Dear Parents, Players, and Coaches,
Greetings again from Coach Earl to all the players, coaches, parents, etc. Hopefully you've all had a rewarding and fun summer. It's hard to believe that school is started and around the corner again and soon the fall for a new hoops season. Venom Sports had tremendous growth and an influx of kids in both areas of Iowa City, Rockford, and a new area of Coach Earl's hometown of Moline [Quad Cities] Below Venom will address the upcoming fall programs in all 3 areas, Coach Earl's future basketball employment , and past accomplishments of Venom Sports kids thru the past summer.
The question Coach Earl hears the most from parents is, "Are you going to be around this fall?" or "What team are you going to coach next?" Well the answer is yes I will be around. Barring any unforeseen semi-pro mishaps, Coach Earl will be Vice President of Operations/Assistant Coach of an expansion ABA team in the Quad Cities. Coach Earl was originally offered the Head Coaching position but declined due to the programs and increase of kids enrolled in the summer. Coach felt some strain last year as an assistant with the Rockford Lightning trying to fit in kids in 2 states to train. So with the proposed sale of the Lightning this Spring and the team going defunct this Fall. I came to the conclusion I wont sacrifice Venom Sports kids for coaching a semi pro team. Coach Earl feels that there is definitely some talent, skill, potential, and work ethic in the Venom Sports program that Coach Earl wants to develop for the future. Coach hates to see kids miss out on training sessions because of his other coaching conflicts. So with Coach Earl being in the Vice President position with his team it will free up more time for Venom Sports and your child. The only thing Coach Earl wants to stress is if parents inquire and verbally commit to wanting me around then you as parents have to do your part to enroll your child, and push them to come and get better. I feel I never pressure kids/parents to do sessions, but if I'm going to give up other more lucrative coaching opportunities to coach your kids by staying in the then area, then by all means use me!
Summer Re-Cap: If I had to rate the summer on a 1-10 scale, I'd have to say it was a 9.5. Venom Sports was able to implement successfully every program it set out to in the Spring.
Iowa City: Mon-Thurs and most Sundays, Coach Earl was able to work out his Iowa City surrounding areas kids. From this summer group 2 major sub-groups were created.
A: The 5pm Tues-Thurs group. It composed of mostly high school players looking to play up a level or play significant roles for their high school teams. It was a fast paced, less teaching, high volume of shooting and advanced dribbling/shooting of movement skill session. Our trail blazers were Klye, soph. @ Lisbon; Quienessha, soph. @ Clear Creek; Paige, jr. @ Regina; with guest appearances from Malorie, fr. @ West; Jessica, soph. @ Clear Creek; Meagan, jr. @ Regina; Michael Walker, Sr. @ South Kent prep formerly of West High; TJ, soph. @ City; and 2 other younglings that showed great improvement through the summer were added because their skill level jumped tremendously to the varsity level were Courtney, fr. @ West and Sarah; 8th @ Regina.
B: The 6pm young kids group. Due to one of Venom Sports newest trainees, Conner 5th from Windham, an odd time of 6pm was requested due the parents work schedule. But we all know Coach Earl's Venom's motto, 365days-24hrs a day, so no time is odd. Due to Conner's dad Brian's great word of mouth, a new family enrolled in Venom Sports, Quiniesha's younger brother Taijon 3rd. Coach Earl thought both Taijon and Conner would work together well as work harder in the drills to avoid complacency. Meanwhile Coach Earl had been working out Harley 5th thru the summer. As Harley's skill increased he was a natural candidate to move into a more advanced training regimen with other kids. So Harley was added to the 6pm group as well. Also at the same time Coach Earl witnessed 2 young brothers shooting around in the gym with reckless abandon. After a brief conversation and some emails with their mother Kathleen, Jared 5th and Johnathan 2nd @ Regina were enrolled. As the brothers improved quickly thru the summer, they also needed something extra to push them selves weekly to keep improving. So 2 more kids were added, plus not to mention Coach Earl's daughter Kenya 2nd who will practice with any of the Venom kids anytime. So together all 6 kids make up the 6pm group, Occasionally we had guest appearances by Trenton 6th from Arizona and Nick 5th was a late August addition, which is the strongest enrollment on Wednesday evenings.
