I Spell FUN “W-I-N”

I’ve coached for 30 years on both the boys’ and girls’ side of basketball. I’ve spent the last decade of my career also serving as an athletic director, watching all sports and noticing the similarities.

What I’ve learned is this: kids want to have fun, and parents want their kids to have fun; but coaches? Coaches want to win.

Now, that doesn’t mean athletes and parents don’t want to win. It simply means the majority of athletes and parents would rather have sports be fun, regardless of the scoreboard. And it doesn’t mean coaches don’t care about fun—it’s just that winning tends to take precedence. Now after thinking about this tension for years—and living it as a coach and as a parent—I’ve come to believe there’s a happy middle ground. A place where kids and parents can have fun and coaches can feel satisfied. It’s where athletes work hard to win, coaches work hard to make it fun, and there’s a realistic plan for winning at the level of your talent.

What Does That Even Mean?

Winning doesn’t always mean winning it all. As coaches, we need to be smart about our talent level and have a plan to win at the level we’re capable of. We can’t control the league schedule we’re in. But we can control the preseason and tournament schedules—and we should schedule games that our team can win.

I completely support scheduling “up” to prepare your team for a tough league. But I also believe in scheduling a handful of winnable games at your talent level. That makes it fun for kids and parents—and for you.

Winning Is Fun

No matter how you approach it, winning is fun. I’ve seen kids who didn’t care for their coach’s style—but they enjoyed winning and the way it made them feel. Winning adds joy to the experience.

Imagine if we, as coaches, could make practices fun and productive—and then win on top of it? It’s possible.

Practices Can Be Fun

I’ve never understood why practices can’t be fun, even when they’re hard and demanding. Competition is fun. So what if we made practices competitive instead of repetitive? Competition-abundant instead of drill-redundant? (Eminem would be proud of that line.) Even in dreaded conditioning drills, why can’t it be fun?

In my younger days, I’d jump in and race the team. They loved it—and they worked hard. In my older days, I’d act like I was going to race them… but I’d intelligently protect my hamstrings and cardiovascular health by throttling it back. They still loved it. They teased me, they laughed, and they still worked hard.

Turn Drills Into Competition

Turn drills into competition. Track successes. Make it fun.

They’re still learning the skill. Let’s say you’re teaching closeouts to the sideline and forcing the ball to the corner. They’re doing the work—but now they’re getting points each time they force the dribbler to the corner. It’s fun and it’s helping them win.

Fun + Winning Go Hand in Hand

Winning is fun, and fun is winning. Here’s the caveat: I’ve seen some kids have fun in spite of not winning. But I’ve never seen a team win without having fun. Think about it. You can’t spell WIN without FUN.