Neil Houghton One Club Philosophy

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Hello, and welcome to the Transforming Basketball Podcast. I am not Alex Sarama. I'm Adam Omiecinski. And to debut my first episode as a host, I decided to immediately— well, who came to mind was Neil Houghton from Australia, the land down under. And the reason I thought of Neil was because When we started the membership community a few months ago, he stood out right away of his level of engagement and his, his really applicable knowledge of the CLA.

And I definitely wanted to have Neil on and just kind of discuss his background, how he discovered the CLA, some of the issues he's ran into it, and how he's just become the man he is today. So, Neil, if you don't mind introducing yourself, giving us a little background on who you are and where you're at today, and then we'll get things kicked off.

Yeah, thanks, Adam. Very pleased to do that. And thank you for reaching out to have a chat today. That's fabulous. So thank you. Yeah, look, basketball background. Look, I guess, I mean, I've played basketball for decades and decades. So I played at university.

I played in senior men's basketball teams out here in Australia in what was called the Southeast Australia Basketball League, which was just prior to the NBL being formed here. So longtime player. And throughout all of that time, I guess I've been coaching a whole range of teams.

So My coaching was always traditional. So that was coaching at university, that was coaching in junior teams, it was the same as coaching in senior domestic teams as well. And I guess through all of that coaching there, I was really just like collecting every drill I could find.

So I'd go to clinics, I'd go and watch other coaches taking their practices and just observing, oh look, I like that drill. You know, there's lots of movement happening there, it looks like the players are getting something usefully done. It looked very clean.

So I'd make a note of that and put that in my list of collections and things like that. So I guess reflecting on all of that, it was really collecting drills as a way to fill in time in practice, really. So it wasn't with any clear intention behind it.

It wasn't with any clear intention about what were the skill development priorities that I might be observing. But it was really clean drills that looked like they— they look good when you're observing them. A neat way to fill in time, I guess. So really, there was no common principles of play.

So in all of my coaching time, I guess every coach was just left to themselves to decide what they wanted to do, either offensively or defensively. And this was the case also in the representative program where I was coaching. So I coached for, you know, 15-plus years in a representative program, from under-12s right up to under-18s.

And the same thing was happening all the time, I guess. It was really The role of the coach there was like controlling the practice session, you know, coach as controller, I guess, and quite limited focus on player development. So that was sort of like the background with coaching, really very strong traditional focus.

And then I guess things have changed since then, I guess. Yeah.

I guess my question, like, just hearing you describe that, when you were saying like collector of drills, did it like— what springs to mind, Neil, is like And like, you were essentially like constantly chasing something. Did you ever get that sense where like, as you were observing in these clinics or going about your practices and maybe even like observing in the games, was like, is something like, do I have enough?

It's almost like, it seems like, I don't know, just based on your tone, it felt like you, you were chasing something that was never-ending.

Yeah, yeah, I think that's true, Adam. Yeah, so it was really, I guess, no matter which drill combination I was using, None of that really transferred to game time. So I was continually seeing the same challenges with all my players, game after game after game.

So, I mean, yes, there was some improvement, which would happen naturally, of course. But I didn't see the level of development that I was really after. So that was sort of, I think, underlying the search for, is there something different that I could be doing?

Would this drill help? Or would that drill help? Looking at that drill on the court over there. Well, look, the players are moving well, they're passing the ball well, they're connecting together. It looked like an interesting activity to try. So, you know, I put that in my drill bag and give that a try at practice.

Okay. So I guess then what naturally comes, like a good shift would be like, when did you kind of realize like, okay, what I'm doing right now isn't working? When did you come to that realization?

That really happened after I had a break from coaching, I guess. So there was like a long break occurred, and then there was a big shift that happened in there. So after I had that 15 years of rep coaching, I guess I had an extended break from coaching, and that was a time where I guess I was just an observer.

So I was watching games as a parent or as a spectator. So I guess I mean I wasn't stuck inside of you know traditional coaching bubble at that time. So I was somewhat detached, I could guess. So I could look as an external.

Observer, really, and just see what's really going on here. And during that time, I could see, you know, the same on-air drills being used all the time. I could see that there wasn't necessarily a clear pathway of player development. So it was during that time, I guess, where just through that observation, it was like, okay, something different needs to happen.

And that sort of started my search for what is different. And that was where I suppose the discovery of CLA did occur. But of course, I mean, this wasn't something that happened overnight. This talk about over a 3-year process, I guess, where, where this big transition for me did occur.

