3on3 Hoops Pod

Unlocking Your Child's Potential: The Power of Youth Sports and 3on3 Basketball (Part 1)

May 15, 2024 Kevin Roberts & Coach Jarryd Dent Season 1 Episode 9
Unlocking Your Child's Potential: The Power of Youth Sports and 3on3 Basketball (Part 1)
3on3 Hoops Pod
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3on3 Hoops Pod
Unlocking Your Child's Potential: The Power of Youth Sports and 3on3 Basketball (Part 1)
May 15, 2024 Season 1 Episode 9
Kevin Roberts & Coach Jarryd Dent

Kevin Roberts and Coach J discuss the benefits of youth sports and the advantages of 3on3 basketball for unlocking a child's potential. They highlight the importance of structure, teamwork, and goal-setting in sports. They also emphasize the development of essential life skills such as discipline, resilience, communication, adaptability, and respect for authority. 3on3 basketball is seen as a gateway for young children to learn these skills in a fun and less time-consuming environment. The conversation also touches on physical activity and the opportunity to teach kids about proper nutrition and self-care.

3on3 Hoops Pod Website
https://3on3hoopspod.buzzsprout.com

3on3 Live 
https://www.3on3live.com

Score Hoops 3on3 Basketball
https://scorehoops3on3.com

Show Notes Transcript

Kevin Roberts and Coach J discuss the benefits of youth sports and the advantages of 3on3 basketball for unlocking a child's potential. They highlight the importance of structure, teamwork, and goal-setting in sports. They also emphasize the development of essential life skills such as discipline, resilience, communication, adaptability, and respect for authority. 3on3 basketball is seen as a gateway for young children to learn these skills in a fun and less time-consuming environment. The conversation also touches on physical activity and the opportunity to teach kids about proper nutrition and self-care.

3on3 Hoops Pod Website
https://3on3hoopspod.buzzsprout.com

3on3 Live 
https://www.3on3live.com

Score Hoops 3on3 Basketball
https://scorehoops3on3.com

Kevin Roberts (00:27.598)
Hello and welcome to another episode of the three on three hoops pod. My name is Kevin Roberts and I am joined as always by the number one Laker fan living in Phoenix, Arizona. Also the number one Braves fan, the mega fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and for some reason a big fan of the Milwaukee Bucks. Ladies and gentlemen, you said that last time.

Coach J (00:54.055)
The Milwaukee Bucks. Wait, wait, wait. No, I didn't. No, I didn't. No, I did not. No, I didn't. No, I didn't. Hey, disregard that last team. But the Tampa Bay Bucks, we got that.

Kevin Roberts (00:55.918)
He's not only a fan, he's not only a fan. I got it on tape.

Kevin Roberts (01:08.238)
We have it on. my goodness. All right. All right. Well, I remember you said you had the two TVs. You said my Milwaukee Bucks on one TV and my Atlanta Braves on the other. You have too many teams, Coach. That's the problem.

Coach J (01:21.606)
No, man. I said my Tampa Bay, I said my Tampa Bay bucks because the Lakers were eliminated, man.

Kevin Roberts (01:30.926)
I think you misspoke. I mean, that's all it is.

Coach J (01:33.768)
Yeah, bring the tape up. Hey, we see this all playoffs long. Look, I'm doing it here now. Look, run the tape.

Kevin Roberts (01:38.927)
You know, all right, this is the part where I inserted into the into the in the podcast. All right. Like I mentioned in the open, coach and I will be taking we'll be talking about unlocking your child's potential through youth sports and why three on three basketball is a number one option for parents who want to introduce their kids into sports. But before we get to that, coach, I saw that you were featured in an online interview. I wanted to give you.

Coach J (01:47.543)
Okay.

Kevin Roberts (02:06.99)
an opportunity to talk about that a little. That's pretty cool.

Coach J (02:11.815)
Yeah, man, it was a cool cool experience the folks at Canvas rebel rebel shout out canvas rebel that reached out to me You know they have a little Periodical that they do reaching out to you know creators and entrepreneurs They heard a bit a little bit about my story reached out to me wanted to do an interview So I'm that was real cool man anything to you know get my story out

you know, to make some type of impact come out for it.

