Get to know: Vid Buggs, MS Girls Basketball Coach

2016 marks Coach Vid Buggs' third season coaching Girls' Basketball at Shorecrest. He is the Head Coach for the Middle School Girls' Team as well as the Assistant of the JV and Varsity Girls’ Teams. The Middle School Girls’ Team had the most successful season in the history of Shorecrest, even with no eighth graders on the team and 2/3 of the team having never played before! Shorecrest Booster Club spent a few minutes with Coach Buggs discussing his coaching philosophy.

 
Booster Club: You've had an amazing career in basketball! Please tell the Shorecrest Community a little bit about your personal basketball history. 

 
Coach Buggs: I fell in love with the game of basketball by watching Magic Johnson play. Watching him play with a smile led me to want to pick up a basketball. I was no star in high school or college, but that didn't matter to me; I just wanted to play basketball any free moment that I could. In fact, I went to college majoring in engineering, then I changed majors and was going to go to law school. Through my path in life I was fortunate to be able to play basketball in several semi-pro and professional leagues like the ABA and USBL to name a few. Basketball has allowed me to travel all over the country and the world. It also has provided me the opportunity to meet life-long friends, establish my other endeavors, taught me several life values, and allows me to give back to others in many ways.
 
Booster Club: What's your overall philosophy on middle school basketball, in terms of balancing skill-building and winning?
 
Coach Buggs: My philosophy is to have the players improve each day without highlighting their weaknesses but pointing out their strengths. I push them towards their strengths. Everyone wants to feel good. Once you get people/players feeling good about themselves, their confidence levels rise. Once their confidence gets higher, they get more interested. Then they are willing to do almost anything in order to improve their all-around skills.

 

As far as winning; we all want to win. However, I have always practiced the philosophy of "as long as you did the best you could, you’re a winner." If you can do your best, it really doesn't matter if you win or lose. I would prefer to lose doing my best than to win not having given my best effort. You only cheat yourself, the team, and the fans when you do that. This is a life lesson, and sports is just a mirror of life. When you give your all every time, the victories will come.
 
Booster Club: What's so important about having good coaching at the Middle School level?
 
Coach Buggs: In order to build something, you have to have a strong foundation. Having good coaching is very important at every level, but a Varsity Coach will never build a successful team if the players don’t have the proper foundation. Building a successful program includes player interest as well as consistency and development, which includes patience by coaches and players to stick with a system for several years. When I met with our former AD (Athletic Director Tripp Welborne) back in 2013, he offered me the Varsity head coaching job. We discussed the issues that the girls' program was experiencing, which was "lack of numbers and interest." We decided that in order for us to ever have any success at the Varsity level we must build from the Middle School level up. So I decided to take the Middle School Head Coach position and help develop the program at each level (MS, JV and Varsity).

 

First you have to build interest. If you do not get players really interested in a sport in Middle School, by time they are in High School most aren't going to want to continue to play for you. My first two years, we had less than 10 girls on our Middle School Girls’ Team. This year, we had 19 show up on the first day. Then you must work on skills. Good fundamental skill development has to start in middle school, otherwise we aren’t competitive at the Varsity level. When you start with good fundamentals, you can develop great players that are comfortable and confident on the court. That builds a winning Varsity team.

 
Booster Club: Teamwork - it's so important. How do you bring a team together with so many different skill levels?
 
Coach Buggs: I just make it known that we all started out as first timers. I also let everyone know that no matter how good you are, there is always room for improvement. I believe passion and hard work speaks volumes. The players bond by seeing each other’s hard work and pushing each other. Well, that and my yelling - I get really excited about basketball. A team is a family; in each family each member is unique and they bring something special to the table. Each player does something unique that no other person on the team can do and this is the special element that brings a team with different skills levels together as one.
 
Booster Club: What are the best things an experienced middle school player can do to get their play to the next level?

Coach Buggs: Practice, Practice, Practice. Play and study the game. The best players at each level are practicing and playing more than other players. You do not have to devote all your time to a sport. Just an hour or two a day will go a long way. If you do not have an hour, I advise people to pick up a basketball and walk up and down the street dribbling. Make a game out of it; see how many times you can dribble through your legs without messing up. See how fast you can run dribbling and switching hands without looking. The main thing is to work on things you need to improve on and to work on these skills harder than you would perform them in a game. That way when you are in a game, everything is natural, and you don't even have to think about doing a certain move/skill.
 
Booster Club: What are your goals for a girl who joins your team and has never touched a basketball?
 
Coach Buggs: My goals are

1. Get them to have fun. Once they have fun their nervousness tends to go away.
2. Get them interested. If they are interested they will understand that they have to work hard to learn and improve, which isn't always fun.
3. Get their confidence up. Once they have confidence, learning new skills comes easily.
4. To make new friends on the team. I have seen how basketball has helped new players, old players and even parents become friends despite their differences.
5. Learn how to dribble, shoot, pass and play defense.

Booster Club: What would you say to a 5th grade girl or boy who is considering playing basketball for the first time next year?
 
Coach Buggs: Get to know the coach; this way you will not be as nervous at the first day of practice. Work on your dribbling; going left and right with your eyes up. I would definitely go to at least one basketball camp or clinic. This will help you with your skills before next year's season comes rolling around.

 

In fact, Shorecrest and I are hosting a girls' basketball camp the week after school lets out for the summer. Last year's camp was a success. We even had players from Tampa come, which really pushed our new players and incoming players to work hard as well as to have fun. I would really advise anyone that is interested in playing next year to come on out and try the camp. It’s a great place to meet me and get a taste of Shorecrest Basketball.

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