Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Final Cuts for Largo Middle Basketball

We had 40 middle school players trying out this year .  I must be getting old or developing more compassion,  it was really hard to bring the number down to 15 .  We lost a lot of talented players not sure we can get the same results as last year !  I know the boys are playing very hard and are open to learn the fundamentals.  It may be a good sign !!!  As usual we have had to suspend some of the players for grades and conduct.   They know they have to give their best on and off the court !!!   I was a little down because of the constant battle with these teenagers in the classroom.   My spirits have lifted and I think is because I am coaching basketball again !!!  I want to make a special thank you to Scott Whitely from Morgan and Morgan, for helping us big time,  by footing the cost for new uniforms that were lifted from our storage facility !!!


Will keep you posted on our season ! 


Let the games begin !!!


Coach J

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

LBC Camp

Well we have started our Leadership/Basketball Camp for middle school age children. It runs from 7/6 through  7/16.  Our numbers are low in comparison to previous years !   We graduated a lot of good players that were committed to our program.  We have to start over !!!  We made connect- ed call to all the students in the Largo Middle School district.  This should remind them of the camp and the numbers should increase dramatically.   I must admit the children that we are working with presently are a joy to work with !  Will keep you posted !!!


Coach J

Friday, March 6, 2015

Face Book Page Project Uplift Tampa Inc.

More coverage on our Face Book page under ProjectUplift Tampa Inc.  Videos and pictures of current programming !  Thanks again for all out supporters !

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Musing from a Middle School Basketball Coach

Well, it was a challenging year !  We ended up with a 5 win 5 loss record.   WE did better then last year !  We beat two teams that we have never beat before and we lost  3 games by less then 3 points.  The last game of the year we lost to the league champs by 3 in a double over time thriller !  Heartbreaking but positive as well !  The players played really hard and for the most part did the right things both on and off the court.   How do you measure success at this early age ?  I believe by improved individual skills,  team concept basketball IQ,  and mostly value oriented behavior.  For sure our players jumped up several levels that last two years.   We lose most of our players to high school however I have recruited several players that did not come out to participate in our summer basketball/math camp.   The great thing about Largo, Florida is there are athletes here so you just have woo them to play something other then football.   We have tasted some success I believe this will help our program land the players needed to keep the ball rolling.

Shalom ,

 Coach J