There is only one event in the winter that prepares a young player for high school and starts the recruiting process like no other. Next Saturday “CORE SKILLS” (Coop@hoopgroup.com)training kicks of. It’s the most competitive teaching event available for grammar school players in the fall.
Name a great player and they have attended Saturday Core Skills. Destiny Adams, Justine Pissott, Madison St. Rose, Ally Carman. The best and more prepared freshman in the state of New Jersey all have attended CORE SKILLS over 12 years. That because the track record at Core skills has no match. That’s because it’s a place for a young player to grow and be successful and to build true name recognition before attending high school and truly joining the AAU circuit.
Grammar school basketball in my mind is a must. It’s a chance for a young player to play with their peers. It’s great from a social development standpoint and for teaching kids how to work together. If a player is advanced it teaches them leadership skills and Patience. I believe there are all tools kids need along the way in life and sports. But grammar. School basketball does not prepare a young player for high school or create name recognition during the recruiting process, which starts way to early unfortunately these days. This is where core skills comes into play.
Finding competition and top training in the winter for advanced players and those who truly are trying to learn the game is difficult. Most high school players are in there seasons. Most talented players try to spin what they are doing by playing some form of AAU. They’ll call it elite competition or some fancy name to create interest and credibility. In the end it just young players playing basketball against other young players. This is where core skills cones into play. Core skills is a gathering ground for talented players to meet, compete and master there skills skills. There are no games just Situational play. SHELL DEFENSE, Full court transition, one on one, man to man defensive teaching. Core Skills gives a kid an edge.
I tell advanced kids in grammar school every year that the winter period is very tricky. If a player spends their entire winter playing grammar school games and AAU basketball, they are not going to see enough competition needed to improve. Advanced players dominate grammar school and winter AAU. They get a false read as to were they are as a player. It leads in many cases, 8th graders going into high school unprepared. It no secret that players who have challenge themselves in the winter, seen to have great starts to their high school careers. Christina Liggio took full advantage of Core Skills. She added so much to her game it surprised just about everyone…it shouldn’t have. She put those skills on display this year is the leading candidate Freshman of the Year these days. Talented players need to find top flight competition as 8th graders in the winter. Playing against weaker competition for 4 months every winter hurts a talented players long term development. More importantly at CORE SKILLS the players get pushed to become more skilled and are held accountable.
Core Skills also works for the kid trying to develop. The drills are all game related, few if anything is done without a body in front of them. These players will improve but more importantly move skills sets to competition. They also get to see what an advanced player looks like. It gives them something to shoot for. I like that at Core Skills, the growing player is held to the same standard as the advanced player. Growing players more than anything else need to be prevented from becoming drill masters rather than game players. These kids learn something very important…practice with real purpose.
The CORE SKILLS SATURDAY TRAINING IS A MEASURING STICK FOR MANY. The class of 2025 on paper have 17 Division 1 locks as they enter. That’s a massive starting number for any class. But that can all change in 10 weeks; as some kids will no doubt step up. The next ten weeks will tell a story. There of course will those who don’t step up and those FEW we will not learn about until next year. Remember when current Monmouth U star LUCY THOMAS came out of nowhere to win our FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR? It was a total surprise. The truth be told we have not missed very many over the years. Chole Teter made the ALL FRESHMAN TEAM that was a surprise too many. But we were well awhere of Chole Teter before her breakout freshman year. Who can forget Kylie Capstraw showing up out of nowhere only to become one of the best freshman in the state, the following year. College coaches and fans looking to get on jump on next year, would be wise to pay close attention to the names coming across twitter and this blog for the next ten weeks. You’ll find out what kids will soon have an impact on your teams… ITS PUT UP OR SHUT UP TIME FOLKS….FOR EVERYONE!
Sign up link for Saturday Core Skills… https://store.hoopgroup.com/events/2022-hghq22:-winter2-core-skills-(3-6)-saturdays-only
Starting Monday… come as many days as you can💪🏀