All right, so then I might as well just ask, like, how did you end up discovering the constraints-led approach? Because I know in Australia, I think it's, it's a little bit more prominent than it is at least over here in the States and perhaps over in Europe as well, where it's a little bit stronger traditional background.

There seems to be a little bit more dedication to a scientific approach to coaching in Australia.

Yeah, look, that could be true, Adam, I guess. The initial starting point, I guess, was just on the Basketball Australia website. So I suppose the time where they had a first shift towards using small-sided games. So the BA website, they've got lots of examples of using small-sided games that coaches can access, coaches can use.

So that was like the first step, I guess. So moving from the traditional drill set that I did have to collecting small-sided games now. seeing the huge benefits that using small-sided games did provide. Things like simplifying the decision processes that players had on the court, giving players more touches of the ball, more opportunities to make decisions.

Every repetition was different, so repetition without repetition. So all of those things, those benefits were really clear in the small-sided games. And then I guess it was a short time after that where I think I came across Alex. So I think when he was at Elite Athletes first, I think, when he was doing a lot of things with videos and things there.

So I saw some of the work he was doing there, and then of course I followed what he was doing when he was with Immersion, and then of course now with his Transforming Basketball. So that was really that little step that occurred, which was drills to small-sided games, now adding constraint-led approach into that.

So I think for me, I studied different sciences at university, so having a theory underpinning what I was doing for any discipline I'm doing was really important for me. And seeing that there was a theory of player movement, a theory of player skill acquisition, that just really resonated with me.

And then just seeing how Alex was using particular constraints within these small-sided games, that just made so much sense to me, that there's a clear intention that you're bringing to the activities as a coach, and you're manipulating constraints for a very clear reason, really to allow players to become more aware, I guess, of the affordance landscape that presents themselves, presents to our players, and therefore how they can decide to act on.

Yeah.

those affordances, opportunities for action that occur for them. So that was sort of like the theory that resonated so strongly that before I knew that player development was really slow or limited, something different needs to be done here. And finding CLA was the thing that just sparked my interest.

And it was like, yep, that just resonated. So then it was a matter of waiting for Alex's book to come out. So when the book was released, I found— got a copy of that straight away, read it from COVID to cover. Fabulous book, really learned so much from doing that.

And then shortly after that, waiting for Transforming Basketball, the membership site, to be set up. So that was like fabulous to see that huge range of activities that were available for me as a coach as well. So that was sort of like the process there, just searching and searching and searching until finally I found Alex and the CLA.

And that just resonated with what I knew I needed. I needed a theoretical underpinning to what I'm doing, and having that just made everything Just fit into place, I guess.

So it sounds like the small-sided games were the nice, like, smooth transition from the traditional approach to something a little bit more game-based. And then it seems like probably that probably could have been— I assume that's probably why you kept searching and ended up finding Alex.

And then the constraints-led approach subsequently after that was because just like the traditional drills, if you're just doing small-sided games with, like you said, no intention, no theory underpinning it, it again becomes that same game of collecting small-sided games.

Exactly, Adam. That's what happened, just like that. So when I speak to other coaches or other people at the moment, I suppose I tend to use small-sided constrained games. So trying to make a distinction between just a pure games-based approach to something that has constraints embedded intentionally within it.

So your description there was just spot on. So recognizing, I guess, that using just games-based approach, the players just continued to play with their current habits. So the thing was, what can be done to encourage them to lift out of their current habits, to explore something beyond what they're comfortable doing, get them to experiment and explore different things?

And that really was the biggest difference, I guess, from just small-sided games to now using constraints embedded in those, or the, you know, more of a pure CLA-type approach.

Got you. I guess, like, my follow-up question there is, and I just want to, like, go out of my way to make this point. Neil said this took like 3 years, and as he said, he coached for years and years and years. This was a very long process, and I don't think people— I remember seeing actually a post today by someone in our membership community was talking about how he ended up planning practice for almost 4 hours, and he was like somewhat happy and mad at, mad at like discovering the CLA in this process.

And what I really tried to— I ended up replying to him, and what I really wanted to get across was That it's a process. It takes time just like anything else. And like, if you're willing to search out and really find a better way, I think like you had mentioned, like how before we turned on the recording button that you were kind of encouraged by parents to come back to coaching after you took that long break, even though you were doing much more traditional drills and things of that nature.

