At 50 All-Stars, I'm beginning to gather young kids to join my basketball program. It started off well with about a dozen 4-7 year olds. I bought a basket that was the appropriate height for their shot and everything. I soon learned that getting parents to buy into something so early was the difficult part.
Soon it became like the rest of the kids I instruct. They wanted to be on teams and rarely showed up to practices. I'm pushing forward, however, and have currently gathered about 8 new members. They're all about 6-8 years old, and nearly all want to "shoot" on the higher rim.
My overall goal is still to find some avenue to get kids between the ages of 4-6 to begin their development in the game of basketball. I still believe this game can be the cornerstone for life and for learning the many facets that life revolves around. I've also noticed it's extremely difficult to get girls on board at such a young age. This is a cultural thing that should be possible to adjust. It'll take time, though.
In the meantime, I have my 5th and 6th grade girls helping me recruit young players from their schools. They'll be helping me coach as well. I'm doing this so they can learn the game at a much deeper level, but also so the smaller kids have someone to look up to and emulate. Having and being a hero are both amazing things. These kids also have major access, whereas it's extremely difficult for me to get the flier below out to the parents.
We'll see how this all shakes out. I'll be updating this blog along the way.