Assault’s 16 and Under Crew Learning and Teaching
Ron Bailey, Publisher
June 27, 2007 – The success of D.C. Assault’s (AAU) 16 and under team has been widely noted this spring and summer, as have the individual success of its players. According to the squad’s coach, Jerry McFarland, the group’s stunning ascendancy has both individual and collective origins.
“We have kids who want to be good, want to go to the next level” noted McFarland, a 13 year coach in the high school and AAU ranks, of his team’s individual prowess and penchant to improve. “They are also good students, who will qualify with the new standards”.
To date this AAU/travel team season, the talented group has won the Playaz Ball, come in second playing in the 17 and under division of Charlie Weber’s Penn State event, as well as reached the finals of Hoop Group’s Pittsburgh tournament.
DC Assault's Playaz Ball winning 16 and under team, with trophies. McFarland is far right, in red.
McFarland believes nurturing by D.C. Assault generally and the organization’s director, Curtis Malone specifically, has played major role in the squad’s development. “You have to give Curtis so much credit for allowing them to develop as a team. Development is a process that doesn’t come overnight” he opined. “Players and coaches sometimes don’t respect the development process.
The coach, in his second year with Assault, continued, stating “For when I got here last year to now, has to be attributed to Curtis. He’s allowed them to have adversity. The adversity these kids have been through has allowed them to develop totally”.
That continuity, in McFarland’s opinion has not only taught the team coping skills for the ups and downs of basketball and life, but boosted their individual skill advancement as well. “We (as coaches) see things and are able to work on them” said McFarland. “Curtis sees things and points out stuff because of his experience” – the effect of both being accelerated skill development.
Malone, who helped found Assault around 1993, agrees. “First of all, they all have grown as players” he said. “We stay on them individually and as a team…You are always going to have success. As a player you have to learn to deal with adversity, and develop personally”.
Collectively, Malone believes “They are a real unit. As a group, they like playing together”, with the result being “They are like a big family”.
McFarland was quick to indicate the learning has been a two way street. “It’s been a great experience for me” he stated. “I’ve been able to watch the development of kids, learned where they come from and hard they have worked. I’ve leaned as much from them as they’ve learned from me”.
“These are high skill level kids” added McFarland, a talented coach in his own right who desires to advance in the coaching ranks, where high skill level young people are prevalent. “And also learning from someone like Curtis, with his experience, has been great”.
Curtis Malone
As to be expected, colleges are over this group, with the upcoming July recruiting period sure to only increase the number of institutions interested. Following is a roster of the team, complete with schools that have tendered scholarship offers. Though many more universities have expressed interest, McFarland and the Assault program choose to specifically identify publicly, only those schools that officially offer their student athletes, or have historically demonstrated a high level of recruiting effort and sincerity. “At the end of the day, a lot of schools will recruit kids and say they are in the running, but not offer. And they never do” shared McFarland, who through experience has adopted a put up or shut up mentality in that regard.
Again, he has learned as much as he’s taught, and all involved
are better for it.