Kevin Roberts (02:41.231)
Yeah, man, that was a cool interview, man. The one request I have for you next time is mention the pod more, man.

Coach J (02:49.159)
Man, I wanna say I did that before we even started the podcast. Or, no, you know what? I take that back. No, I take that back. It was right when we started because I did put the podcast at the bottom in my contact information as my YouTube handle. Yeah, yeah.

Kevin Roberts (02:55.47)
it didn't make the cuts?

Kevin Roberts (03:05.358)
no, I didn't see that. I know I saw that. I'm just messing with you. I'm just saying. Congrats on interview. That was cool. I also want to give you an opportunity to give any updates on your score hoops three on three basketball coach runs a youth three on three basketball program in Phoenix, Arizona, called score hoops three on three. And he is in the middle of a spring season. So I just want to give you an opportunity to talk about any updates you want to give.

Coach J (03:13.703)
Appreciate that.

Coach J (03:29.095)
Yes, sir Yes, sir our second annual spring league We had a bye week this week sorting like NFL. We had a bye week You know, I briefly talked to you about that We had a bye week this week because of gym restrictions Which you know most program directors and most basketball coaches know that problem Find them app ample gym space and gym time. So we had a bye week. However, I

Last week, week two, May 4th, two weeks, what about 10 days ago or whatever, that week was lit, man. It was a lot more competitive. Week one was a little, I mean, the ball was good. The game, the ball was good, but like with most week ones, you don't see the best.

Kevin Roberts (04:20.11)
Yeah, yeah. No, we -

Coach J (04:20.807)
of what you have. So week two was a lot better and I expect week three and week four coming up over the next 10 days to be to be even better. So the league is turning out to be a good one.

Kevin Roberts (04:34.094)
Yeah, that's awesome. so, as for myself, I quickly want to mention that I also run a three, a youth 3on3 basketball program here in Tampa, Florida called three on three live. And we are currently taking in registrations for upcoming summer league, which starts June 23rd. This is for boys and girls in grades second through 12. All skill levels are welcome. All games are on Sundays. The league will go four weeks. Each team will play two games each Sunday.

All games are played at slam Tampa, which is a wonderful facility. It's going to be a fun, fun, fun summer league. We had a lot of fun with it last year. and what's our summer leagues? And, if you didn't get to playing it last year, make sure you sign up this time around. And for more information, go to three on three live .com. All right. So to get into our main topic today, coach, I want to ask you a question. what is the earliest?

Coach J (05:26.022)
Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (05:32.751)
sports memory you have as a child or you had as a child as far as playing goes like what's the first sports team you remember playing on?

Coach J (05:44.679)
I played for my very first team. I was five years old. I played for the Raleigh Park Suns. Shout out Raleigh Park in Gardena, California. Raleigh Park Suns, I was five years old and I don't remember anything specifically that happened during that time, obviously, this is over 30 years ago, but I'm still friends to this very day with some friends, some kids on that team. So.

Kevin Roberts (06:10.993)
nice, nice.

Coach J (06:13.159)
That's kind of leaked, you know, that's kind of going to be a little bit of a little tease of what we're going to talk about. Some of the benefits of getting your kids started in youth sports, but that's one of them. That's one of them. Just, just, you know, plan, plan basketball on a team. as long as I can remember and yeah, it was basketball. That was the first, that was the first sport, but I played baseball and football all with all at the same park. You know how, yeah, you know, you know, all star, you know me, I used to wear Chuck

Kevin Roberts (06:15.48)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (06:29.04)
So it was a basketball team. Okay.

Kevin Roberts (06:35.984)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we know you're an all -star. I know it. Dion Sanders.

Coach J (06:43.113)
Taylor's All Stars, man.

Kevin Roberts (06:44.816)
So is that when you I guess I don't know if you remember but is that something that you like asked your parents and get in or did your parents kind of throw you in?

Coach J (06:56.008)
I probably didn't ask them. Like I said, I was five, so they probably, you know how your parents are. When you have children, you want to find extracurricular activities for them so they're not sitting around the house all the time. Like I said, the park was at walking distance from the house. That's another thing I remember too. Remember walking to and from the games before and after the games were over.

Kevin Roberts (06:57.552)
I guess you won't remember 

Kevin Roberts (07:20.623)
Yeah.

