Henrickson Holds Annual Coaching Clinic at Allen Fieldhouse
Oct. 23, 2011
LAWRENCE, Kan. – From strength and conditioning, on court drills to writing up plays, the annual Bonnie Henrickson Coaching Clinic gave local high school basketball coaches a chance to learn from the best and the brightest within in the Kansas program.
The clinic began just before noon on Sunday, with a chance to watch the 2011-12 women’s team practice inside Allen Fieldhouse and then progressed with on-court workouts, a strength and conditioning workshop and then a classroom session lead by coach Henrickson.
“Getting to see what they do in practice was really great,” said Hayden High School (Topeka) assistant girls basketball coach Joe Leiker. “That is something that our girls would want to know if they are thinking about playing college. It will be good for them to find out what the competition and pace is like, compared to what we do.”
This year, close to two dozen coaches from around the area (Kansas City to Topeka) attended the free clinic, which is now in its eighth season under Coach Henrickson.
“It is an opportunity to give back and to let others see how we teach,” the eighth year KU head coach said. “We think that a great part of the clinic is to have the players demonstrate. It might not be the normal amount of time we would spend in a drill, but the other coaches are able to get the concepts of what we do and why we do it.”
Part of that demonstration process included a talk from KU strength coach Andrea Hudy, who gave a description of some of the workout routines as the players were going through them.
“One part of the clinic that surprised me is how efficient they are in running practice,” Leiker said. “There is really no down time because they put time up on the clock and move onto something else when it runs out. Considering how early it is in the season, that they can do that is really impressive.”
What coach Henrickson found most impressive about the clinic was the coaches’ willingness to learn and their interest in getting better.
“I have always been so impressed with the quality of high school coaching in Kansas,” she said. “Even from the Missouri side of Kansas City, we have a lot of people come over and watch practice as well as individual workouts because they take a lot of pride in being good with their players.”
Henrickson noticed some familiar faces in the crowd Sunday, but is thankful that they walk away every year with a different perspective.
“We have had a lot of returners, who have come up to me and said that this was their third or fourth time at the clinic and that they always pick up a little something different each year,” she said. “They work hard to help their players and we just want to make it a little bit easier on them by having our clinic here so they don’t have to travel too far.”
Before the clinic wrapped up, the high school coaches were treated to a tour of the Kansas clubhouse area and practice gym by Henrickson and her staff.
