The iHoops Generation

The NCAA- and NBA-backed organization is helping change the way kids play basketball. With a little time, a lot of resources and the right partnerships, CEO Kevin Weiberg believes a change can happen.

By Michael J. Pallerino

The goal is simple: Fix the sport of basketball and all the challenges it faces across its many levels. The thought, as overwhelming as it may seem, isn’t a new one.

And a sport rich with stakeholders didn’t have any focus on its most prize commodity – the kids.

Enter iHoops, the official youth basketball initiative of the NCAA and NBA, which launched in the latter part of 2009. Both organizations have endorsed the initiative, serving as 50-50 owners in the independent company. Both organizations also provided seed money to help it get started, as well as continue to contribute promotional assets to help raise visibility. The 10-person iHoops staff, which includes CEO Kevin Weiberg, a long-time basketball executive at the collegiate level, is based in Indianapolis.

One of the organization’s biggest initiatives will be in opportunities such as iHoops.com – an online resource Weiberg says is paramount to communicating with the sport’s vast and diverse audiences. The site will help facilitate communication and serve as a resource for players, coaches, officials, parents and youth teams at all levels. iHoops.com will provide skill-training curriculum, educational programs for coaches and officials, and the opportunity to register for events, tournaments, and programs. In addition, the site will feature instructional videos, player profiles, and highlights from tournaments.

Helping support its mission, iHoops has enlisted the help of stakeholders such as founding partners adidas and Nike, as well as groups such as USA Basketball, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the National Federation of State High Schools (NFSH) and its member associations, major coaches associations, and other organizations that sponsor or support youth basketball programs.

To get an exclusive look into the strategy and goals for the organization, On Court spoke with iHoops CEO Kevin Weiberg. Following is what he had to say.

On Court: Define the iHoops philosophy. How and why did it evolve?
Kevin Weiberg: The initiative grew out of discussions that occurred over several years. It started at the NCAA level with groups that were put together to talk about the state of basketball and challenges for the future. From those discussions, a suggestion was made about reaching out to the NBA. After the late NCAA President Myles Brand reached out to NBA Commissioner David Stern about a possible partnership to address some of the challenges in the youth basketball space, they decided to move forward with the iHoops initiative. The announcement came during the Final Four in 2008 (San Antonio, Texas). Before that, the two groups had not really worked together in any tangible way on a project.

It was clear that there needed to be some structural improvement in youth basketball. There were concerns about softening participation numbers in the sport at the youth level. There were concerns about the state of elite player development at the high school level. There was a feeling that there was a fractured environment and that the sport’s key stakeholder groups were not pulling together in a common direction regarding the impact they could have on youth basketball.

On Court: Where these types of concerns bubbling for a while?
Weiberg: They really were. Almost every month you can find stories about the number of challenges that exist in pre-collegiate basketball. Sometimes it has to do with a lack of funding. Sometimes it has to do with the over-emphasis coaches put on top players at the expense of skill development. Sometimes it relates to kids playing too many games. It’s a variety of things. So as the NCAA began to listen to the input of college coaches, as well as take a good look at the overall state of the game, these things began to come into focus.

On Court: You have some strong allies already. Describe the role of partners such as Active, Nike and adidas.
Weiberg: The Active Network is our technology partner. They have helped us build and host our Web site as well as other extensions in the digital area, including some of our social media efforts. They have a lot of experience in building these kinds of digital platforms in the sports space.

We have also been fortunate to add founding partners, which serve as both sponsors and stakeholders in the sport. Nike and adidas have both come on board in that way. They are providing some financial and promotional support. Right Guard and Spalding have also joined us. We hope to add more sponsors as we move forward. We’re not looking for 20 sponsors, but we’d like to have eight to 10 quality sponsors to help with the venture.

On Court: What do you say to skeptics who say, “The game can’t be changed?”
Weiberg: We think there is room for improvement. We think if we choose wisely and we do a good job of working with people in the space we can make progress. We also think that the support of the NCAA and NBA, and the resources they can provide, will help us make progress over time.

At the same time, we know that there are no quick fixes here and that it will take time for the initiative to meet its objectives. There is a lot of good in the sport that we want to accentuate and build upon. We’re talking about changing the focus of youth basketball, so anytime you are involved in that type of broad change effort, it’s going to take time to see results. There are going to be some setbacks, but I am optimistic we can make progress.

On Court: Take us through some of the short-term and long-term goals.
Weiberg: We really have four primary objectives. We want to contribute to the structural improvement of the game. One of those improvements is coaching education. For whatever reason in the United States, there has not been a national effort to develop a coaches education program, particularly in the non-scholastic space. We are working to build such a program, and we hope to have it operational by the spring or summer (of this year).

We have been in extensive discussions with the National High School Federation (NHSF) about a partnership where they would maintain an online program for high school coaches. We would also have a similar program for non-scholastic coaches. We are discussing partnerships with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and USA Basketball regarding that program.

We believe this is an area – improved coaches who have enhanced instructions and understand the philosophy and “nuts and bolts” of basketball coaching – that can make a major difference in the game.

Second, we are working on supporting best practices and partnering with groups that share a similar philosophy. On Court [Player Development] is a good example of that. We are currently doing some content sharing and cross promotion. The overall promotion of best practices for players, parents, coaches, teams and events is something we think can make a big difference on the structural side of the game.

[That starts with] the overall basketball experience for players and parents. iHoops.com will serve as a major part in this effort. We already have a lot of things online in our Tips, Drills, Skills area that supports this.

