Coach V's Blog

Check out Primetime Coach Chris Van Den Berg's New Blog on Basketball!!

http://bball-iq.blogspot.com/

Primetime Results!

I will have a new blog up soon but I wanted to make a note of some recent Primetime Success.....

1) Congratulations to the Primetime 8th Grade Black Boys Basketball team for winning the "Back To School" League Championship at the Fieldhouse in Fishers last weekend.  The boys played excellent basketball in the final four to take home the first place trophy.

2) FOUR 8th grade boys, who were previously cut from their 8th grade basketball teams one year ago, ALL MADE IT THIS YEAR!  They all participated in the Primetime Basketball Middle School Program and Training over the past year and worked hard enough to see major improvement.  I am extremely proud of their effort and success and cannot wait to see them play for their middle school team!

3) The adult fitness class is proving to be very beneficial for several individual, including ME.  I know of one person who lost 10 pounds in only one month, and I have seen major results in both my cardio health and physical strength.

Stay tuned for a new blog.

Thanks, Brandon

Message From the Founder

When I was a kid the most exciting part of my day was getting home from school and finding out what sport, game, or activity was going to take place that afternoon in my neighborhood.  On a nice day in my hometown, Los Angeles suburb West Hills, you had about a 95% chance of the weather being appropriate for outdoor fun.  The street I lived on was filled with kids, many of whom loved to play as much as I did.  We had a variety of activities we participated in, including basketball, touch football, roller hockey, over the line (baseball spin off), hide and seek, and more.  I usually began by going to my best friend and neighbor’s house, and then the two of us would begin seeking out others who were around to play.  This process was an everyday occurrence for me and truly shaped my childhood, both physically and socially.  Without even realizing it, my after school neighborhood activities were becoming the basis for everything Indiana Primetime Sports represents.  A group of kids, ages 7 – 14, gathered in a safe environment that was both socially positive and filled with an array of organized sporting activities to choose from.

The social benefits of participating in sports programs with other children are endless.  In school, kids are given a wide variety of times to interact with their peers.  For example, recess, lunch, passing periods, and group oriented work inside the classroom.  That being said, the majority of the day is spent reading, writing, and listening, most of which is done alone without much interaction with others.  Playing outside with friends in my neighborhood each day gave me hours and hours of time to build relationships with other kids.  Along with the physical side of playing games like basketball and football, I truly learned how to interact with others, be a leader, and demonstrate teamwork at a very young age.  During my years as a teacher I learned that many kids struggle at being able to organize games on their own without the appropriate support and supervision an adult provides.  During the 1^st Primetime Football Camp, I quickly realized that the coaching staff and I were providing all of the boys participating with an amazing place to build long lasting friendships, as well as an arena to become more comfortable on a social level.  Over the years, Primetime has prided itself on continuing to help young athletes see the importance of the social skills they are learning in sports, as well as teaching kids how to treat each other the right way.  One of the greatest joys I receive from working at Primetime programs is watching the children get to know each other and form long lasting friendships.

Should your child be focused on one sport or be exposed to an array of them?  Children grow, both physically and mentally, at their own pace.  Some kids who are tall in the 4^th grade, end up being the shortest kid on the team by the time they are in high school.  Other kids, who cannot grasp a game like football when they are ten, might end up having a perfect lineman body when they are sixteen.  Some kids, who are great tennis players when they are young, may find they prefer more team-oriented sports when they grow older.  Not exposing children to as many sports and games as possible would be a major disservice.  There are of course some exceptions, as some children find their true love when they are eight years old and never stray away.  However, even in those instances, playing other sports at a little less competitive level, or even going to a summer camp that has other sports, can be a great learning experience for the one sport athlete.  As Primetime was being built, one of our main goals was to provide a large amount of sports and programs to choose from, similar to what I experienced in my neighborhood growing up.  The kids in my neighborhood would play basketball everyday for about two months, but that was always followed by some burnout.  These were great times for us to play other games like football, roller hockey, and baseball.  Young multi-sport athletes have the ability to improve physically and learn more about sports, have social relationships with various groups of peers and coaches, and have the knowledge to make smart decisions when choosing sports to participate in as they get older.

As I developed Primetime with Ryan during our days at Butler University, I had a few important points I wanted to maintain across all of our programs.

1)   Everything must be FUN: If it’s not fun then what is really the point?  Kids want to have fun, and no matter what a kid is doing, if it is really fun, then most likely they will want to continue doing it.  We pride ourselves on ALL of our programs being fun, regardless of whether they are a practice, camp, intensive training session, or game.

2)   Everything must be ORGANIZED: Primetime prides itself on having instructors who can provide a well-organized session of training, practice, camp, etc.  Organization is critical when dealing with sports programming for youth athletes because it aids in keeping kids focused on the tasks at hand and provides for successful time management.  In addition, the parents who have three children can greatly benefit from a well-organized sports program.

3)   Everything must be SAFE and COMFORTABLE: Proper supervision and a safe environment are huge when dealing with children.  If kids feel safe and comfortable in their surroundings, they are more likely to achieve and open up to both their peers and adult coaches.

When you put these three things together, and then add the last critical piece, PROFESSIONAL COACHING, Primetime is able to provide a one of a kind experience for all the young athletes we work with.

After a long day of learning math, science, and social studies, playtime was an afternoon necessity for me.  As important as all the things we learn in school are, exercise and an outlet for a young person’s energy is something that must be accomplished on a daily basis as well.  Things have changed dramatically over the years regarding how much exercise and play a child can get inside of school each day.  Unfortunately, these days it is more about figuring out how much time can be set aside each week rather than each day.  Most elementary schools in Indiana only allow for 30-40 minutes of Physical Education time PER WEEK!  This means out of five full days of school per week, each child only gets to participate in ONE organized physical activity with his or her peers.  Indiana Primetime Sports is dedicated to providing youngsters with all of the sports, socializing, and fun we can possibly package into after school and summer programs.

Sincerely,

Brandon Lafferman

President/Co-Founder