I agree that the club teams need to work very closely with the high school coaches. I am not a high school coach but I think it would be very frustrating given the rules imposed on them that do not allow them to work with their high school kids after the season is over. With that said, the following is an idea of how we try to work with the high school coaches in the Leavenworth area....

As the head coach for the club, my coaching staff and I make a coaches book for the year. We identify the technique we want to focus on and break it out by age/experience level. We then develop the type of practices we want to conduct and then create a detailed daily practice schedule that helps keep us focused during the season.

The first step in this is that we go and talk with the high school coaches and get their input on the kind of technique they want the kids to learn. We tell them what we are seeing in the kids club and they tell us what they are seeing at the high school level.

Once we get that we develop the plan. Once we get the book done we give it to the high school coaches and ask them to review it and provide feedback. We will then incorporate their input into our practice plans.

This system definately is not perfect but it seems to at least allow us to teach the basics of what the high school coaches want and to keep them in the loop without getting anyone in trouble.

Coach Schmidt and Coach Averill are very good at providing their input and support to our club. We greatly appreciate their efforts and help.

Shawn Budke
Leavenworth County Spartans