball handling? Games like dribble knockout are very popular. Every player must have his or her own basketball. Coach starts the game. Every player must dribble constantly, stay in-bounds and try to knock the ball away from all other players in the game. Lose control of your basketball or go out-of-bounds, and you’re eliminated. Boundaries for 10-12 players could start as half the court. After several players are eliminated, the boundary is reduced to only inside the 3-point area. Boundary is reduced again to the free-throw lane. Finally, when there are just two players left, they play the “finals” in the free throw half circle.

Team Concepts – Run half your offense by playing 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 restricted to one side of the floor. For example, make even (by size/ability) teams and conduct a 10-minute tournament using an action like the pick and roll. Allow for 20-second timeouts and allow players teach themselves how to make the play work.

Game Strategy
Keep It Simple System (KISS) – Basketball is a simple game. Keep it simple! If you are a regular reader of instructional material, you might think that you need to have lots of practice drills and a complicated or intricate system to win games. No, you don’t. Establish one or two alignments and three or four actions, and that’s it. At the youth level or even in the NBA, most successful coaches try to have their team master a few simple things. 8-10 year olds can do this successfully. Try KISS at your next practice and even in your next game, your team will show instant improvement!

Simple Transition Offense (Fast break/press break) – Score a lay-up in less than five seconds without dribbling.

Simple Half-Court Offense (Ball movement/teamwork) – Everyone must catch and make a pass before anyone can shoot!

The Best Offense Ever Designed – Give the ball to Michael Jordan and get out of the way. You can’t get much more simple than that! However, that is an actual “play,” as it is part of the “complicated” triangle offense. The triangle is a patterned motion offense that has several basic actions such as give and go, pick and roll and give the ball to Michael and get out of the way — otherwise known as a clearout. By the way, that offense has won nine NBA championships and you, even as a youth recreational league coach, can run some of its actions to win games in your league.

Make All-Star Memories
The experience of playing on a youth sports team can affect a child’s development as a person. How will you affect your player’s communication, cooperation, goal setting and work ethic? How will your players remember this experience 10 years from now? Most won’t remember the score.

If your team employs the ritual of getting together after every game for ice cream or pizza, takes a field trip to a college or pro game, or attends a movie together, your players will remember those good times long after they forget the score of the game. Parents sometimes enjoy these social events more than the kids.

Rookies

Rookie action between the Pugs and Yorkies.  Photos by Pooja Kulkarni

With all 10 Yorkies in the doghouse and ready to bite, we would get an early look at everyone and get a good idea of what we have as a team.  Lauren Bryan would get us on the board with the first basket of the season in her first Y hoops game. Vitalina Moncher would score the next basket and would lead us in points, rebounds, and steals with her usual aggressive play, but would also spend plenty of time dishing the ball to open teammates.  She would earn assists on buckets by Mariama Belew (2nd bucket of her Y career) and Stellan Haberli’s first basket ever in his first Y game. Always reliable Rosalina Storstein had a great all-around game and also hit a bucket. An amazing 7 of our 10 players scored in our very first game. Kai Badat hit a nice bucket in the first half and hard-working Ryan Lim would hit his first-ever Y basket in the second half to help us maintain a comfortable lead in our 18-6 victory.  Grace Samy played well on both ends of the court and showed she will be a valuable asset for our Yorkies this season. Oguz Aghayev played well and got plenty of extra time handling the ball. Mariella Belew did well in her first game at the Y. For our first game, our team defense was very good and with 7 players scoring, our offense left many parents going home very happy. Submitted by Coach Rick Moncher

Terriers Eloise Siegler looks to pass to a teammate, against the Doxies defense.

Rookie Terriers vs Doxies:  The 1st game of the season got off to a decent start. The Terriers came out to a 6-4 lead in the 1st half, but the 2nd half the Doxies came strong and put up another 10 points.  Doxies standout Aidan Smith was tough on the fast break. From the Terriers, Rhys Scheflen & Colson Moore played good defense. Roman Gabriel grabbed a rebound along with Eloise Siegler who also grabbed a board and steal.  Dylan Geary pulled down 3 boards and a steal. Teddy Franklin took 6 rebounds, a steal, and a basket for 2 points. Tristan Hayes snagged 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and picked up 6 points, but their efforts weren’t enough as Doxies took it 14-8.  Submitted by Coach Holden Hayes

