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Message: [QUOTE="PeteCalvin, post: 4944958, member: 439"] When my kids started out in Saturday rec league ball they didn’t bring real refs in until the 5th grade age group. Coaches reffed the games until then, which sucked. I agree on the Keep It Simple principle. If it’s a third grade level, stick to fundamentals (dribbling, passing, defense, lay-ups, rebounding, and definitely spacing!). It helps if you have at least one ball for every two players so you can run passing drills (chest and bounce), and dribbling drills and not have kids standing around. Ease them into using their weak hands when dribbling. As for plays, at third grade / co-ed, teach them the 1 - 5 positions on the floor and where they should set up on the floor (1 up top, 2 and 3 on the wings foul line extended, and 4 and 5 just off the blocks). Plays can be as simple as “51”, when the 5 comes to screen for the 1, etc. When they start to get the concept of setting screens, you can teach the “pass and pick away” to encourage movement with the three guards. You can do the same with the 4-5 as they can screen away when the ball comes to their side. Teach the wings to move their defender down and then pop out to the wing for a pass (v-cuts), but always coming to the ball. These are all simple concepts that you can build on. With this age group, most plays are going to be dribbling off a screen, as passing is a tougher concept, unless the league builds rules in to encourage passing (first pass is free, not allowing double teaming, staying with your own player on D, etc.) Just get the kids comfortable with the ball in their hands and have fun dribbling and passing. A great game to run at the end of practice is Knockout. Team lines up single file at the FT line, first two in line get balls, first player shoots, then the second. They have to chase down their misses and if the second player scores before the first, the first is out, and so on. Once a player scores, the ball goes to the next in line and they shoot. If the third player scores before the second shooter scores, the second shooter is out. The kids love it, and it teaches them to go after the ball even if they don’t know it. No one wants to get knocked out LOL. [/QUOTE]

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