Boys’ basketball policies, rules, and guidelines
8th Head Coach –Stephen Richardson
Assistant – Michael Baird
7th Head Coach – Billy Krause
Assistant – jerry schroeder
“It’s not the size of the WOLF in the fight, but the size of the fight in the WOLF!”
Team expectations
ACADEMICS
Student-athletes will:
Not receive referrals or d-halls in class
Act as gentlemen in class and act in a respectful manner to all teachers
Will work to do their best in all classes
Failing grades, low conduct marks, and referrals/d-halls will be addressed with extra conditioning and extra tutorials.· 2 referrals resulting in ISS during one season will result in dismissal from the team.
CHARACTER, CONDUCT, AND ATTITUDE
All players are expected to act as gentleman everywhere they go both on and off the court. All players are expected to use “yes sir, no sir, yes ma’am, and no ma’am” when addressing coaches, teachers, administrators, and officials.Student athletes will:
Not use profanity.
Use “yes sir” and “no sir”.
Be model students in class.
Not get referrals for misconduct by any teacher.
Maintain a good attitude through adversity and joys.
Respect their opponents and not stoop to dirty play.
Respect officials before, during, and after games.
Not get a deserved technical foul.
PRACTICES
-All players are expected to dress out. Exceptions are only allowed by coaches.
-All players will be suited out and ready to go at the correct schedule. “tying your shoes at the start of practice is not acceptable.”
-All players are expected to hustle during drills and from drill to drill. No sitting down and no back talk.
-All players are expected to be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is a choice, not just a feeling.
-Missed practices/games are only allowed for illness or family matters. Your family comes first in all instances, and make up work will be light for these occasions, if any is assigned. A call to the coach’s office (817-251-5330) before the practice time starts by a parent or guardian is expected to avoid extra running before the practice time starts. -An excused absence (band sectional is not an absence) from any portion of practice will result in the player missing the first quarter of the next game. Any two excused absences in a week result in the player sitting the first half of the next game. Three excused absences in one-week result in missing the next game.-Unexcused absences result in missing the first half of the next game on the first offense, missing the next game and a parent
call on the second offense, with possible team dismissal on the third offense. This includes I.S.S. Boys serving I.S.S. are not permitted to practice or play on those days.
DRESS CODE
Sacrifices are made in everything in life, especially for the benefit of the good of others. We feel no different about our program. Losing some self-identity for the team is a small sacrifice, and also helps each person decide just how important being a part of our program is to them.
-All players will dress within the school dress code standard.
-All players will not wear earrings or body piercings in school on game days or on any away game trips.
-All players will keep their hair cut within a reasonable length. Excessively long hair and hair in the eyes makes it very difficult to play basketball as we will not allow any type of ponytails, braids or head bands to be worn. If your hair is becoming a problem with your play then you need to make the decision to get it cut. If a coach believes that this is a problem, he will first talk with the athlete then discuss with the parents. Athletes will also not be allowed to have any facial hair. **GAME ATTIRE**
In games, only the issued uniform is worn.
No T-shirts under jersey
No head bands/sweat bands on the head, arms, or legs.
No colored socks or knee high socks **GAME DAY ATTIRE**
Athletes will be required to dress up on game days. (No sport shoes, jeans or t-shirts)
· Button up shirt with a tie must be worn
· Pants will be dress pants (slacks/khakis/cargo pants) NO JEANS!
TRANSPORTATION
All players are expected to ride the bus to and from each game. Exceptions will be made on some game nights with prior approval from a coach. You MAY NOT leave a game with a friend. We expect that our players will stay for all games each evening. It is important that we support each other as a program. It is very unfortunate that there are some evenings that no one will be there to support the team playing in the final game of the evening. Athletes will be able to work on homework during games in the stands and must remain in the stands during games when they are not playing.
INJURIES
You will be the main person to know if you are injured. If you are injured, let a coach know ASAP. We will do our best to help you determine what the injury may be. If we feel that the injury is severe, then we will contact parents/guardians immediately. If the injury is not an emergency, then we will help the athlete to see the trainers at the high school the following day for further examination. Remember that notes for illness and injury are subject to the terms in the Athletic Code of Conduct which was signed at the first of the year. Even if you are injured, you will be required to dress out and be present for all games and practices even if you are not participating in the activity.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible to play basketball, you must be passing all classes at the end of each six weeks. Failing one class causes the student to become ineligible the following week, and eligibility can only be regained if the student is passing ALL classes at the end of the third week of the next six week grading period. If passing, the student must wait until the following Friday to become eligible again. Students who fail two straight six weeks could face dismissal from the program. Students that have multiple discipline referrals and/or class failures or truancies may also be dismissed from the program.
QUITTING
Quitting the team is strongly discouraged. If a player quits the team, he will be given 72 hours to confirm his decision. If at that time he sticks with his decision, he will not be eligible to play for a calendar year. Exceptions to this rule will be solely up to the head coach if he deems the reason for quitting was a necessity to the students welfare or for his family.
PARENTAL CONFERENCES
In our profession, we understand that we as coaches will never be able to please all parents and/or players. Even though winning is not everything, we are still striving for that goal. We base what we do on what we see in practice and games. If for any reason you desire a conference, please feel free to call, and we will sit down with you and discuss whatever you need to talk about, except playing time. Almost every player wants more “p.t.” but may never get it. Helping your son deal with the situation in a positive manner, and teaching him to be unafraid to speak with the coach is a step toward maturity and learning to take on responsibility for himself. One thing we ask of you is never “bail out” your son. Have him learn to do more and more on his own, and have him take
responsibility for his actions and learn to deal with consequences, and also learn his actions can affect others in both positive and negative ways. We want them to always put team over themselves.
PLAYING TIME “P.T”We can and will never guarantee any player more playing time or any playing time, for any reason. This right is earned through what takes place in practices and what is needed against our opponent. We always have many kids who work hard and improve, but there are some things players have that some others don’t, and they are athleticism, height, agility, speed, quickness, court awareness, play recall, and the list goes on. Some people are gifted beyond what others could ever achieve, no matter how hard they work. A simple rule a coach told me once as a player, “the less athletic ability you have, the better your fundamentals have to be. You can take
an athlete and teach him to have some fundamentals easier than you can teach a fundamental player to be an athlete.” All you can ask of your son is to do the best with what he has been given, and keep striving to get better, and never, never quit! As a middle school basketball player, we will always do our best to allow athletes to get plenty of playing time to help them improve their skills, but we still do require them to earn the right to play. Making the team does not earn a right to playing time.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In my short time of coaching, I have already learned that there is no way to cover all the things that may occur. When other problems arise, we deal with them on an individual basis, and adjust our policies accordingly. We discipline our players in a variety of ways, ranging from extra tutorial time, to extra conditioning, to suspension, and all the way to dismissal from the team. In all we do, we try to be as fair as possible.
Coach Richardson – Head Basketball Coach
“IT’S ALL ABOUT TEAM”
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