DOXIES DO IT ALL GAME 1 — March 30th. Sure, many were surprised and elated when they found recently retired coach, Pete Harris back on a Rookie League sideline (substituting for an untimely detained Head Coach, Josh), clearly the real stars of this game were the Doxie kids. Facing off against the ferocious Terriers, rebounds and steals were contributed by Maia Shenk-Miro (word from the stands was this was her first basketball game. Go, Maia!), Daniel Graft and Roman Sweeney, but there’s a new terrible 2 in this YMCA dog pound–Nicco Balerini had 4 points, 2 steals and 8 (!) rebounds, while Aidan Smith had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals! The rest of the league better learn about this tandem quick because as Nicco told Coach Pete during the 4th quarter, “I know what I’m doing.” Woof!  Submitted by Coach Pete Harris

The Doxies Nicco Balerini with the shot.  Photo by Scarlett Harris

The Pugs began their season with a match-up against the Yorkies.  David Casparian played a nice all-around game picking up 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 steals.  Luca Samson pitched in with 2 points and 1 rebound while being very active on the defensive end to help his team.
Playing in their first regular season games in the Rookie League; Hawkins Wakefield, Reyansh Varma, and Laila Elliot all gave good effort.  Hawkins pulled down 2 rebounds and showed off his newly discovered handles. Reyansh nabbed 3 steals, 3 rebounds, and had a couple of buckets almost drop.  Laila battled against the taller front court and held her own in the paint; grabbing 2 rebounds and 1 steal. Arya Nawathe used his quickness to get free in the key for some shot attempts and even drew a shooting foul in the 2nd half.  Cruz Hecklin was unselfish on offense with some good passing to his open teammates, keeping the ball moving. Adrian Yu, the newest Pug, found ways to contribute to his new team and pulled down 2 rebounds as well.
The Yorkies were too tough for the young Pugs this time around.  Pug Nation looks to regroup against the Chihuahuas on Sunday.
Final Score:  Yorkies 18 Pugs 6. Submitted by Coach Charles Ellinwood

Bantams

Saturday night’s late game proved to be a closely contested battle between the Corgies and the Spaniels. The Corgies were slow to find their footing which led to an early and substantial lead by the Spaniels. Fortunately, the Corgies fared better in the second half and managed to close the gap to a couple of baskets. Ultimately, the Corgies’ strong defense was not enough to keep the Spaniels at bay and the team ultimately lost 28 to 25. Congrats to both Delilah Holsey and Jordan Watson both of whom picked up additional points with their free throws!   Submitted by Coach Caroline Byfield

Shelties on the quick counter attack
against the Beagles.  Photos by Izabella Jakuc

Oops, they did it again!  The Bantam Beagles were dominant for pretty much their entire game on Sunday afternoon, holding on to a 15 – 11 lead at the end of regulation.  But a trio costly shooting fouls down the stretch allowed a feisty Shelties squad six free throws and a chance to steal a victory at the charity stripe.  When the final horn sounded the Orange squad (2-0) came out on top — barely — and retained its share of 1st place in the ultra competitive league.
Noah Hagooli-Bolaños, who wowed the audience with some of the most impressive passing of the young season, received Player of The Game honors from both his coach and the League Director.  Misha Lakhani was also recognized for her contributions on both offense and defense. Team Captain Daisy Seigler scored her first bucket of the season while Veronica Marchala continued to shine in what will almost certainly be her last season before moving up to Minors.  The Beagles put their unbeaten record to the test Saturday afternoon against the Pinschers in what is certain to be a true dog fight. Submitted by Coach Sean Daly

Bantam action between the Beagles and Shelties.  Photos by Blythe Holden

Bassets played this pass Sunday against the Pinchers. I want to start with a terrific game from the Bassets. Like our first game we started a little cold down by 5, but once the second half hit the bassets were on fire. The played phenomenal defense and grab every board possible on defense. Chloe, Leo and Cassius help make perfect stops to make the pinchers turn the ball over. The three of them would put their hands up and intercept passes. It looks like they had glue on their hands. Iwa, Sampson, and Oliver played an awesome offense by looking to pass and waiting for the right shot. Ethan, Constantine, and Erol played awesome by fighting for rebounds and making sure when they were open they took the right shot. Overall I am very proud of the bassets for putting a comeback effort and staying in the whole game.  I would also include they had a strong do not give up mind set. Great game Bassets, let get the next one. Submitted Coach Christian Gonzalez