Coach J (07:22.952)
And yeah, that's the earliest that I can remember, man. Those are some of the best days ever.

Kevin Roberts (07:27.249)
I mean, I know for sure that my my dad kind of threw me into baseball. That was my first sport. I can't. So I think I was in I played late. I played a lot later than you. I played my first. The first sports team I was on was a baseball team when I was in, I want to say, fourth grade.

Coach J (07:37.575)
Okay.

Kevin Roberts (07:48.561)
So I had kind of a, I guess, late start, you know, compared to you. But I didn't know anything about baseball. It was something that, you know, I was out there in right field, you know, that's where they put the worst kid. That's what I was. I was I was I was playing with, you know, kicking bees and like, you know, on the.

Coach J (07:49.287)
Okay.

Coach J (07:54.535)
yeah yeah yeah

Coach J (08:01.095)
They put the, yeah, the kid that's picking the grass and looking up in the clouds.

Kevin Roberts (08:09.169)
You know, the grass or whatever is trying to step on them and stuff like that. I wasn't really paying attention. I have I have a lot of funny baseball stories. I will have to tell another time. But it's some of my most embarrassing moments. But my my my dad definitely threw me in this. But you know what? And I can't even remember if we won anything. For some reason, I remember losing every game, but we still got trophies at the end or I can't I barely remember. Maybe we did win. I don't know.

Coach J (08:14.023)
Alright.

Coach J (08:19.119)
Yeah.

Coach J (08:37.383)
We used to get participation trophies. I never got a participation trophy, but I remember the kids that would finish last and seventh and all kind of stuff, they would get the smaller trophies that said participation on it. I might've gotten one participation trophy where we finished maybe like fourth place, something like that.

Kevin Roberts (08:46.001)
Yeah.

okay

Kevin Roberts (08:54.514)
yeah, I don't. I remember the end of the year party. I remember I had one spectacular play that I will always brag about. It was Willie Mays type. I think I've heard it called before where a ball was hit out, actually hit out to right field and I was running my hardest and everybody knew, you know, drop because I never caught anything. I put my glove out and it fell right in my glove. I can't remember what any of it was. I don't think I was counting. It may have been the mid.

Coach J (09:09.159)
Coach J (09:20.551)
You put your glove up and close your eyes and caught it.

Kevin Roberts (09:24.561)
Basically, that's what it was. And but it was the play of the year. I just remember, but I do remember, I do remember how as much embarrassment as I had out there on the baseball field, I was scared to like the ball never left my shoulder. I got hit by a pitch once and I couldn't believe that they were actually throwing as hard as they were throwing. You know, I was a kid back then out my first. They're throwing this hard ball at me like like this. And so it took me a while to even get used to being in the plate. But.

Coach J (09:28.039)
okay.

Coach J (09:42.598)
Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (09:54.291)
All that being said, I do remember as forming some of my closest friends in grade school, you know, all the way up and I had one, I had one best friend up until we went to different high schools, you know, from that baseball team. So, you know, the friendship for sure was a, you know, was a big plus for me. Do you remember, I guess, I guess what so when coming from that basketball team that you went on, what did you play next? Like, did you ask to be another sport? Did your parents keep?

Coach J (10:06.598)
Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (10:22.515)
throwing in you to sports, like what hooked you, I guess, if, what do you remember being hooked to being on a sports team?

Coach J (10:26.951)
I don't know. I don't know if I asked but I just run around in the season. So what? Basketball's over in the spring. So yeah, baseball had to be next. And then they just signed me up for the same park league, Raleigh Park. And then football. Now I started playing flag football for the Cowboys. My team was the Cowboys.

Kevin Roberts (10:38.963)
Mm -hmm.

Coach J (10:54.183)
and I was the best player on that team. I remember, this is something I remember vividly, the basketball, I don't really remember anything vividly, but basketball, I remember my mom and my dad used to always run down the sideline with me when I got the ball running, and they ran the whole time until I got caught. I remember that vividly. So yeah, I just play year round sports, man, and that's why it's like weird.

Kevin Roberts (11:08.434)
Ha ha ha.

Kevin Roberts (11:13.683)
That's funny.

Kevin Roberts (11:18.355)
Okay.