I think I said to the member who, who put that in there, if you're dedicating that much time to really seek out a way of improving practice, Even if your methodology or the activities you design themselves aren't great, the amount of care that's going to shine through among above everything else, and eventually you will figure things out.

It will take a little bit of time, but I just want to hone in on that point just because I don't know, it resonated with me today. The fact that it does take time and you have to be kind to yourself in that process.

And really what I, my biggest piece of advice to that member was put a constraint on yourself. You, if you're doing it for 4 hours, then what, how are you going to be able to show up to practice and like full of energy and gusto and be able to adapt?

Because I'm sure that's something you discovered along the way was, oh yeah, I designed this, but now, now that I'm seeing it in person, uh-oh, it's not exactly how it played out in my mind. How did you cope with that process as you were starting to introduce constraints and then obviously seeing whatever behavior emerged wasn't necessarily what you always expected?

Yeah, that's right. I think for me it was, it did take like about 3 years to sort of feel comfortable just stepping onto the court to saying, you know, I'm going to use CLA now. And I suppose during that time, sometimes I had to check in and notice, hey, you know, I've drifted back to some traditional drills or something like that.

Or I adopted more of an instructional approach with my players rather than, you know, allowing them to discover their own solutions with the constraints that I've brought along. So it was trying to be self-reflective over that process. And again, recognizing that my learning as a coach using CLA is also nonlinear, just as it is for player development as well.

So I think that was the thing that made it— made me feel comfortable with that learning process, knowing that I'm learning new things just as my players are learning new things as well. So my learning is nonlinear, just as it is for the players.

I need to recognize that. I need to be comfortable with that. And the same way as a coach, I'm comfortable with the mess that occurs, you know, the chaos that might occur as players attempt, you know, to try things out, to learn new things.

then the same will happen to me while coaching too. So, you know, I might design a CLA activity and give it a try, and it might just flop or whatever. It might just not work. And there's been a couple of examples of that, I guess.

But just being okay with that, and I think that was a key part of the coaching transition for me, to get to a position where I'm comfortable with CLA. And I guess now, if, um, I mean, I call myself like a CLA designer, I guess.

So I think I've moved from being the collector of activities to designing activities now. And I think That's been so much fun when I've recognized that I'm, I'm doing that much more than what I was doing before.

Okay, so perfect transition. How do you go about designing your activities, Neil? Because they really do stand out to me. They're very well organized, just like your one-pagers that you've posted about, like, your— what we'll get into a little bit later when, when your one club philosophy.

But even with your activities themselves, it's very clear, like, how you go about doing things. You, you have an end in mind. Just want— if you could just talk us through like that process for you and how you eventually got to where you're at right now.

And I'm sure it'll evolve further as time goes on, but where are you at currently with how you go about designing activities?

Yeah, I guess it really just comes from watching games through a CLA lens, I guess, rather than watching it through a traditional lens. So as the game unfolds, just noting what sort of problems are being presented to the players, you know, and in this moment or the next moment or Throughout the game even.

So during games, I might just take some notes of things that I observe there. So it might be a particular challenge that one player in particular has that might repeat, or it could be a combination of challenges that 2, 3, or more players might have as well.

So just observing what actually is going on during the games, taking note of that, and then afterwards thinking, okay, how can I replicate this challenge that's being presented? So really, it's that principle of representative design is I suppose, first and foremost for me in terms of the process of thinking about what would be a CLA activity I could design.

So simplifying, but still making it representative of the problem there. So this is the problem that the players are having in the game. It's quite complex. Lots of things are happening. I can't just replicate that exactly as it is because the same sorts of challenges would still be presented.

So how to simplify it? And that's where constraints come in. So they could be the usual range of constraints you might like to add, whether it's, you know, constraining spacing or putting a constraint on the defense so the offense can be more successful, can build their confidence, can discover and try out different solutions and see what works for them.

So that's sort of the process I use. And then it's just creative, I guess. So as a coach, I could be creative with what could be an activity that could represent the challenges I'm seeing that would allow a player to have multiple repetitions of this challenge, but each repetition is going to be different in some way.

And that could be through the constraints I'm using, or it could be through, you know, we're moving to different positions on the floor, or we're changing the combinations of players so they're playing against a different player each time. It could be the extent of the advantage or disadvantage that I'm providing as well.

So that's really the process I've used, and it feels like a creative process, and it feels like fun doing that, to come up with something yourself. And then, of course, there's so many other activities that you can still supplement all of that with.