Our Scotties took on the Schnauzers on Sunday and it was a defensive battle with the score tied 4-4 at half. Led again by Ben Steelman who had 6 points and 12 rebounds we hung tough but could not come up with the win losing 14-7. But great defense was played by the whole team especially Jaxton Moore, Samantha Leeds and Marcus McCannell. We hope to get our first W next weekend before the break!  Submitted by Coach Bill Kravitz

The Spaniels Gavin O’Brien surveys the Corgies defense.  Photo by Pia O’Brien

The Pinschers earned their first victory of the season on Sunday, with a hard earned win against the Bassets.  The first half belonged to the Pinschers, who jumped out to an early lead with 6 points in the first quarter by “Player of the Game” Michael Mikhail.  Dominic Drew, Ryan Drew, and Ryan Cohen each had a bucket in the first half to help put the Pinschers up 12-7 at halftime. Second half was a different story, as the Bassets dominated the boards and put up a greater volume of shots.  The Pinschers were only able to manage one point in the second half on a free throw made by Michael Mikhail, which turned out to be the game winner. Good defense was displayed by Keanu Straughter and Desi Parra. Pinschers 13, Bassets 12.  Submitted by DocDrew

Minors

This week in the Minor League the Akitas and Dalmatians faced off in what began as a heated contest and resulted in an offensive onslaught by the Akitas.  With both sides barely able to amass a full squad, the five Akitas and six Dalmations had to put in big minutes. But didn’t stop any of the players from giving 110%.  On the Akita side, the fire power of Darien Jones, relentless hustle of Theo Haberli and big play down low of Arav Asnani created a force to be reckoned with, while the Dalmations’ dynamic duo of Sophie Levi and Justin Tun kept their teams hopes alive until deep into the game.  Truth be told, there wasn’t a single player on the court who didn’t get involved which, regardless of the score, is always nice to see. In the end, the Akita’s walked away with a 41-27 victory, but the score belies the competitiveness of the contest. Submitted by Michael Jones-Morales

The Akitas Darien Jones was “Player of the Game” for his outstanding play and gutty performance.  Darien had to play the entire game because the Akitas had no substitute players. Photo by Michael Jones-Morales

Majors

Greyhounds and Malamutes take on each other.

What our Greyhounds lack in size, we make up in speed and pressure defense.  The much larger, but slower, Malamutes would start with a quick 4-0 lead, but then Timosha Moncher took over with 11 points in the first quarter, as we opened a 13-8 lead after one and grew the lead from there.  Timosha would hit 2 more 3’s in the second and went 4-4 from 3-point land as part of his 17 first-half points. Shiva McIntosh would add 6 points in the second quarter as part of his solid all-around 13-point day.  The second half belonged to Evan Daghighian, as he got white-hot for 17 in the half and 23 for the game to garner “Player of the Game” honors. Amir Jahromi had 4 points, but was a major factor in the paint all game.  Guy Carter also had 4 points and played well. Oliver Ghiassi deserves a lot of credit for unselfishly setting screens all day to get his teammates open. With our big leads, Arjun McIntosh was able to get major minutes handling and dishing the ball in his first Majors game.  This was an excellent start to the season for our Greyhounds. Submitted by Coach Rick Moncher

Tough defense displayed by the Boxers in their game against the Airedales.  Photo by Nick Toren
The Danes Sasha Yansen was “Player of the Game”, in the Danes victory over the Airedales.  Photo by Louis Yansen

Mastiffs versus Malamutes: Malamutes got out to an early lead in the very close encounter early in the Major season. Luke Khosla was instrumental with some early buckets. It was not long before the Mastiffs got into their intense defensive game with swarming coverage by Zico Muldoon and Cy Backen. Some sharp shooting from Armaan Kohli (finished with 12 points) got the Mastiffs back into the game and into the lead.  Ariadni Potamianos kept the Mastiffs competitive on the boards with a great rebound performance and was always a threat down in the post against the bigger Malamutes. The defensive intensity continued with Rama Karimi’s (Rama filled up every bucket with points, steals, blocks, assists, rebounds) late entry into the game but the Malamutes learned how to deal with the pressure and moved the ball well to find some open looks for Jaxson Glowacki and Noah Kratz who took advantage and made some nice buckets for the Malamutes. Heading into the second half, the Mastiffs led by 5.
The third quarter started with Zico Muldoon (6 points, two assists) dropping some buckets to maintain a lead for the Mastiffs until the three ball and Shawn Sikder caught fire for the Malamutes and edged them into the lead with some sharp shooting. That is the way it stayed as the Mastiffs tired despite some impressive free throws at the end of the contest by Cy Backen (who finished with 12 points – 4 from the charity stripe).  Congrats to both teams on a tough competitive low scoring contest. Mastiffs 33 – Malamutes 36. Submitted by Coach Conor Muldoon

