Pregame conferences: Captains and Coaches

[scrounge]

I like to keep it VERY short and simple. Say hello, have them introduce themselves to each other, ask for their help if they see a teammate getting a little excited ("It's a LOT easier if you deal with it than if we do"), ask if they have any questions, and wish them luck.

None of that "who's the speaking captain?" nonsense. Speaking for what? There's no coin flip. No extraneous stuff. Let's just get going.

And another thing, I don't like telling them my first name. They're high school or junior high kids - it's not a meeting of equals. Maybe that's just me, but I prefer at least a little formality.

One of my partners that I had a few times was pretty much like this:

"Ok, we've got a white (or black or whatever) line all around - that's the out of bounds line. We have a center line right here [no sh##, we're standing right on it]. If the ball hits the wires or supports above the basket we're going to blow it dead. Now we want you to play with your feet, not your hands. We'll try and talk you out of stuff. Make sure you hustle in and out of timeouts. Ok, who's the speaking captain? Can you raise up your warmup jacket so I can see your number? Ok. You've been selected as captains for a reason, so we'll look to you for leadership. We want good sportsmanship tonight and your teammates and your coaches are looking for you to lead the way. Listen for the whistle and make sure to hand the ball to us. Are there any questions? Ok, shake hands one more time and good luck."

HOLY HELL DUDE! You could often see the kids rolling their eyes. Inside, mine were too.