Coach J (11:20.55)
You know, I know it's a different generation now, but it's like weird when I see kids say I only play football or only play basketball I'm like what I never just I never I never until the end it's at a very end is when I play only one sport

Kevin Roberts (11:26.451)
Yeah, well, I will say...

Kevin Roberts (11:34.419)
I will say I only played one sport after that one baseball season. I never played baseball again. My mom didn't let me play football. I did want to give a shout out real quick to the Argyle Mets because that was my little league team. So really proud of that. yeah, I was out there. But I was a one sport kid. So I was one of the weird ones. Well.

Coach J (11:39.174)
Alright.

Coach J (11:46.822)
Okay.

Coach J (11:50.886)
But at least you were out there though.

Coach J (11:56.825)
So no, so you said no football. So no track either then.

Kevin Roberts (11:59.347)
The foot the school, the high school that I went to, they didn't have a football team. They had they they they they adopted their first football team the year after I graduated. So my mom was my mom. My mom wasn't going to let me play anyway. So it doesn't even matter. But as so. So.

Coach J (12:11.75)
That's always how it works.

Coach J (12:16.427)
Yeah. Yeah, my mom, my mom didn't want me to play tackle for a long time either. I had to, I had to like kind of guilt shame her into it because by that time all of my friends had started playing tackle and I was the last one to start. So I was like, mom, are you really going to have me the only kid not playing tackle? So she, she threw me in there eventually. So, and that, and that became my best sport until, you know, that became my best sport. Just keeping it real.

Kevin Roberts (12:40.627)
Alright, so what are the, I guess, what are the some, would you say, essential life skills that we learn from sports?

Coach J (12:54.983)
Well, one is the structure, right? That's the main, I think the main or yeah, I would say the main, that's the main. I don't know if you wanna call it a benefit or whatever, but.

That's the main result that comes from it, just the structure, right? You have to, you have a start time of practice, you have an end time of practice, you have water breaks, you do drills, there's rules to the game of basketball, right? So there's a structure. So that's one thing for sure. It's just, you know, kids like structure. So why not put them in a fun environment to learn that structure?

Kevin Roberts (13:36.853)
And they like structure before they even know it, before they even realize it. I mean, you know, you know, there's something kids need. They, you know, but yeah, structure is a good one.

Coach J (13:41.03)
Yeah. Yeah.

Coach J (13:48.167)
That's for sure, for sure. Other than that, so structure's a big one. Like teamwork, obviously teamwork when you're playing those team sports, you know, you're depending on basketballs especially. That's like maybe the ultimate team sport. Like.

You have rebounders, you have defenders, you have your score, right? Or your one or two scores. And all those different pieces fit together to form the puzzle, right? And then you have to learn how to utilize the appropriate resources to achieve the ultimate goal, which is winning a basketball game. So that's beneficial for sure, because what kids don't know is they're gonna have to learn how to do that when they get into the professional.

world and start working.

Kevin Roberts (14:40.438)
That's true. And that's what we're talking about. Like, you know, we're you know, all this, the the I guess the life skills that you learn, even as a, you know, you know, fourth grader or, you know, even at five years old and start planting that seed in you, you know, that will carry on into your adulthood life. And a lot of people don't realize I love sports. I do think that it's it teaches you. I think you mentioned this on another one of our podcasts. It teaches you so many like.

Coach J (14:43.015)
Hehehe

Kevin Roberts (15:07.991)
life skills that you don't even realize at the time you know like you know it's it's the one thing that can bring you know two races together or you know or different races together not just two but you know

It teaches you how to work towards a common goal. You know, it teaches you discipline and resilience. So, you know, you know, so like sports, you know, even at an early age can start teaching you essential life skills. I have a I should have a list of, you know, we have a list of 20 here that, you know, we can just rattle off. But, you know, there's time management, accountability, perseverance. I mean, you know,

Coach J (15:28.421)
for sure.

Coach J (15:48.197)
Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (15:49.578)
A lot of times that a lot of the times when you want to get how many times have you been in practices and you didn't think you were going to live to see another day? You know what I'm saying? So like, you know, doing times and practices where I thought I was going to die running bleachers and stuff like that. So.

Coach J (15:50.693)
Cough.