That's sort of like a brief description, I guess, Adam.

Yeah. And I think people get, I mean, again, it's that intentionality. It's not as complex as— it is complex in the fact that, you know, obviously there's many moving parts and there's many factors that can go into the emerging behavior that we actually see, whether they're struggling or succeeding.

But we are reverse engineering from the game. And I find myself doing the same thing. It's just my buddy Tyler Yearby would say a small slice of the game, and then we're just putting them in that situation. And then as coaches, we're utilizing our experiential knowledge from years and years of coaching.

Like, okay, so how, how could I tweak this in order to get them to adapt their behavior in a more performance-enhancing way? So if you've coached, I mean, you're noticing these behaviors all the time. And you have plenty of great constraints at your disposal.

It's just that you're starting from a decontextualized viewpoint if you're doing a traditional approach, as opposed to in a more ecological dynamics framework, you're taking it from the game and just simply reducing maybe time, space, the number of players, and you're reducing the complexity that's involved and allowing them— something that you said in there was very pertinent to me was, okay, so how do I recreate this And give them multiple goes at this.

I think I fail, at least myself as a practitioner, sometimes in— I'm great at the sampling and whatnot, but sometimes it can be a little dead in the fact that like, okay, how do I vary this up? How do I actually like make this go multiple applicable and actually see other areas where this could be applied and actually really fixate on the invariant features of it as opposed to simply, oh, this one situation.

Now there's probably invariant features that we can incorporate throughout our practice, not just in this activity that we're quote unquote highly focused on this, achieving some result. This can be strung out throughout the entire practice in different activities that appear on the outside to be very different through the variation.

However, they still feature those invariant things you want to work on. So I don't know what that— I don't know where I was going with that ramble there, but if you have any additional thoughts, Neil, feel free to share there.

Yeah, look, I think that, um, as a coach, getting really clear on the intention behind what you want to do at practice is so critical. Even to the fact where in my practice plans now, you know, my first line in every activity is intention equals, and I just have to finish that sentence to be as, as much clarity as I can about, you know, why am I doing this, what outcome do I think I'm seeking here.

So I've done that with on the practice plan templates that I'm sharing with other coaches in, in our club program here as well. So in giving them examples of activities I've done writing examples of intentions I've used, and then describing the constraints that I've added to the activity as well.

And that's been a really effective way, I guess, to begin to share my experience of CLA with other coaches in the program as well. So that's been great to get on court with them, give them a copy of my practice plan, and we just talk together as we co-deliver the practice program.

So, you know, activity number 1, here's the intention, This is the description of the activity itself, and here's the 4 or 5 constraints that we'll add in. So we'll talk about why this constraint, what's the reasoning behind this constraint, and what might be a player behavior that might arise because of that.

And then as we observe, what other changes could we make to constraints as we go along? So I'm having this conversation with the other team coach beside me as we do that. And then it could be something as simple as, Well, let's modify the constraints so the level of advantage is different for different players.

So we might have an activity that has— it could be a smaller or a larger advantage to the offensive player, encouraging exploration of a particular movement, building their confidence, allowing the players to gain success. But of course, every player on the team have got different levels of skills.

So they're all at different levels. So when the coach, one of the coaches I'm working with, hears, well, we can change that advantage to suit what's actually happening on the court, That was really insightful for them to actually do that in real time during practice.

So for these 2 players, what could be really good for them is for them to start in neutral, for example. Ah, okay, let's do that. Let's modify the constraint now. So for these 2 players, we're doing something that's going to meet their developmental needs at this time.

As the player matchups change, we might decide, well, this player needs to have a much larger advantage over the defense, for example, in this particular repetition of the activity. So that sort of brings in the repetition through modifying constraints within a drill, but also modifying it at an individual level as well.

Beautiful. It sounds like you were discussing what your current role is, like, as a— what is it— coach developer coordinator. So if you could go into detail on how that position emerged and kind of like what your role is and what your day-to-day looks like in that position.

Yeah, well, that was just something that, um, just really emerged from nowhere, I guess. So in my basketball club here in Melbourne, you know, I'd watch games and notice we need to do something different. We need to really focus in on player development.

We need to sort of gradually bring in CLA to underpin what we're doing. So I just started the One Club Philosophy program. So I just had a discussion with one or two other coaches to talk about what could a One Club philosophy look like, why would we need it, and Speaking to a lot of other parents and coaches in our club, every single season, all the players had to start over again.

