Getting Started
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Coach's "Getting Started" Checklist
There's a lot to do when forming a new team or starting a season. Here is a quick checklist to help you get started:
Other Resources
Running Tryouts
Tryouts can be difficult. We have an entire page dedicated to helping you get it right. Check it out here. We will have a coaches meeting before tryouts to go over the process.
AAU Registration
Both players and coaches must be registered through AAU to compete in Bantam leagues. Please follow the instructions on the Bantam website to complete this required step. The instructions can be found at the following link: AAU Numbers
* Note – In addition to the bantam league, super leagues and AAU tournaments also require AAU registration. The same coach and player numbers can be used for all leagues and tournaments.
Register your team for leagues
The most popular leagues for Lehi teams are Bantam and SLC Sports Office Super League simply because the games tend to be closer. However, there are other leagues to choose from. In addition to those listed below, for teams willing to travel a bit further there are additional leagues in Salt Lake and Wasatch County as well as AAU tournaments:
Bantam is the only Utah County league. They offer multiple seasons including Fall, Winter and March. Winter registration usually begins in mid-November and games are played all over Utah County.
A south SL county basketball league played in Draper, Sandy, Cottonwood areas. The coordinate with UC Bantam to make sure your games do not conflict if you participate in both. They also offer multiple seasons as well as a separate Super League.
Tournaments
There are typically weekend tournaments available nearly year round. Prices, locations and # of games vary by tournament. Note: most tournaments charge an entrance fee for parents to watch which can vary from $5 - $20 per day.
- ExposureEvents
*Note – On the individual registration pages you’ll find the league fees, as well as possible dates of play and locations.
Scheduling Practice
You will need to locate and schedule gym time for practices. The most common option are school gyms but there are a few private gyms available as well. You will need to inform all schools that you are competing for Lehi in the Bantam League in order to obtain the lowest cost. Here are a few of the options for renting gym space:
Middle Schools $75/hour:
Willowcreek Middle School
Lehi Jr. High
Vista Heights Middle School
Elementary Schools - $65/hour:
North Point Elementary
Eaglecrest Elementary
Traverse Mountain Elementary
River Rock Elementary
Meadow Elementary
Dry Creek Elementary
Snow Springs Elementary
Lehi Elementary
Membership Gyms (monthly fee per person):
Lehi Legacy Center
Private Gyms
Note – LDS churches do not permit organized sports practices at their facilities
Insurance – you will need to use the AAU Insurance Form to practice at some of these facilities. This form can be found here.
Sharing Gyms
It is strongly recommended that you share gym times and expenses with other coaches in your grade. Not only will this keep costs down but will give you a team to scrimmage and run drills with.
* Subject to change
Choose the right division for your team
Selecting the right division for your team can be one of the toughest decisions facing a new coach, especially since you are often just getting to know your team when the registration deadline hits. A team playing in an upper division in which they get pounded each week can quickly become demoralized while a team that easily beats every team in a lower division may enjoy success but have their progression limited.
Coaches should carefully consider their personnel, especially their abilitiy to rebound and pass and handle the ball under pressure, and select a division in which their team has the best opportunities for success while still being challenged each week. The Bantam website provides additional guidance. Although discouraged by the leagues in general, if you find yourself clearly in over your head or in a non-challenging league, you can sometimes request a league change early in the season.
Select a team mom or dad
There is a lot for a coach to focus on, especially at the beginning of a season, and having a parent with good organization skills who can work with parents to collect uniform numbers and sizes and funds and help with registration and other tasks can be a huge benefit
Collect Funds
Estimate Costs & Collect Funds
LYB does not handle any money. This is all done at the team level since each team will have different costs.
Once you know the costs of practice facilities, uniforms and league registrations you can determine the per player costs. This is another step in which a team mom or dad can really help.
Estimating Costs
Costs will vary per team based on decisions you make such as which leagues to participate in, whether to add names on the warm ups, and how often you practice etc. However, most costs consist of facility costs, uniform costs, and league costs.
Possible Example: (your costs will be different)
League Costs:
Bantam Winter: $895
Salt Lake Bantam: $750
Uniform Costs:*
$80 x 8 players: $560
Practice Facilities:**
32 Practices x $56.25: $1800
Extras (optional examples)
Names on Jerseys: $80
Coaching Clinics: $150
Total: $4,235
Total per player: $530 (assuming 8 players on a team)
* We have multiple uniform options at different prices and we try to keep uniforms consistent each year which means that some players on your team may not need a new uniform each year.