Coach J (16:01.093)
Yeah.

Coach J (16:06.437)
Yeah, yeah for sure. Even in the game there was times but that's where that resilience comes in, right? You gotta dig deep, you know. That's one thing that I tell the guys when we're on the floor is you gotta dig deep. There's more left in the tank than what you think. You know, that's how you build that. That's how you build that resilient attitude. You know, that's how you overcome adversity. So yeah, just teaching those attributes and those skills at a young age. I mean,

I can even attest myself, just growing up playing sports at that early age of five all the way into now coaching it. Some of those same principles and some of those same ideologies that I learned when I was five, six, seven, eight years old playing sports, I still use those and apply them. So that's a real, real, real, that's the underlying reason.

you know, my parents should put their kids in, you know, start them out in sports. You know, even before you teach them about the winning and losing part, it's just, you know, learning the life skills that's gonna, you know, carry you throughout.

Kevin Roberts (17:17.081)
You have humility, mental toughness, self -discipline. I mean, teaching is like...

Coach J (17:24.742)
Humility I teach my guys to be cocky out there you make it through you get all in a face boo. Yeah, boy You can't stop me. Nah, yeah. Yeah, I feel you you do know you do you do know, you know humility is a big thing because You know just kind of going off of what I just did right there, you know, you get those guys that you know They're what we call frontrunners, right when they're when they're up they're up they're all in your face But you know when those tables turn and they do

Kevin Roberts (17:26.809)
Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh

Coach J (17:53.445)
You know, that's that's you know, you gotta you gotta know how to how to you know, take that humble that slice of humble pie

Kevin Roberts (18:00.249)
Yep.

Another one that I like is a gratitude and that's that's one that you don't hear about a lot, but it does it does actually teach gratitude because you know, you're You know going through long seasons, you know, you you learn to express gratitude towards coaches that help you along the way It's not always the head coach a lot of times that's assistant coach or the position coach that you become really close with You you express gratitude towards your parents for taking you, you know to parents or even to practice and you know even getting you in the sport, you know I'm saying so

Coach J (18:21.253)
Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (18:31.69)
And even like if you're talking on this court or on the field specifically, you know, you're Gratitude to your teammates for getting your back, you know when you're not up for it one day like sometimes you can't get up and you know, You have to rely on your teammates like all this stuff happens

Coach J (18:42.405)
Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (18:47.545)
you know, as young as I can remember, it's still happening to me now in my regular nine to five job. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, if you work with a team, you know, it teaches you how to deal with it. It teaches you how to deal with different personalities. So, you know, another big one, another big one, especially I think it's really important, especially in these days is respect for authority. Because I believe that sometimes coaches have a.

Coach J (19:01.061)
Yeah, that's a big one. That's a big one.

Coach J (19:12.165)
Yeah.

Yeah, that is a big one.

Kevin Roberts (19:16.409)
Yeah, coaches have a heavier voice, you know, in a lot of kids lives right now because they don't listen to their parents or they don't they don't respect authority. Just, you know, hearing it from a coach that because it's something that they're involved with and something that they actually care to be in, you know. So what's another one?

Coach J (19:18.437)
That is a big one.

Coach J (19:28.006)
for whatever reason.

Coach J (19:38.374)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I've even had parents tell me they'll listen to you, Coach, over me. So yeah, that's why you got to kind of know how to keep that frame, know how to... As coaches, we're inadvertently put into place as role models sometimes, right? So...

You know, if you get put into that spot, you gotta kinda like adapt to the role. So, you know, I don't mind being, you know, being put in that role. However, you know, it's not all on the coach's parents. It does start at home. But what I will say is, you know,

Kevin Roberts (20:19.514)
the meat.

Coach J (20:25.063)
I'll have the parents back and what their message what if what the message they're conveying is something that I you know agree to So I wouldn't I'll never overstep the bounds of the parents

Kevin Roberts (20:36.857)
When you started getting serious about sports, was there ever a time when you entered a season without a goal?

Kevin Roberts (20:49.049)
I mean, I mean, you have a goal every time, right?

Coach J (20:49.543)
I started getting serious about it. No. Yeah, I mean, it started, I want to say, I mean, wow. Yeah, I mean, maybe, yeah. You know what? Now that I think about it, it started probably in about middle school, when I was on our middle school basketball team, and we knew that we were pretty untouchable. Our goal was to go undefeated. We didn't achieve that goal. We lost maybe about three games and lost in like the...

