Kids Basketball - CYO league

[Trojansoc]

dakzoo wrote:

As a coach myself, it amazes me how parents just expect to show up for one or two practices a week and drop their kids off and then expect the kid to turn into an All-Star. When the kid doesn't, they blame the coach for not knowing what he/she is doing. Most parents get it, but those that don't are the reason many coaches stop volunteering.

Doug

You've said a mouthful, there, Doug. I coached youth sports for many years before I began to get paid as a HS coach. The same parents who complained about their son's "lack of improvement/playing time/position etc" were the same ones whose kids would miss practice "because our family is going out for dinner,""he needed to get a haircut," anda myriad of other reasons. At the other extreme was the parent who confused the Boys' Club 10 year old division with the NBA and pushed his kid so hard that the kid hated the sport by the end of the season.

I'd like to say the problem goes away at the varsity level, but my wife refuses to go to matches because she gets too angry listening to parents who know nothing about soccer griping about me in the stands.

Your hockey and wrestling shots are very nice. I actually like the white balance on the first hockey shot a little better than the second.

[lakeida]

John,

These pictures are great! I am wondering about the AF points, do you have

them all on? I have a Canon XT, I use the Canon 85mm 1.8 lens, but I'm not

sure on the camera how many AF points to have on for shooting basketball?

Thanks!

[dakzoo]

You're probably right about the white balance on the hockey pics. I was trying to eliminate some of the pink/red cast in the ice and probably went too far overall.

Coach's wives deserve a special place in heaven, that is for certain!

Doug

[JohnG]

lakeida wrote:

John,

These pictures are great! I am wondering about the AF points, do you have

them all on? I have a Canon XT, I use the Canon 85mm 1.8 lens, but I'm not

sure on the camera how many AF points to have on for shooting basketball?

Thanks!

Use a single focus point. On the XT it must be the center focus point - it's the only one accurate enough in low light. It screws up your composition but it can't be helped. My preference is always to focus on the face if I can. But some kids just have very smooth features and thee camera just doesn't want to focus on them - in which case uniform trim is the next best thing.

[k1par]

Great set of shots, I wish (and I bet you do too) that more gyms were lit like that. Hard to pick a favorite out of that set.

by the way I did not buy the Sigma lens (yet), I wound up buying a 30D to replace my Drebel and moved the XT to backup (40D not in the budget if I want the Sigma lensby spring).