So they probably had a new coach. The new coach would do something different. The new coach would have different language, different concepts that they'd be using as well. So every year, players were just starting from ground zero again. So that was, I think, one of the primary reasons for the one-club philosophy, so that Each year, we could just build on what we'd done the previous year.

So then, as players went up to a higher age group, so as things happen, of course, in a team, maybe half the players might go up an age group and half might stay there. So each season, there's a new combination of players. So having a one-club approach that had a common language, common terminology, so that players coming through under-8s, through under-10s, through under-12s, 14s, et cetera, they begin to learn some of this common terminology as we progress.

So that was another reason for putting in place a one-club philosophy. And then over time, I guess, I got really positive responses from a few of the committee members in particular. And that led to an invitation, I guess, to make a presentation to the committee, which was fabulous to do that.

So that was a while back now where I did that. So a simple presentation, a few slides talking about constraint-led approach, Talking about a one club approach and what it might contain. Got a tremendous response from that, and essentially from that, I suppose it was like the the president of of our club just said, "Oh well, okay, what are we going to call you?"

And just that name came up. You know, I'd be the the coach development coordinator. So yep, okay, that's fine. That's a that's a cool name. Let's just run with that. So what that means is that I'm just spending as much time as I can with other coaches, just offering suggestions and help where.

that might be asked for. So I wait for an invitation from coaches, I'll go and attend their practice, we'll have a conversation beforehand about, you know, what would you like to focus in on. I'd prepare a practice plan for them, I'd physically have that available there during practice, and we would co-coach that with their team as we progressed.

So that was— and I'm still doing that today with more and more coaches across the program. So that was really the, the first step, I guess, to gradually introducing this across, across our club. And there's still, you know, A huge way to go, of course.

And the benefits we'll see from one club will take many seasons, of course, because if we're just introducing something now— so right now I'm coaching under-10 players, a boys under-10 team and a girls under-14 team. So I can focus more in on those 2 age groups.

And then as those players go up through age groups, there'll be a ripple-through effect, I guess, where players will have— they'll know the common language that we're using. They'll know some of the basic concepts that we're introducing as well. They'll be comfortable with using a CLA approach at practice.

And it'll mean that the player development then is really— it's player-focused, so it's player-first. And the whole approach, I guess, is just so consistent, really, with my approach to coaching. So I guess if I wanted to describe it, it's like playing with fun and freedom.

When I coach, I want my players to play with fun and freedom. So the freedom part is really important for me. That means freedom for players to make decisions. So player autonomy is key for me. And that's why the CLA approach is just— it just sits so well with me and part of my coaching philosophy, that allowing players to make their decisions, to discover things, to work out what works for them during practice, and then just to be comfortable with them making their decisions in game time as well.

So we'll have some principles of play that we'll use as, you know, like the overarching guidance for players, but then they get to make the play, get to make the decisions. And that's what playing with fun and freedom means for me. So gradually introducing that, I guess, also into the one-club approach.

And how early, how young age groups are we talking here, Neil, where you're starting out with the player autonomy?

Yeah, well, in our club here, we start with under-8 players. So it's under-8s, 10s, 12s, 14s, 16s, and then 19s to 23s. So under-8s, of course, is very different. It's a lot of the players there are just beginning with basketball. But player autonomy there, you can still use CLA, and player autonomy becomes real even at under-8.

So for example, the activities you do, they are focused on allowing guided player discovery of things. So again, here it's not just coaching via instruction, but allowing players to discover things for themselves. So you can do that at under-8 level. And like with under-8s, The language you're introducing is very simple.

So it's really introducing positional places on the floor, like the smile.

Okay.

So young players love that term. It just resonates immediately with them. And they get to understand the whole idea of shot selection far quicker, far easier, when you talk about gold medal shots and the smile. And that's enough for under-8s. They can have fun.

They can work on shooting, running, Passing, dribbling, shot selection at the same time with just those 2 concepts. And then of course, I add a little bit more in with, um, like my under-10 boys.

Mm-hmm.

So we're beginning to think about conceptual offense. Um, so introducing that, and also with the under-14 girls as well. So just thinking about spacing in particular there. And again, you know, floor is lava, I guess, is probably one of the most important principles of play that I've introduced with those players as well.

And that's had a tremendous impact, I guess, with spacing on the floor, with players being able to have vision of where they've gone and where they need to get out of. That's been fabulous to begin to introduce some of that. And then with under-14s, adding additional principles of play.

