Welcome. I hope everyone, including your families and friends, are healthy and safe.
Everyone is referring to the COVID-19 pandemic and the obstacles it presents as the "new normal." It obviously has taken all of us out of our comfort zone, but I have mentioned this before – I believe that basketball coaches are great at adapting and overcoming difficulties. I am sure this can be attributed to our change in personnel from year to year and our scouting and game preparation. We will have to prepare at least two game plans for the upcoming season, one for the expected and one for the unexpected. This 2020-21 season will be one that we will not soon forget.
Every time as a coach we think that we have experienced or seen it all, we find out, “Not quite yet!” We may not have all the answers, but because we are solution finders, we will get through this together. This is a great time to discuss with coaches in your area how they are approaching and working through off-season workouts, conditioning and in-season practice planning. We also have many experienced coaches as District Representatives on the IBCA Board who would help brainstorm and problem solve with you. Please reach out to any of us with questions or concerns.
The IBCA was unable to hold its annual in-person Spring Clinic in 2020, but Coach (Tom) Beach along with others put together an outstanding lineup for our Virtual Clinic as a replacement. For the $50 clinic fee, we have 36 video presentations with five recent additions being videos from Indiana Division I coaches. I highly recommend that you watch this outstanding group of coaches present. It has some great information that I believe will benefit your program.
We really would like to keep our membership numbers at a consistent level. This may be more difficult because of the downturn economically, but, as a reminder, joining the IBCA gives each active coach member the benefit of a $2 million liability insurance policy.
We were unable to hold our traditional IBCA summer basketball events, which obviously was disappointing. However, our plans are to prepare for an in-person Spring Clinic, the IBCA/IHSAA Underclass Showcase and the IBCA/IHSAA Team Showcase in the spring/summer of 2021.
We would like to thank our corporate partners for their support of the IBCA. Contributions from BSN Sports and other corporations are a real benefit to our organization. These partnerships continue to help make high school basketball a great experience for our student-athletes.
I am thankful for the opportunity to serve our coaches and organization. I wish all of you a basketball season; then make it a great one.
Craig Teagle
