It would be different at every Club.

i'd agree that it would be different from club to club, and i'm not asking anyone to say i'm from this club and this is what happens here.

all i'd like to see is a range of responses from players, coaches and club officials.

Having been a player in teams ranging from Div 1 - Div 5 and a coach of several teams in a similar range i'd like to offer this to the discussion :


Div 1 coaching IMO is a dual-role responsibility. Yes they are primarily there to make the Div 1 team win/better, but i also think that they have responsibility to develop players in a squad environment that MAY range from div1,div2 & invited div3- players.

I think regular (twice yearly) internal trials are a good idea. They allow players from the lower divisions to be seen by coaches and compare attributes against better/lesser players.

My club had a similar policy to this and it allowed me as a junior to be promoted 3 divisions in one season (after returning from injury - not known by new coaches). I accept that "trials" do not suit all players.. but invitations to train with higher division teams i think is positive for player rankings/settling.
This "squad-like" environment i think is very effective in that it allows the Div 1 coach the ability to evaluate players he/she would not see on a regular basis against players in his/her own team - a measuring stick of sorts.

I would be interested to hear what others think of the "squad" concept and whether or not it is widely practicsed to include invitees from lower divisions ?

This is a good point. What should the role of a div 1 coach be.

I think the role should incorporate, obviously div 1 and 2, but should also entail some roll in div 3 at every club. if not the head coach, then maybe another selected person to provide feed back to the Head Coach about potential player promotion or trials.

Some clubs use div 4/5 for their junior teams in u/18 or 20's as a training session. It gives the team some real time training and the opportunity to "experiment" with alternative line ups.

From my experience, Div 3 is usually the forgotten.

I have played at a couple of clubs and found that div 3 has no real structure where i have played. There has always been talk of incorporating div 3 with div 2 at club level, but it has never happened.

I currently play and find it frustrating each week to know that, even though we are competitive, we are always going to struggle. I don't like to be negative about a team where each player plays hard and well, but i'm sure they have the same frustrations week in week out.

As I said, i have experienced this at more than one club. Div 3 is a great comp to be playing, i'd rate it as good as div 2.

The successful teams in div 3, all seem to have a coach, have a balanced roster with guards, forwards and legitimate centers.

it is not a necessity for the head coach of 1's to be involved with div 3 but i think there needs to be some correlation between them

Can someone suggest to me how to get the club (nameless for now) to get involved with a team that has potential to be a challenging finals team but needs to be able to play people in their "more" legitimate positions. and not have guards playing center etc.

For the development of players any Division one coach should only look after the 8 or 9 player in that side first and then instruct the other coaches how to develop the correct skills and philosophes needed. The Division once coach should act as a mentor to the div 2,3,4 and 5 coaches allowing them to pass on the knowledge to their player.


A Division one coach should act like a middle manager would; be a mentor and give advice and assurance but leave the tough decisions to the JDO or the junior committee who would have agreed to take on this responsibility.

I might have missed it - but - are we talking Juniors or Seniors or both?

I was looking for ideas at mainly a junior level, but by all means, lets not forget the big kids too

the main reason i've posted this topic is because it was suggested to me that a div 1 coach could also possibly slot into the role of div 3 coach at the same time .

this to me sounds a reasonable suggestion, after all , at some clubs, the first years that make up this years div 3 players are going to make up the majority of next years div 1 team.

i know thats going to make alot of div 1 coaches cringe at the very thought , but is it not such a bad idea afterall......time permitting that is

Two training a week: 4 hours
1 game : 2 Hours
Travel time

State Champs
Classics
Eltham?
Easter?

What happens if you get an ABL player to coach?

Yes and work.

Lets look at the work the Div 1 Coach does before giving him more.

I agree Doddobird. Also, SASI and State commitments if they do that.

I think that sometimes Clubs (and parents for that matter) forget that these coaches have lives and families of their own.

There is an awful lot of time (and expense) that these volunteers give up.