Kevin Roberts (20:59.416)
Okay, okay. I just...

Coach J (21:16.807)
the round before the last round in the playoffs.

Kevin Roberts (21:18.457)
Yeah.

Coach J (21:21.959)
But yeah, around that time was, yeah, same thing with football too. It was around that same time where I was on a team in basketball and football where we were like, there's only like one true team that was really gonna mess with us. And those two teams messed with us. But yeah, we were that young though. We were like 12 years old. I promise to you, and I tell the kids now that I coached with, you couldn't tell us anything, bro.

Kevin Roberts (21:39.354)
Yeah, and you're just talking about... Yeah.

Coach J (21:51.865)
thought we were in the NBA when we were 13 years old and we played like it like we you know we had that mindset like okay this is middle school junior high basketball but we're approaching this like we're NBA superstars and we thought we were and then we you know obviously we weren't but just to attack the floor with that mindset at such a young age you know I feel like that's beneficial for sure.

Kevin Roberts (21:53.497)
Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (22:02.266)
in.

Kevin Roberts (22:14.363)
I mean, having a goal is just so important. And, you know, I just, you know, I don't think if, if you don't, I mean, if you don't really have a goal, you're just, you know, you're just out there, you know, walking, you're just wandering around, you know, so, you know, I do think sports teaches you how to set goals and teaches you how to, you know, even if you fall short, how to keep going and, you know, the perseverance and, you know, leadership is another thing it teaches you. Yep, adaptability.

Coach J (22:26.79)
He's out there. He's out there.

Coach J (22:39.719)
Yeah, cause you gotta know how to adapt. Yeah, you gotta know how to adapt. Cause that's what happens when you don't reach your goal. You have to adapt, you have to pivot, you know? So, you know, yeah, yep.

Kevin Roberts (22:48.124)
Time management's another one. Time management's another one. So like all these things, like I can see in our regular adulthood life, and it's a lot of stuff that have been, you know, that are seeds, I guess, you know, planted as seeds in our younger days in sports. So let's talk about like, like.

Coach J (23:09.986)
Mm -hmm.

Kevin Roberts (23:12.764)
three on three specifically, like what's the three on three advantage when it comes to unlocking a child's potential?

Coach J (23:21.063)
I think three on three is like a gateway. So like three on three is like T -ball, right? So when you have a kid that's never played before basketball, maybe four, three, four, five, six, seven, you know, in that age, get them started in three on three, right? Not only does it, you know, benefit you in all the ways that we just listed, right?

But, you know, looking at it from the parent side also, think about it. It's not so time consuming on a Saturday or a Sunday. You're in and out within an hour. Your kid's gonna have fun. And they're gonna learn a list of, you know, those 20 benefits that we just listed or however many more, you know, life skills that are translated from that point on.

Kevin Roberts (24:14.462)
Yeah, I mean, I think that just around three being a, you know, a smaller group, you know, just in itself that forces you, you know, communication is a big one. It forces you to communicate with, you know, I think we talked about before, like the bigger the group, the, the, I guess, I don't want to say shyer or the quieter you become because you're not, you're not as, yeah, yeah. You're not as motivated to speak your mind or to ask questions or whatever, but it's, it,

Coach J (24:36.198)
You get lost in the shuffle. You get lost in the sauce. Yeah, you're not.

Coach J (24:44.006)
Think about it like this, I'm gonna give you the perfect analogy. When you're at work in a group meeting, right? When it's two or three or four of you guys, you feel like you have to input something. But we're in a big company meeting where it's like 30 or 40 of you guys, what do you do? I'm just gonna fade to the back and not say anything.

Kevin Roberts (24:55.549)
Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (25:03.655)
And that's how it is.

Coach J (25:05.542)
It's the same way. It's the same way. Yeah. Like, I don't know what to do, especially for the guys or the girls that are, they already aren't as confident, right? Say.

somebody passes them the ball, it goes through their hands and goes out of bounds. Like that right there. Okay. That's the reason for me to just step back now because I can hide amongst the other nine players where in three on three, you can't do that because guess what? you're going to get the ball again real soon. So you need to have, you need to have your heads up. You need to have your hands up and your head ready.