So there, we're talking about dominoes and triggers, introducing those concepts. So just starting with some very simple triggers, like blast cuts in particular, and gets.

Okay.

So, a big focus just on that. And really, that's enough for the entire program, for the entire 12 months, just to gradually develop player skills to actually space, create a double gap to run a blast cut into, to use dynamic 101s to create some sort of advantage.

And then, how do we create a shot out of that? And then, gets is just something simple, I guess, in terms of a trigger to use. And the principle there for me is really, Learning to play with the player beside you, and that's why I'm using gets to enable that to happen.

So the principles of play underpin the introduction of the triggers across different age groups. So at all times trying to be age-appropriate with the things that we're introducing and also appropriate to the level of development of the players as well.

Of course, yeah, the, the— that was another question I would have was obviously you would adapt what you're introducing and topics based on what's emerging throughout the season. Like, if they really are completely comfortable with blast cuts and— oh, by the way, Neil, what is a— I want clarification— dynamic one-on-one.

What could you describe a dynamic one-on-one for me?

Oh, okay. Yes, I suppose for me it's really the distinction between, let's just say, like a solo. So an individual player beating their defender just by themselves. And often that just happens from a stationary position. So more of a static position. So a player might just catch the ball while they're stationary and then decide, I'm going to go solo here and try to beat, you know, my defender.

And, you know, under-8s, under-10s, and even under-12s, that's probably one of the most common things that does occur for a player to create an advantage and try to score. And that's why the blast cut is fabulous, because it means the player is moving while they're receiving the ball.

So they're cutting, you know, from a double gap positioned to a single gap to receive the ball. So they've got speed, they've got momentum, and that's the dynamic 1-on-1. So their advantage there might just be an advantage of speed, it might be an advantage of position, so they can learn to create in that dynamic situation.

So that's sort of what's underpinning the introduction of these ideas to our players. So yes, they still need to know how to solo, but I think it's important also, particularly in young age groups where you'll find there'll be 1 or 2 players who have a level of development Really way beyond the others.

So soloing by them is fairly easy, or much easier than for other players. And then their developmental edge is then learning to play with the player beside them. And using blast cuts and pass and go get has been a way to begin to introduce that principle and allow the players to make that principle real in game time.

Okay. So I'm trying to make this as applicable as possible. So could you— and I want to start, I really want to focus on the under-8s because I think a lot of people, And we're gonna, we're, you would encounter this at least in the States where varsity coaches are having, they're basically overseeing an entire program.

So for a varsity program that would likely go down to, yeah, probably they would like, at least most programs are set up where they're like once a week they'll have the under-8s and under-10s come in and they'll just like do like more or less a couple activities for a couple of hours, like on a Saturday morning.

But they're really overseeing, I guess, Well, we have, I would say like 7th and 8th grade. So that's what's that like 12 and unders, 14 and unders. That's what they're really overseeing. And a lot of time it does get lost in the sauce, whereas like they get fixated on their own team and they are having to relearn everything.

So I guess like, what are some, because, and I think this can apply, obviously you've, you've done it with the under-8s, but how would you go about introducing, like, what are some of the key things you would want coaches to hone in when they're, when they're going about introducing a one club philosophy?

What do you think are some things they should focus on as like a varsity coach trying to implement this throughout their program?

Yeah, okay. So I think, um, my suggestions probably come from my experience about things that either didn't work or things that did work or that I found useful. So for me, I suppose it was, it was finding someone else who could be a support person for me.

So initially, of course, I was just a single coach thinking about what can we change. So finding that second person who also recognized the need for a player development approach, that was a critical first step. And then finding the next person who might— so the first person might have been someone who was coaching, the next person might have been someone who was on the committee here, who could then introduce the ideas more broadly to the club.

So that was really effective for me to find those 2 individual people. That took a couple of months, I guess, for things like that to To become real. That was really important. And then getting clear on the benefits of doing something like this.

So for me, when I was speaking to committee, making the points about even mid-season, for example, if we have players who might be not well, they might be away on holidays, or it might be on school camps or something like that, we might need to get fill-in players from another team.

So if we had at least a common language across teams, then a fill-in player coming in could feel much more integrated into the team that they're helping out, you know, for this week, for example. So huge benefits just for that alone. But then also, the common thing with, at the end of each season, was say half the players going to the higher age group, the other half staying, and then some bottom age players coming up into there.

