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As a proud alum of West Union, I find it sad to see the state basketball teams (boys and girls) find themselves right now. I guess my question is this; is there any hope (talent) on the horizon? I know high school basketball is very cyclical in nature and all programs have down years (see North Adams and Eastern Brown this year), but it seems there has been so much coaching turnover in the West Union program this past decade that we don't give ourselves a chance to build a program. I no longer live in West Union so I am asking for some informed answers to my question.

They need to get some of the former players that now have children "up and comming" and take an interest in bball again. The way it was even back in the 80's when the county rivalry wasn't just among 2 teams. If you look at the local teams(N.A.,Manchester,W.U. & Peebles) The teams that seem to do better is the ones with a stronger community backing. IMO West Union has lost that.

I have heard that attendance has not been good this year. Winning will solve that. Is there any talent coming up thru the ranks?

Deadeye Dave wrote:I have heard that attendance has not been good this year. Winning will solve that. Is there any talent coming up thru the ranks?

Ive heard that there are a couple good boys teams at the elementery level for West Union.

West Union has a pretty good 8th grade team and a good 5th grade team other than that not much.I think the varsity coach should hold meetings with the pee wee coaches and show them the style he wants them to play.It all starts from the ground up!

West Union needs to get behind their teams win or lose. They are far behind the other county schools in fan support even though they are the largest school. When you don't even pull out the home section bleachers for a girls game and even then are outnumbered by the visitors it sends a bad message to the players. Makes it hard for the players and coaches. Unfortunately I don't see it getting better for either boys or girls in the next few years.

one thing that might help would be to keep a coach for more than a year or two. how many coaches have they been through since their last winning season? when was their last winning season and who was the coach? has anyone won there since dubbs left?
i wonder how they would have done over the years if dave young(west union alumnus) had ended up at west union instead of north adams? where dave coach before ending up at north adams?

Talent only gets a school so far. I can thik of several kids that were very good when I was in school, who didn't play. Having consistent coaching with a program taught from the ground up encourages kids at all levels to want to be on the team.

Also, encourage as many kids as possible to play peewee ball. It's not about building a superstar 5th grade team, because those superstars might not grow an inch. Lots of schools have tall kids with no inetrest in playing. The trick is to make ball fun for everyone, not just the kids of former players.

I agree with sparky that good coaching over a number of years is the best way to turn a program around.

sparky wrote:one thing that might help would be to keep a coach for more than a year or two. how many coaches have they been through since their last winning season? when was their last winning season and who was the coach? has anyone won there since dubbs left?
i wonder how they would have done over the years if dave young(west union alumnus) had ended up at west union instead of north adams? where dave coach before ending up at north adams?

Wasent he an assistant at Waverly before he went to NA?

A few suggestions...get the community involved by getting the peewee program built up is the best place to start....hold clinics or peewee camps every summer a couple times....a shooting camp and one to work on basic fundamentals and above all make it fun for the kids.... Recruit parents who were athletes and have knowledge of the game to coach and build up the programs while their kids come up through the program...the fan base believe it or not will grow and follow these kids through high school...Something that Peebles does in addition to county bitty ball is the Class vs Class tournaments for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. This will sometimes spark interest in kids who may otherwise not have been affiliated with the game and may have undiscovered talent and love for the game. Finally, a great way to build community support again is to hold PeeWee events between JV and Varsity games and during half times..grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles, long lost cousins...etc will come out to watch..that will fill the bleachers....and will serve as a way to get the HS players pumped up... once people get the fever, its catching....if you build it...they will come!!!!

The Pee-Wee system and coaches are very important. Two of the better ones that I remember was Charlie Copas and Wally Gray.

Dave Young was head coach at Whiteoak prior to coaching at North Adams.

Sounds like some very good ideas. I just hope that those in position to do so will take these ideas and put them in place. I have made the state tournament an annual personal tradition of mine and would love to someday see my alma mater playing.

The Dragons played very well tonight in a tough loss vs. 6 seeded Northwest.