C: Other Iowa kids that put in significant sessions were Kristin, fr. @ West in the late spring and early summer; Jasmin, 8th @ McKinnly in Cedar Rapids, all summer; Andre and Chase, 9th @ CR Washington; Amy, 9th @ CR Linn Mar; Katie and Nikki from Regina/ frosh to be; who are preparing themselves for college. Also Zack jr. and Erin jr. @ Regina who participated in Venom despite other summer time commitments. Venom was also proud to add 2 college players Darnell/Jr @, and Cole/soph @
Rockford: Many good Venom Sports things went thru Rockford this summer setting up the fall, spring and every summer. If Venom had a Parents MVP's then 3 names would constantly come up, Robin B/ Bill Zonzo/ and Chuck Lynde. Without the help of these individuals then Venoms Sports in Rockford would not exist.
1: Robin B. parent of Courtney fr. @ Harlem. As Robin and Coach Earl talked all spring about an advanced Rockford training group that would expand on some of the teachings and drills that most of the Rockford group worked on all year. So a 1 day a week, 2 hour per session/ for the whole summer was agreed upon. As we continued talking another name came up Chuck Lind in the Wildcat/Flodin Boys & Girls Club. He had to okay it and guess what he did. Not only did he okay it, he constantly emailed and talked to parents and coaches promoting Coach Earl and the Venom Sports program. So the Flodin/Venom Sports program was born the 1st week of June and went for 8 Fridays 6-8pm thru June and July. Venom Sports had some of its many Rockford kids; Courtney 9th@Harlem, Laura 8th@Cristian Life, Zach 5th, Keiria 9th@Boylan. Venom was proud to enroll a few more weekly regulars such as Kelsey 8th, Taylor 8th@, Ava 9th@Boylan, Taylor 9th@Harlem. Then of course Chuck came into the picture again while emailing Wildcat kids for the Coach Earl-Coach Zonzo Earl camp in late July. Coach Earl was happy to have 3 more wildcat players at the Coach Earl-Zonzo Camp. Venom was able to enroll 3 other kids for the 6pm Friday group. Kable 6th@ Drew 7th and Brenden 6th, plus Kim a soph @ Lewis University, which is Venom's 1st Rockford college kid.
So as mentioned earlier, when I rated a 9.5 rating of Venom's summer programs; here is where I have a slight problem with some parents. Of course I heard thru the season from many parents in my normal Rockford group thru the year saying [We hope your still around this summer! We hope you don't leave us! If you're here anytime this summer we will come! Well guess what\ if I calculate all my Rockford kids I had from Oct-Mar/ and calculate the percentage of the repeats kids for my Flodin summer program , then I had less than 20% . That's a tough percentage to swallow considering most of the parents committed verbally to me coming back in the late Spring and through the summer. Sad to report most kids not even showed up 1 time all summer. Of course I understand that Fridays are a tough day in the summer, many kids are dual sport kids, other sports camps, vacations, tournaments, etc; plus summer is fun time for a kid. But to not show up at least 1 time when I sent out written information and I personally called many if not all my Rockford parents directly, was disheartening to me. So we have to re-visit the ideal of; I commit to you and your child, then you are expected to commit to Venom Sports at least some time. Remember you are paying a great price for your child's instruction. I pride myself on being the cheapest, most qualified, value in your area. So Venom's model is we strive for more kids at a good affordable price, that way, not all my kids have to participate all the time, but at least sometimes, and we won't have to ever pressure you enroll your child weekly in Venom Sports. As one principal of a prominent Iowa high school told me this summer, kids and parents should be grateful I'm working with them. It's only a matter time and will be a day when some college, pro team, or high school will want to hire me away for their own program. So once again use me if I' m here.