** Practice facilities are usually your largest costs (see details). Save money on practices by sharing gyms with another team. The estimate above is based on 90 minute practices twice a week at $76 an hour shared by two teams (making it $56 a practice instead of $112). Sharing with a team in the same grade, such as an A and B team also provides opportunities for scrimmages and drills which need more players. If you have access to a cheaper gym, this can bring costs down significantly.
When estimating practice costs, make sure to consider holidays and school closure days when determining the number of practices you expect to hold.
Collect Funds
Order Uniforms
Ordering uniforms can be a huge task, but fortunately we will do much of the work for you. Coach Lewis and his staff design the uniforms and we provide the vendor and order forms for you. You order as a team and pay as a team, but our vendor lumps all of our orders together to give us a lower price point.
Although details may change year over year, historically, our vendors have offered a base package that includes shorts and jerseys and optional extras such as warmups, socks, bags and player names on the jerseys. You will receive an order form where you will enter sizes and numbers and select which options your team wants.
Like practice fees and league fees, you will collect uniform money from your team and make a single payment to the vendor. Instructions will be on the order form.
Our vendor is Kyle Hardman: 720-339-6774
Note: although we prefer that all LYB teams wear the same uniforms, 3rd - 6th grade coaches are welcome to use their own vendor and design their own uniforms if desired. Coach Lewis prefers that all Lehi uniforms use purple and white for their colors.
Build your playbook
This is the fun part. The LYB Playbook is a great place to start as it contains a collection of plays from the high school and your fellow LYB coaches. However you should tailor your plays to your experience and the personnel on your team.
For starters you can probably get away with one good play against a man defense and one good play against a zone defense. Since basketball requires all 5 players to be on the same page, its usually more effective to be really good at a couple of plays than OK at a lot of plays. You can add additional plays through the season as your players improve on essential skills and master your starting plays. Here is a minimal list of what your playbook will need to get started:
Offense
1 Play against a zone - some coaches want to have a play or two for each type of zone they may encounter and while that can be effective, it also means a lot more time practicing plays rather than focusing on skills. (see tips for coaches). A good approach is to find a play that can work with minor adjustments against multiple zones. If you are coaching in one of the lower divisions you will likely see more zone.
1 Play against man - teams in the top divisions will see more man defenses
2-3 in-bounds plays - since we often don't have the time to master as many plays as we would like, its a good idea to have most of your in-bounds plays start in the same set so that the defense does not know what to expect .
Press Break - Most teams, even at young grades will face full or half court
presses although some leagues limit the times in which a team can press. Remember, you beat a press with good spacing and good passing.
Defense
Man Defense - Although zone can be easier to teach and zones can exploit the weaknesses of younger offensive players, man teaches essential basketball skills (see tips for coaches). We recommend you play primarily man defense.
Zone Defense - Although we recommend playing mostly man, and you can get away with starting a season with only one defense in place, as games get more competitive, its a good idea to be able to mix up the defense. Most teams start with a 2-3, but there are a lot of variations in zones.
Press - You can get by without a press and you should probably focus on many of the above plays first. However, there will be times when you are down by a few points and the ability to apply a little extra pressure can be the difference in a game.
What plays to choose
Choosing the right plays depends a lot on your player's abilities, your own coaching philosophies and the age of your players. You may pick different plays if you have really good ball handlers or shooters vs really strong rebounders and post players. If you coach a younger grade, you may pick plays that keep things simple and teach good movement and spacing. There are a lot of great online resources to help you narrow it down.
Online Resources
Breakthrough Basketball - although they do sell programs and camps, breakthroughbasketball.com also has tons of free drills, plays and advice. Such as:
Coaches Clipboard - another great site with plays, drills and practice advice.
Basketball For Coaches - yet another great site full of resources.
Coach's Clinics and Meetings
Coach Clinic 2023 Dates: 9/11, 9/18, 9/25 - all from 6:00-7:30pm
Venmo: @QuincyLewisBasketball
The entrance fee gets you into all clinics and each will have a different focus, so please attend as many as possible and feel free to bring your assistant coaches (It's $150 per team, not per coach)
High School Players and Coaches
Coach Quincy Lewis and his high school staff actively manage the 7th and 8th grade teams and provide resources for the younger grades. They believe that their success starts with your success and are eager to support LYB coaches.
Coach Lewis also welcomes you and/or your team to come and watch one of his practices. Just send him an email to let him know you are interested.
Team Management Site and Mobile Apps
If you have used another great tool, let us know and we will add it to the list.