The boys walked through plays under the direction of their coach, Andy Feddema. Both offensive and defensive players learned their assignments on any given play. Staff photo/ Brian Larsen
Busting between the ragged defense, the quick-footed masked ball handler swooped in and scored an easy layup.
It was only day two of practice, but new Vikings head Basketball Coach Andy Feddema was having none of that, stopping the action on the court.
“We would rather give up a three than a layup,” he said, repeating himself as he implored his players on defense to communicate better.
If that makes Feddema sound like he’s an angry coach. He’s anything but.
“If I stop the action and tell you something, I’m not doing that because I’m mad at you,” Feddema said to the kids. “I’m trying to fix something. I’m not trying to embarrass anyone.”
Overall, Coach Feddema is high on his players and the way they were responding to coaching.
“We have 31 kids grades 8-12 out this year, and it’s really a good group of kids. They are energetic, enthusiastic, and just happy to be playing ball,” he said.
On offense, the kids worked a motion offense using screens and quick cuts to the basket, and on defense, the kids played man but were being taught to switch to play help defense when the situation called for it.
Boys’ basketball Coach Andy Feddema takes time to explain plays, drawing them on a white board before the kids take to the court. First, they walk through the plays, then speed up and run them in real (basketball) time. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
During the practice, Coach Feddema would work with the players on the court, walking through plays, and then he would stop the action on the court and gather his team around a whiteboard. And on that whiteboard, Coach Feddema would diagram plays, stopping to ask the attentive players if they understood what he was asking them to do on the basketball court. When they nodded affirmatively, Feddema escorted them back onto the basketball court, and they would learn something new. “There are nuances to the game,” he told his young charges, pointing out small mistakes that were quickly corrected.
With the first game scheduled to be played at home on January 22 against South Ridge, Feddema knows his young team will have some ups and downs.
“Yeah, we’re young, but the kids will get better through the season. This is a fun group of kids to work with and they have a great attitude, especially with the circumstance they’ve been given this year.”
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