This is an opportunity to provide quality information about the values of the game, the importance of academic achievement (NCAA eligibility rules, for example), academic planning, etc. We know from our interaction with players and parents that this type of information has been hard to find, even though the NCAA has maintained its eligibility center operation. It just hasn’t received the visibility among players and parents that it needs to have, so we think we can help in that regard.

Through iHoops.com, we want to build a network of groups that are interested in youth basketball. And if we can put some emphasis and exposure on where to find quality learning and teaching experiences, it will be a big help to players and parents.

Our third goal involves the stakeholders of the game. iHoops is an inclusive approach. We are working to bring the stakeholders of the sport together. I know there are folks at the top levels of travel and club basketball who feel like they don’t have a voice in the system. Sometimes they get frustrated by NCAA rules that are put into place – rules that might not always have a common sense approach in their eyes.

We want to help bring a voice to those who are operating events and teams. That doesn’t mean the outcome will always be something everybody can support, but there will be a voice where there once was not one.

As we discussed earlier, it’s about those activation agreements with the groups that touch the sport of basketball. Whether it’s AAU or the High School Federation, we want to help bring them together. That includes having a grassroots advisory committee that extends into the youth sports area with groups such as the Boys and Girls clubs and YMCAs.

As a fourth goal, we want to have a positive impact on participation opportunities. We think that enhancing the overall basketball experience will help create more opportunities for kids to play. Through our digital platform, we want to celebrate the game, so as content continues to develop, we will have videos and text-based information that help promote the overall game.

Starting this month, we will have some targeted mass participation opportunities. We are rolling out an initial skills challenge featuring 700 local competitions that will feed into 29 regional competitions and one national final in Orlando, Fla., in May. This initiative will target about 100,000 participants.

We’re trying to find ways to encourage participation and emphasize the development of skills in the sport. It really is a broad educational effort across all these various areas. As we go forward, we hope to develop more targeted, smaller participation skill development camps and clinics. But those will be down the road a bit, after 2010.

On Court: What do you say to a coach who asks, “What does this program do for me?”
Weiberg: I would say that iHoops could be a great resource for both coaches and players. So whether it’s our online capabilities – say Tips, Drills, Skills – you can visit our site and get what you need – things that are not readily available in a “one-stop” shopping mode.

We are also linking to other resources, such as On Court and other groups that share a similar approach to our philosophy. So coaches will be able to go online and get the information they need. We have information on coaching kids 12 and under, and information for kids 13-19 years old.

On Court: Why are fundamentals (physically and mentally) so important to the sport’s future?
Weiberg: Basketball is a game that puts great focus on individual athleticism and creativity. You don’t want to lose that. But at the same time, it is a team game. And the ability to understand the nuances of the game is really important for a player to develop at the highest level.

I understand that in the United States we don’t have a club-based system like they do internationally. We don’t pull kids out at a certain age and put them in a targeted program. I understand the differences between the U.S. and European systems. At the same time, our country has an ongoing need to learn and teach the values of the game. That will lead to the overall improvement of quality of play. To have the best possible involvement, we must enhance the teaching aspect of the game.

Just recently we’ve seen comments from players who have risen up through the system – even NBA players – about the deficiencies in our system. Much of these deficiencies are related to basic fundamentals.  

On Court: What do you want every player and coach to walk away with after having the iHoops experience?
Weiberg: I think it’s to be better informed and better educated about playing the game, about the values of the game, about how to teach the game. At its basic core, this is an educational effort. We want players, coaches and parents to feel like the iHoops experience has been a tremendous help and resource. That’s our No. 1 objective.

And again, it’s not an overnight process. Basketball is a vast and diverse system scattered around various organizations. To make progress, you have to work with those vast and diverse audiences. And that takes time. There are still going to be examples of excesses and challenges related to the recruitment of top-level players. Those things are not just going to go away. But if you look at the time and resources being put toward fixing it, I think you will see, over time, a healthier environment. OC

At its basic core, this is an educational effort. We want players, coaches and parents to feel like the iHoops experience has been a tremendous help and resource. That’s our No. 1 objective.

We know that this is not a quick fix. This is not something you can turn around immediately. There is a lot of good in the sport that we want to accentuate and build upon. But we also know there are a lot of entrenched interests out there, too.

We’re trying to find ways to encourage participation and emphasize the development of skills in the sport. It really is a broad educational effort across all these various areas.

Meet the iHoops Advisory Board

Adam Silver
NBA Deputy Commissioner

Kathy Behrens
NBA Executive VP of Social Responsibility & Player Programs

Stu Jackson
NBA Executive VP of Basketball Operations

Greg Shaheen
NCAA Senior VP of Basketball & Business Strategies (Chairman of iHoops Board)

Len Elmore
Attorney & College Basketball Television Analyst

Mike Krzyzewski
Duke University Men’s Basketball Coach

The 2010 iHoops Game Plan

Elite Player Program / iHoops First Team – Provide year-round mentoring and information to top high school age players on the value of education, collegiate recruiting process and eligibility rules, values of the game, and the importance of good citizenship / life skills, while also enhancing basketball development.

Coach Education – iHoops will build a comprehensive course of coaching education that will be available through iHoops.com.  The course will include information on the philosophy of coaching, the fundamentals of teaching basketball and a unit on health and safety including basic first aid requirements.

iHoops Skills Challenge – Learning the skills needed to excel in the sport is an essential part of developing as a player and events like the iHoops Skills Challenge provide a platform to reinforce the importance of skill development.  The iHoops Skills Challenge is for boys and girls ages 9-14 competing in approximately 750 competitions in 30 combined NBA and NCAA markets with one national final in Orlando, Fla.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites