Lady Attack: 5th Grade Girls

Coach Chris Jones is one of thousands of AAU coaches across North Carolina, but something just stood out as he coached Saturday morning. He coaches the 5th grade Lady Attack out of Charlotte, NC and they clearly have the makings of a team to watch out for down the road.

Not only are his players talented but Coach Jones also expects the best of them each and every play. After watching his team, it’s clear that he’s been working with them behind the scenes drilling the basic fundamentals and focusing on the little details that end up making the difference between winning and losing.

It’s so important to start to instill the basics at a young age. This may lead to worse outcomes at first but pays dividends later when it matters. Some coaches spend far too much time concerned about the win-loss column with girls who haven’t even reached middle school and neglect what they need to be taught and drilled over and over. There isn’t a single college coach that is concerned about a player’s record on an AAU team they played on in 5th grade. It’s about getting better and that’s what Coach Jones cared about.

The game the Lady Attack played at the Hoops & Dreams Fall Xplosion, it seemed that their team controlled from the tip, but it didn’t stop Coach Jones from coaching just as hard. He still expected them to play hard and execute. He coached them as if they were in high school rather than talking to them like little children. He was coaching them as if he was coaching them 6 years in the future.

There wasn’t any yelling or screaming but there was plenty of teaching. It was great to see a coach so focused on teaching the game to his team as well as how the atmosphere has been around his team the past couple years and it looks like it’s truly starting to pay off. It’s scary to imagine the team he could have in five years if they keep this up. It was great to see a team so well coached at such an early stage of their development. Best of luck in the future Lady Attack and Coach Jones!