The Season Plans If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by the job you've taken on, don't worry. In this chapter, we give you specific guidance on what to teach. This chapter will give you an overview of the curriculum for each of the two age groups; chapters 6 and 7 provide practice plans for each group. The season plans we've laid out have five components: Purpose Tactics and skills Rules and traditions Fitness concepts Character development concepts Here's a brief description of each component: Purpose. The purpose of the practice is your main focus. Tactics and skills. Tactics are knowing what to do during the game (and when to do it), and they require an understanding of the problems faced by each team during the game and how those problems can be solved. Ways to maintain possession of the ball would be tactics. Skills are the physical skills traditionally taught, such as passing or shooting the ball or controlling the ball during play. Rules and traditions. You will teach the rules of the sport to young children gradually, as part of playing games and learning skills. Traditions are those unwritten rules that players follow to be courteous and safe, such as raising your hand when you foul someone or playing cooperatively with the others on your team. Fitness concepts. Even young children can understand some simple concepts about health and fitness, such as the idea that exercise strengthens your heart, so some of these are suggested as the focus for brief discussions during practice. Character development concepts. The four core values-caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility-can all be related to many situations that arise while playing basketball. For example, playing cooperatively with teammates shows that you care about them. Again, we'll suggest some specific ideas for briefly discussing character development values. Basketball Curriculum for Six and Seven-Year-Olds Using a small number of players on a team with the three-versus-three game allows players to continue to have many tactical options without the pressure of large numbers of opponents. This arrangement makes it more likely that players will attempt to pass, dribble, or shoot as the need arises. Progressing from the four- and five-year-old age group, players can now revisit the tactical components of possession and attack while adding a closer look at defending. The outline on page 32 provides a weekly guide that shows the tactical and skill components, as well as the rules and character development components. These components will all be detailed in the practice plans. Boys and girls should still play together at this age level. Season Plan for 8- to 9-Year-Olds At this age, kids will begin to explore tactics that help them keep possession of the ball, attack the basket, create space, and play good defense. The following grid provides an overview of each component of practice from Week 1 through Week 12. The specific practice plans for 8- to 9-year-olds are found in chapter 10. Season Plan for 10- to 11-Year-Olds As youngsters grow, so does the game: the ball grows larger, the basket becomes taller, the free-throw line retreats farther from the basket. Players continue to work on the tactics and skills they developed as 8- to 9-year-olds, but the tactics become a little more complex as they delve deeper into creating and using space to attack. In addition, they learn how to set screens and how to defend against screens, and they hone their skills in maintaining possession and defending space. The following outline provides an overview of each component of practice from Week 1 through Week 12. The specific practice plans for 10- to 11-year-olds are found in chapter 11. Season Plan for 12- to 13-Year-Olds The players build upon the tactics and skills they learned in the previous 2 years. The following outline provides an overview of each component of practice from Week 1 through Week 12. The specific practice plans for 12- to 13- year-olds are found in chapter 12.