Basketball bounces in this family
Kevin McKenna Sr. and son Kevin Jr. stressing fun in fundamentals as they coach third generation
Does father know best? Or should grandpa have the last word when it comes to strategy on the basketball court?
With their father, Kevin McKenna Jr., and their grandfather, Kevin McKenna Sr., sharing coaching duties, you would think Joshua McKenna, 11, and younger brother Kian, 9, would find themselves between the rock and a hard place.
You would be over-thinking things if you did. Since their equal-play St. Catharines CYO competes in an atom division in which fun trumps fundamentals, mixed messages from the sidelines will never be an issue for this three-generation basketball family.
“At this level, it’s just making layups and learning how to dribble,” Kevin Jr. says. “We’re just working on simple things in order to help them improve as players.” OK, so who is the head coach? “He’s the head coach,” Kevin Jr., 39, answers first.
“He’s the head coach,” Kevin Sr., 69, says when it’s his turn.
How about “co-coaches” then? There’s unanimous agreement for that compromise, albeit with a caveat on the son’s part.
“Usually, I’ll let experience take over,” the son says, deferring to his dad. “Grandpa knows best is the way I look at it.
“But I don’t think there’s any confusion with the kids. They take input from both of us, we rarely have conflicting opinions that we would share in front of the kids.”
Their roles aren’t broken down to offensive and defensive specialists. “We usually break up the practices,” Kevin Jr. says. “We bounce ideas off each other as far as what we’re going to do for the practice.
“For the most part, we’ll split up into two groups. I’ll do one end, he’ll do the other end.”
As the junior partner in the coaching tandem, it’s Kevin Jr. who is on the court putting his father’s theories into practice.
“Occasionally, when they want to see how it’s done, they can look to Kevin who can do things very well on the floor,” Kevin Sr. says.
“I act as more as a ‘demonstrator’ for them,” Kevin Jr. says, elaborating on his role as the hands-on partner. “He would basically say what drill we’re doing.”
Can two co-coaches whose combined age is 108 remember what it was like to be 10- and 11year-olds just learning basketball fundamentals, let alone any strategy?
“That’s what I was worried about with my dad because he always coached at a higher level that he might get frustrated with the younger kids,” Kevin Jr. says. “But he understands where they’re at and the skills they need to get.
“The two of us basically know that we’re working with a fresh canvas and with a lot of these kids, it’s their first or second year playing basketball.
“We can start them off with the
right fundamentals.”
Kevin Sr., who spent more than three decades coaching the senior boys team at Denis Morris, is happy to be back coaching basketball.
“I really love these kids, I didn’t think I would think so much of them, but you give them skills to go and work on, and they can’t get enough of it,” he says. “They come back to you with a smile, and they want more.
“They would stay here all night if they could.”
Father and son, who also coached together for three years at Denis Morris and two each at E.L. Crossley and St. Catharines Collegiate, gear their expectations to the age group they are now coaching together.
“In high school the kids had skills, and I had to teach strategy,” Kevin Sr. explains. “Here we teach the skills and the strategy we leave alone and try to help them develop themselves.”
Father is impressed with his co-coach. “I’m really surprised how positive and how patient he has been with the kids,” says Kevin Sr. “And when they see the skills he has, they really look up to him.”
At the beginning of the season, Kevin Jr. told the players and their parents that
‘‘ “I really love these kids, I didn’t think I would think so much of them, but you give them skills to go and work on, and they can’t get enough of it.” KEVIN MCKENNA SR. Retired educator, longtime basketball coach
success wouldn’t be measured in wins and losses.
“Our goal isn’t how many wins we get, our goal is if the kids from beginning to end show a significant improvement,” says Kevin Jr., who played high school hoops for his dad at Denis Morris before going on to compete at the university level for McMaster and Brock.
“To me, that’s what I would consider a victory. I don’t really care what the score is in a game as long as the kids are having fun.
“It’s more about fostering the skill development so that the kids want to continue with basketball instead of turning them off.”
A love for hoops isn’t the only thing Kevin McKenna Sr. has in common with his namesake. Now that Kevin Jr. has had a chance to coach his sons, both enjoy passing along a passion for the game to the next generation.
“It was a privilege, it was a real highlight of my coaching career,” Kevin Sr. says of coaching his son. “Eventually, he became the coach on the floor for me.”
“I can remember a time when he was dribbling up the floor, and there was a whole lot of pressure on him, and he called timeout before the 10-second call.
“I didn’t yell it out to him, he just knew enough to call a timeout so we could get off the floor and not be penalized.”
Kevin Jr., an engineer at General Motors, has no trouble replacing the daddy hat with the coaching cap at practice and in games. He says as long as there is no favouritism, it’s OK for parents to coach their children.
“Everything with this type of league is equal playing time, equal attention for everybody,” Kevin Jr. says, pointing out it’s not a select team. “We’re just looking at them as other players that we put on the floor.
“Obviously, you’re hoping all the kids do well, so it’s no different than the two we’re related to.”
Given that his youngest son, Kyrie 2½, is already “obsessed with basketball,” that number will increase to three in a few short years.