The Dobies Dalton White shoots and makes a three pointer against the Shepherds

The Boxers trailed early but ultimately prevailed over the Mastiffs on Saturday.  Eric Papazian got on the board with a basket in the first quarter. Dom Kajota was solid throughout the game at both ends of the court, forcing turnovers on defense and running the point on offense.  He finished with an impressive 21 points including 3 treys. But the story of this game was Quest Miller knocking down *SEVEN* treys, 6 of them coming in the second half. He finished with 27 points. Lucas Greblikas also hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter.  The Boxers went with a small lineup and pressed at times in the second half, leading to multiple turnovers. Hunter Esposito-Doi had a steal for a fast break layup. Isaac Rockwell played strong defense, blocking shots and rebounding, and scored one putback after an offensive rebound.
In their second bout of the weekend, the Boxers outmatched the Airedales Sunday evening.  The Boxers played solid defense and were dominate on the boards. The Airedales trailed throughout, although their full-court press challenged the Boxers late in the game.  Dom Kajota led the Boxers with 18 points, and made an impressive 5 out of 6 free throws. Quest Miller contributed 11 points, but went 0 for 3 from the charity stripe. Hunter Esposito-Doi had 6 points and 6 rebounds.  Eric Papazian had 4 points and 8 boards. Also scoring were Lucas Greblikas, Cecilia Casas, and Aayan Lakhani. Cecilia and Aayan had two assists each. Aayan’s last assist was particularly memorable, an unselfish pass to a cutting Hunter.  It was good to see the Boxers sharing the ball more in their second game, building confidence in each other’s abilities. Submitted by Coach Jonathan Wray

It was raining threes, as Quest Miller was “Player of the Game” as he nailed multiple three pointers in the Boxers win over the Mastiffs.  Photos by Caroline Campbell
Evan Daghighian with his “Player of the Game” award, as the Greyhounds were triumphant over the Malamutes.  Photo by Sharona Daghighian

Sunday Majors, Shepherds over Greyhounds:  Right from the start, nothing seemed to go right for our Greyhounds.  Our only big man came very late and the much larger Shepherds took complete advantage.  Unlike our first game, we had at least a dozen unforced turnovers. The Shepherds defense was strong, but most of our errors were on us.  The good news is those errors are correctable. Although we lost 42-34 (and the game wasn’t really that close), I’m confident we can clean up our mistakes, shoot better, and show that we are a formidable opponent starting this weekend.
Evan Daghighian (8 points) and Timosha Moncher (5 points) were our entire first half points, as we found ourselves down 20-13 at the half.  Timosha would add 5 in the second half to lead us with 10. Amir Jahromi had 4 points in the second half and was the only Greyhound to offer stiff resistance to the Shepherds big men.  Arjun McIntosh hit his first ‘3’ in Majors. Jason Tun, Guy Carter, Oliver Ghiassi, and Shiva McIntosh would all run hard and garner stats, but all 9 players that played for us will need to cut down on mental and physical mistakes if our Greyhounds are to start running at full speed.  Submitted by Coach Rick Moncher

The Airedales Jack Froom with perfect shooting form.  Photo by Nick Toren

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 the past 7 months, ever since beloved Peter Arbogast stepped down from his long standing role running the Y b-ball league and publishing “The Hoop” each week, Dr. Paul Drew has stepped up and started “The Swish” and in the process has interviewed many YMCA basketball coaches, families, and players.  Finally, I told Doc Drew, it’s about time someone should interview him. So…I’m Holden Hayes, and have been coaching my son Tristan’s Rookie league teams since Fall ’17 and ever since I started, I’ve noticed Paul’s unshakeable commitment and love for the kids, basketball, and excellence in his positive and successful coaching style…also apparent in his talented son’s Dominic Drew’s performance as a standout and former Rookie league MVP, now working his way up in Bantam.  Doc Drew and I shared a team practice slot each Tuesday afternoon for our teams during a couple seasons last year, and then I was able to watch him in action again as he coached the Champion Rookie Summer team that my son had the fortune of being able to be a part of along with his son. I was able to see again, from a different angle, how he operated and learned a few things in the process.

So, without further ado, I’d like to ask Mr. Doc Drew a few things for a change….

Coach Holden:  First, you obviously have a great love for basketball…how and when in your life did this begin?
DocDrew:  I started playing basketball as a young kid growing up in the Midwest, and always enjoyed that there was constant action and being part of a team.  I attended the Minnesota Gophers basketball camp in the summers, and even got to be friends with Gopher and Boston Celtic legend Kevin McHale! Although, my favorite player was Julius Erving, better known as Dr. J.  During the cold winters inside my home, I put up a basket made from a wire coat hanger, and then I would shoot a rolled up sock as the basketball. I had a subscription to Basketball Digest that would help improve my math, reading, and stats skills.

Coach Holden:  What’s your favorite part of coaching here at the YMCA?
DocDrew:  Plain and simple, it’s the kids!  I always enjoy helping kids to develop not just their basketball skills, but also their life skills.  Also, I have become good friends with many of the parents who have been incredibly supportive of the program and my family.

Coach Holden:  Your son Dominic is quite a good player…do you take credit for some of this?
DocDrew:  I wish I could, ha ha!  But as you know, our kids don’t listen to us, or they tell us that they already know that.  So I’ve been fortunate to have the great Mathias James(MJ) work with him on his skills. Lots of parents come to me and tell me:  “I try to teach my kid, but he doesn’t listen to me.” Of course they don’t, because they hear us all the time telling them what to do, so I tell parents to hire MJ, so it is someone else that knows how to best communicate with your child based on the correct approach and what skills need to be addressed, or at least have a third person step in to deliver the message.

What I do instead with my son, is to tell him to be a leader, help his teammates, and set a good example for others to follow.  He’s always proud to make assists in games, especially to teammates that get their first basket ever. There are many kids that he has played with, that will tell you that their first basket was from a pass by Dominic.

Coach Holden:  I understand you are originally from South Dakota…quite different from Los Angeles, CA.  How did your start in South Dakota shape and prepare you for the life here in LA (Santa Monica) that you live today?
DocDrew:  When I was a teenager, and living in South Dakota, I spent a majority of my winter days playing basketball at the local YMCA where I also would coach younger kids in various sports.  The YMCA was my second home, and instilled me with wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle and helping others.

When I moved to Pasadena as a young adult, my first job was at the local YMCA where once again, healthy living and giving back to the community was important.  Eventually I would move to the Westside, attend Santa Monica College, transfer to USC to earn my bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, and then my clinical doctorate in Physical Therapy from USC.

I’ve been a resident of Santa Monica for over twenty years, and have seen the city go through many changes, especially in the last couple of years.  My upbringing in the Midwest has helped me to stay grounded and focused. Having been in Santa Monica has taught me to understand all points of view, and to listen and comprehend what others are telling me.   I can’t be perfect, I just have to try my best.

Coach Holden:  You’ve won a few championships as a coach here at the Y and have become a veteran coach.  What’s some advice you can give to the newer coaches?
DocDrew:  I’ve always said it’s not about winning championships, but seeing kids improve their skills in sports and life.  When I’m asked which team was my favorite to coach, I always bring up the team that was in last place one season, because that was the team in which all ten players had a basket by the middle of the season.  

I’m a home health physical therapist that works with elderly patients. I use a positive reinforcement approach with my patients in order to help motivate them to succeed in achieving their goals.  I use this same positive reinforcement approach with coaching kids, so they gain confidence and motivation to help them become our future leaders.

I highly recommend to go the Positive Coaching Alliance(PCA) https://www.positivecoach.org and become a Double Goal Coach for coaching for winning and life lessons.  I was introduced to PCA by my friend, legendary coach Phil Jackson, who is on the national advisory board of PCA.

Whether you are a parent or a coach, and you see something that a child did in a game that needs correction or help, first tell them what they did that was good, then kindly tell them what they can improve, followed by telling them to keep up what they did that was good.  This is part of being a Double Goal Coach.

A wonderful handmade thank you card from Miles Franklin, Summer 2018 MVP of the Santa Monica Stars U7 Championship Team, and All First Team Bantam League Rookie for the Winter 2019 season.
The most important people in my life:  Dominic and Apolonia Drew
My passion is being a rollerhockey goaltender.  I like to wear a replica jersey of LA King Hall of Famer Rogie Vachon.  Photo by Mar Vista Rec Center hockey scorekeeper and my goalie coach Jim Fimiani
Looking forward to returning as a coach this summer.  This was a trophy and sweater given by the parents after the Santa Monica Stars won the 2018 Summer U7 Culver-Palms championship.  Photo by Pamela Rubin
I use to see patients all over Malibu on my Indian Chieftain motorcycle,
but recently retired from Malibu and motorcycles.  This photo is from the Mulholland Snake, when I was “King of the Mountain”

Scores:

SATURDAY MARCH 30

MAJOR LEAGUE

DOBIES 40, SHEPHERDS 60

DANES 42, AIREDALES 39

GREYHOUNDS 61, MALAMUTES 49

BOXERS 60, MASTIFFS 44

ROOKIE LEAGUE

DOXIES 14, TERRIERS 8

YORKIES 18, PUGS 6

MALTESE 4, CHIHUAHUAS 17 *Maltese had to forfeit due to not enough players to start game

BANTAM LEAGUE

CORGIES 25, SPANIELS 28

SUNDAY, MARCH 31

BANTAM LEAGUE

SCHNAUZERS 14, SCOTTIES 7

BASSETS 12, PINSCHERS 13

SHELTIES 14, BEAGLES 15

MINOR LEAGUE

AKITAS 41, DALMATIONS 27

MAJOR LEAGUE

DOBIES 44, DANES 40

MASTIFFS 33, MALAMUTES 36

BOXERS 51, AIREDALES 22

GREYHOUNDS 34, SHEPHERDS 42

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:  

Chihuahuas 1-0-0, 5 points                                

Doxies 1-0-0, 5 points                                        

Yorkies 1-0-0, 5 points                                       

Pugs 0-1-0, 1 point                                        

Terriers 0-1-0, 1 point                                     

Maltese 0-1-0, 0 points                                   

Bantams:                               

Beagles 2-0-0, 10 points                                        

Spaniels 2-0-0, 10 points                                        

Corgies 1-1-0, 6 points                                    

Shelties 1-1-0, 6 points                                        

Pinscher 1-1-0, 6 points                                        

Schnauzers 1-1-0, 6 points                                        

Scotties 0-2-0, 2 points                                        

Bassets 0-2-0, 2 points

Minors:                                                  

Akitas 2-0-0, 10 points                                        

Whippets 1-0-0, 5 points                                         

Labs 1-0-0, 5 points                                            

Pointers 1-0-0, 5 points                                         

Dalmatians 0-2-0, 2 points                                        

Wolfhounds 0-1-0, 1 point                                        

Setters 0-1-0, 1 point                                            

Collies 0-1-0, 1 point

Majors:                                                  

Shepherds 2-0-0, 10 points                                         

Boxers 2-0-0, 10 points                                        

Danes 1-1-0, 6 points                                        

Greyhounds 1-1-0, 6 points                                        

Dobies 1-1-0, 6 points                                         

Malamutes 1-1-0, 6 points                                         

Airedales 0-2-0, 2 points                                    

Mastiffs 0-2-0, 2 points                                       

Upcoming schedule

All games are played in the gymnasium of the Santa Monica YMCA

SATURDAY, APRIL 6

MINOR LEAGUE

10:30 AM        SETTERS VS COLLIES

11:40 AM        WHIPPETS VS POINTERS

MAJOR LEAGUE

12:50 PM      MALAMUTES VS AIREDALES

2:00 PM        DOBIES VS GREYHOUNDS

BANTAM LEAGUE

3:10 PM        BEAGLES VS PINSCHERS

4:20 PM        SHELTIES VS SCOTTIES

5:30 PM        BASSETS VS SPANIELS

6:40 PM        CORGIES VS SCHNAUZERS

SUNDAY, APRIL 7

ROOKIE LEAGUE

10:30 AM       CHIHUAHUAS VS PUGS

11:40 AM       MALTESE VS TERRIERS

12:50 PM        DOXIES VS YORKIES

MAJOR LEAGUE

2:00 PM        MASTIFFS VS SHEPHERDS   

3:10 PM        BOXERS VS DANES

MINOR LEAGUE

4:20 PM        WOLFHOUNDS VS LABS

5:30 PM        AKITAS VS SETTERS

6:40 PM        WHIPPETS VS DALMATIONS

NO GAMES FROM APRIL 8-APRIL 26

TEAMS CAN AND SHOULD PRACTICE DURING THIS TIME

THE YMCA WILL BE CLOSED SUNDAY, APRIL 14 FOR EASTER

Thank you very much,

Dr. Paul Drew, assistant youth basketball coordinator at the Santa Monica YMCA,  editor and publisher of Swish

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