Wednesday, September 23, 2009

More Happenings!

  • 8 NCAA Championships and 4 WNBA titles are in Cibolo today. Pat Summitt and Van Chancellor are at Steele High School to observe Meighan Simmons today at school.

  • UTSA is reportedly heavily recruiting Alamo Heights Stephanie Whittman. Whittman, the former #47 ranked player in the nation by Hoopgurlz, is recovering from a knee injury. The perfect sized combo guard punishes smaller defenders. She has one of the best mid- range games in the city.

  • PLAYERS PLEASE READ CAREFULLY! College coaches check your My Space and Facebook pages. In conversations with a few college coaches over the past couple of days, they all confirmed that they check these social networking sites in regards to potential recruits. Youthful indiscretions may haunt you in a huge way so beware of the messages that you are projecting to college coaches!

  • PARENTS PLEASE READ CAREFULLY! While the majority of club coaches do a lot of good and are in this for the right reason(s), some coaches use text messages to manipulate and exert control over your child. Mentors and role models are much needed in current society but the question is this, was that texting coach so interested in your child's well being before your child became an elite ball player? If not, there is an agenda. Is it a negative agenda, probably not, but the fact still remains that there is an agenda. Parents should probably make sure that the texting coach has the same agenda as them, THE PARENT! Another negative thing affecting girls basketball is coaches that CLAIM credit for a basketball players success. For instance, club coaches like to say, " Such and such got a letter or a scholarship because of me". In some cases that may be somewhat true but the majority of the time it is a LIE!. Unless a coach develops and showcases a kid from a very early age, they can not claim credit for them. For instance, Leslie Vorphal has one of the best personal trainers in the city. She has been working with him since 8-9 years old. She has also played for her father in the SA Heat Organization since the same age. Vorphal will garner a ton of college attention soon playing for SA Heat Director and Head Coach, Kobe Cantu. While Coach Cantu has helped get kids in school by providing a positive place for them to showcase their skills, can he claim Vorphal as his creation? NO!!!! Can he insinuate that Vorphal will get a college ride because of him, NO!! For the record, I have never heard of Coach Cantu doing such a thing. In fact, when Jessica Kuster committed to UTA, he wrote a very humble email about being privileged to have been able to coach her. Other coaches are not so humble. Please listen to a club coach talk and they will give themselves away with "I did this for her" and " She went to this college because of me". Also, please be aware of coaches who offer to pay for things. Frequently, these "things" come attached with strings. These situations can later come back to haunt you! The litmus test is this, " If your child does not play for them, will they still pay for "things". If no, there is an agenda. Whether good or bad, an agenda is still an agenda and you may want to know what the coaches agenda is.