Kevin Roberts (25:36.032)
And along those same lines, like it almost, I mean, it forces you to, you know, it forces you to try to prove yourself that, you know, hey, I can do something. You know, it's not as scary as I thought. You know, you know, I wouldn't have like I have a kid that he was very shy. I don't know his name, but he was like super shy and didn't want to. He barely talked. This was in my lower level group. And.

Coach J (25:49.349)
Yeah.

Coach J (26:00.837)
Mm -hmm.

Kevin Roberts (26:00.992)
You know, we had every time he got the ball, we, you know, kind of yell and shoot, you know, and he was just like, catch the ball and playing like hot potato or whatever. But, you know, he heard it so many times, like every he caught the ball, like, you know.

Coach J (26:09.701)
yeah.

Kevin Roberts (26:13.728)
every possession, obviously, because, you know, it's just three on three. But, you know, he finally just said, OK, fine, I'll shoot it. And he shot it and made it. And then we couldn't get him to stop shooting. So like we were yelling pass by the end of the game. But like, you know, I'd love that. Like exactly like you're talking about somebody who was like super shy. Like now he's like calling for the ball. Like we had to tell him to pass the ball. So but yeah, just it it it subconsciously gets a kid over, you know, the fear of of, you know,

Coach J (26:24.053)
Yeah, it's in confident boost. Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (26:43.105)
the fear of trying something because they're scared they're going to fail or mess up or whatever because you're going to, like you said, get the ball so many times. Like it forces you to try things. And that actually, you know, that'll carry on as an adult also. Like, you know, I think that a lot of times we don't realize how stuff as kids affect us as adults. You know what I'm saying? Like stuff that we kind of felt as kids and, you know, I don't know.

Coach J (27:07.961)
Yeah, you don't realize it until you are an adult, most times, really.

Kevin Roberts (27:15.521)
I mean, we're all just a bigger version of our kid self. So that's all we are. So we still have those same fears and feelings or whatever. So the...

Coach J (27:23.526)
And that's facts, man. I always tell people, I still feel like the same person when I was 15, bro. Look, we gotta have a back in the day episode.

Kevin Roberts (27:30.369)
Yeah, you just triggered me. I don't want to get turned this into like a just be.

Yeah, this is going to be like a mental health podcast. That's you know, that's that's true. I mean, it's true. I mean, I think that's important. Like the stuff, everything that you mentioned about self -esteem and self -confidence, you know, that, you know, and the opportunities you get to build that in three on three. I mean, that that.

Coach J (27:43.589)
he went, okay. Yeah, no, yeah.

Kevin Roberts (27:57.666)
is really important, you know, even at a young age. And, you know, that's why I think personally that, you know, three on three is a great model because, you know, just forces those opportunities are forced you to get over your fears and, you know, invites more communication.

Coach J (28:10.661)
Yeah, you get to learn from those mistakes. Because they're gonna come. And the quicker that you realize that mistakes happen, and that it's not the end of the world, the better off you'll be. That's what I try to, yeah, my bad.

Kevin Roberts (28:23.139)
And here's also. Here's an obvious one also, but might not be obvious to say, but like just the fact that, you know, you're out there more, get more playing time. It's just more, you know, physical activity. So and this a perfect opportunity for parents, you know, to.

Coach J (28:37.124)
Yeah.

Kevin Roberts (28:40.131)
teach kids how to maybe stretch or eat right or just take care of their body because now they're tired or throwing up. I had a kid throw up during one Sunday because he wasn't used to playing that much. So yeah, so like, yeah, so you know.

Coach J (28:51.429)
Yeah, I can see that. Cause guys are gassed when they walk off for sure. They don't understand the stringent nature of it until you're out there running around.

Kevin Roberts (28:57.571)
Yeah, it's because you did.

Kevin Roberts (29:02.883)
Because you're you're you're involved in a game like, you know, you you're involved more and you're like, you know, you're it's more activity. So it's more activity than they're probably used to and more than they realize. So, yeah. So, you know, we so that's just some of the, you know, the three on three advantages for, you know, when we're talking about the essential life skills that you get from playing sports