2: Coach Bill Zonzo. Coach Bill is a great testament to what a sports coach should be today. I've watched and listened to him instruct parents and kids on how the game of sports should be played and coached. He stands for getting the kids better 1st, then winning. Its why he indicated to me in March he will put together a group of Rockford-Belvidere kids on any day I wanted to make it work for me and he guaranteed his 3 kids would be there. So hence the Belvidere group was grown. Every Friday in June-July for 8 weeks plus, at 3-4pm the Belvidere group was born. CJ 6th, Jess 7th, Billy 4yrs old, Ian 6th, Alexandria 7th, Ryan 6th. Now the Venom model is put into full effect, coach Earl doesn't have to worry about who or how many kids come to either session. The enrollment always changes from week to week. At the 3pm sessions maybe more kids are at the 6pm group or vice versa. Either way kids benefit, Coach Earl stands for working with 1 or 111 kids.
3: But Coach Zonzo wasn't done by any means. In one of the Belvidere group sessions in March, Ian and Alex grandmother mentioned I should put on a basketball camp. She was kind of scared that her grandkids were going to lose the progress they were making with Coach Earl if I went back to Iowa City for the summer. Of course a camp of any sort is very complicated from many aspects, sponsors, promotions, location, gym scheduling, graphics, trophies, certificates, t-shirts. Many parents don't understand this, so I jokingly mentioned in response, if I had a contact person to help me with it I'd consider it. Lord behold, who volunteered for this task, none other then Coach Zonzo. So being in the NBA from 1993-97 I ran my own camp in Iowa from 1994-98 and it was a bear from year to year, getting my contact person on the same page of all of those above topics. So let me say Coach Zonzo was great in achieving top notch satisfaction and professionalism in all the areas as he secured over 7 corporate sponsors. S the 1st ever Coach-Earl/Zonzo camp was born, we had 25 kids enrolled, not surprisingly over half were girls. I felt we did well considering the fact we competed against the Otter basketball and Bulls camp the same week, we were definitely pleased with our 1st year turnout. Coach Zonzo was in the front, back and where else he needed to be on the scene everyday. Weather picking up kids, dealing with the lunch crowd, sponsors, YMCA staff etc. Let me say for real, without a person in the trenches like Coach Zonzo [and his wife] it wouldn't and couldn't happen. {check the web site for the awards and kids who received them}
Quad Cities Area: Venom Sports would like to thank Coach Earl's youngest brother Dorian of Development [www.ball247.com] for entrusting Coach Earl with his kids he's trained thru the years training. Due to Dorian's new job back in the Naperville area his training time in the Quad Cities is severely cut down. Along enter Coach Earl's road trips back in forth with road trips from Iowa City to Rockford leading straight thru the Quad Cities. Coach Earl frequently stopped thru the Quad Cites usually on Fri, Sat. or Sun. The weekend group of younglings were: Caleb 5th, K.V. 5th; and promising 8th graders Jordan @ Wood, Zack @ John Deere, high schoolers Ally, 11th @ Dav. North; Shane, soph. @ UTHS. Later Shane's little brother Cody 7th was added and Jacob and Lucas. The highlights of the group was Paul Beyer, a frosh to be; who will attend Lehigh Univ. in the fall formerly of Moline HS{Coach Earl's high school} and Tyler formerly of Alleman and St Ambrose who is an aspiring pro to be in the Semi Pro leagues or overseas. Again Venom would like to thank Dorian Earl for starting and entrusting this group to Coach Earl.
Dorian also wasn't done working in the Quad Cities area. He has often had many good relationships with many coaches of schools, leagues, and AAU/traveling teams etc. Dorian made contact with 1 such coach Tony Ledbetter. When Coach Ledbetter was a Sr. and Coach Earl soph., used to battle as opposing centers in high school, at Rock Island and Moline respectively. Coach Ledbetter was gracious to let the Earl brothers consult and help run practices for Coach Ledbetters 16/under traveling team; Illinois Gunners. The Gunners were made up of many talented players from local Quad Cities schools such as Moline, Genesseo, Alleman, Rock Island, Davenport, etc. Coach Earl brought in a high level of basketball thinking, drills, specialty plays, and half court sets to this aspiring group of players looking to play significant roles for their varsity teams and go on to college. Interestingly both Paul and Tyler both played for the Gunners back in their AAU high school days. Coach Earl was able to place TJ on the team as the lone Iowa City player and Jordan and Zack on the practice squad to gain experience for next year's team. The Gunners finished the late summer very well in tournament play, finishing 3-1 in a local Quad City tourney and 4th place in the very famous and prestigious Rockford-Wildcat Classic 170 team boys/girls multi grade tourney.