So recognizing that, that was really like starting from scratch again, not just for the coaches as well, but also for all of the players. So going back again, relearning some new things. So how can we progress past, you know, past just doing that continually?

So that was one of the benefits that, um, you know, really resonated with everyone I was speaking to as well. And then I suppose for me, the next big step was putting in place a number of resources for coaches. So like, we have a coaching group that all our coaches are members of that they can get into and search for resources.

And that was probably not very active, go back a few seasons ago. So I've begun to put in a whole range of new things in there. So they would be examples of practice plans, they'd be examples of principles of play, they'd be examples of how you can think about principles of play across different age groups, and what new principles you might add into would make sense for different age groups.

Very fortunate now that what happened a few months ago at the association where our club plays and I coach, a new basketball coaching manager was appointed. And this coach is all in on CLA. And when I heard that this appointment was made, I was just over the moon.

And this did a couple of magic things, I guess. Immediately, all the things that I was doing were just validated because we had this person with authority, you could call it that, saying, yes, I use CLA. I use differential learning. We will be doing all of that in our representative program as well.

And it was like, ah, okay, what Neil is bringing to the club is exactly what we'll be introducing into the representative programs here too. And by the way, that's, um, probably an interesting reason why I'm now coaching in the representative program. Um, so that's my 3rd team at the moment, and that's an under-12 team.

And that's something I would not have considered, you know, just even a few months ago. And I know there's been conversations here with coaches who use CLA. Could you coach as an assistant coach in a traditional program? My answer is no. That's it.

No, could not do that. But when the new coach, coaching manager, was appointed, all in CLA, and they were also providing a whole range of video resources that I make available to all of our coaches as well, that was like, okay, what I'm doing is now validated.

And that's when I got another request to coach again back in the representative program. That is only because of the knowledge of that additional coach with CLA. So I felt as if I was supported within the representative program now too. So all of those things have been critical, I think.

And other coaches, use those examples to build support for what you're trying to do. And every chance you get, work with every coach that shows some level of interest. And that's just increasing a little bit more over time now, as people know that I'm available to help.

I might get a call or a Messenger message or something like that. Hey, can you come to training this week or whatever? You know, we need some help on passing or whatever the problem might be. So just getting along to trainings, helping other coaches, and very slowly and very gradually sharing CLA activities.

Well, I don't know if there's a better place to end on that. As Neil's just describing, please reach out to me. I'm always here to help and whatnot. But I do want to clarify one thing. Just because I didn't know until I looked it up today what a representative program is.

Okay. Yes. Okay. So in Victoria, we've got a large number of big basketball associations, and there could be hundreds of teams playing there. So all of the domestic clubs, all of the community clubs, they all play there inside of these associations. And then a representative program is there's tryouts at each age group for any domestic player who might like to try out for a representative team.

So there's representative selections that occur for under-12s all the way up to under-18s, for example. That's what a representative program is. And the games here, it's called the Victorian Junior Basketball League. So that would be the highest level of basketball at underage that's available in the state of Victoria.

And that happens across every state in Australia as well. And that's where state teams get selected from the best players in the junior representative teams. That's where, at under-14 level, that's when National championships occur. So the better performing teams in the club championships go along at under-14 level to play for the honor of winning a national championship.

So that's the distinction. Domestic, community basketball. Representative, picking the best players through a tryout process.

Beautiful. Thank you for clarifying that. Neil, I guess, first of all, I want to thank you for your time. I appreciate that. And If you have any information as far as like coaches who are interested and want to learn more about One Club philosophy or just want to communicate with you and send some ideas your way, do you have contact information that we could potentially share?

Well, you know, Adam, I'm not really active on social media.

I noticed.

Yeah. However, what if someone would like to just join Transforming Basketball and then I'm very active in there? So anyone has a question, I'm more than happy to make contact and share some ideas. And likewise, I'm learning so much from other coaches in the membership community as well.

So that's probably the best way of doing it. Yeah, I think that's the way to go forward, Adam.

See, this is— I knew he'd be a good first guest. The guy's plugging the community. Yeah, no problem. You can contact me anytime in the community. Again, thanks, Neal. Appreciate it. This was a pleasure, and we'll see you later.

Adam, thank you very much for reaching out. Hopefully, we can get something that's of interest and value to listeners at some time.

I think this will do it. Thanks, Neal. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Transforming Basketball Podcast.

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