What does Venom Sports have in store for the Fall? Check the web site for dates, times, prices, gym sites in your city. Iowa City-WED, Belvidere-FRI, is confirmed starting the 1st WED and Friday after Labor Day {6 weeks}. Call Carlos @ the Belvidere Y 815 547-5307 to register your child. For the Rockford program {4 weeks}, starting Oct. 22, 29th and Nov. 5th, 12th. E-mail basketball director Chuck L. for times /Clind1121@aol.com if you're a Flodin/Wildcat member to register your child for the Venom/Flodin-Wildcat Fall skills program. For non-Wildcat-Flodin members the cost is $75, and you can register directly with Coach Earl as he will schedule your child at the proper times.
Many parents and facilities people have asked what can we do to continue the program and progress the kids have gained in the summer. Well the answer is the Venom Sports Fall program is offering a 6 week program 1 day per week starting the week of Labor Day. Coach Earl believes most of the Venom kids need a strong fall skill continuation to prepare them selves properly for their fall hoops season. One of the major reasons other basketball hotbed areas across the country excel is that a Fall and Spring program is instituted in the kids hometown. Coach Earls wants to make sure that he gives every Venom kid a chance every week to improve and not lose their summer progress. Coach Earl has had many conversations with some parents about the importance of year round training and playing, and Coach Earl feels this is the 1st step in that path. The program will be broken down for 3 skill levels, grade school, Jr. High and high school. Boys and girls will be mixed together and kids may be moved up and down and moved around according to their skill levels and time availability. As it stands now, Wed. is Iowa City, Thurs. is Rockford and Belvidere will be Fridays. Quad Cities could be on Sundays. Check the Venom Sports website or with Coach Earl directly with times, prices, and sites. Checks will be payable directly to Venom Sports and parents must register their kids before or on the program 1st date. Late entries will only be added by a 25$ dollar per session fee, for kids and parents who can't make most of the training sessions.
Coach Earl will be doing some personal training sessions through the week in selected areas. Of course Coach Earl will have many of his ABA team commitments of team practices, home/away games, community appearances and meetings after Nov. 1st. As it stands Venom will have gym time on Sundays at the Rec. Center from 12-4pm for all the Iowa City area kids. As the year goes on Coach Earl will try to find open evenings thru the week where some sub groups can be formed like the 5pm, 6pm groups in Iowa City, and Saturday morning 10am and 11pm group in the Quad Cities. Check with Coach Earl with any ideas or insight or alternate gym sites you might know of or have access to.
Coach Earl would like to take this section to players that made significant strides and accomplished great hoops accomplishments. [Not in any order of importance]
In closing Coach Earl on behalf of Venom Sports would like to thank all of you for your participation, coaches, parents, and players. Without you all Venom Sports would not be as big as it is now. I thank you again for the great word of mouth and referrals you've given me thru the year. From all your referrals it will help keep your child's fee around the same price for a long time by giving Coach Earl more kids to work with. I look forward to a great fall-pre season and moving toward a winning and good season for all of you. As always feel free to call, email me with any training/team issues about your child, as well as any pictures, awards, achievements for the Venom web site.
Coach Earl as always plans to at least attend 1 game of your child, please email/call to relay your child's schedule. Coach Earl will also be available to help you as parents/coaches, to coach your child's team. In scouting many of the Venom Sports kids games this summer Coach Earl noticed many of the teams could've won more games if the teams would've had more offensive set, specialty plays, under/side out of bounds plays, zone offense/defenses and full/ 3 quarter press defenses or breakers. In the past Coach Earl has came to many of the kid's practices as a paid consultant to help tweak the parents and coaches practices to help the team play to its full potential. See Coach Earl for more details but prices range from 7-15 dollars per child per 1-2 hour team practice. Check the Venom website www.venomsportstraining.com for action pictures of your child working with Coach Earl and new information as the site updates monthly.
1: Scouting report\ any parent can pay Venom Sports $100 yearly to put a picture, bio information such as school, GPA, traveling team affiliation, awards/achievements and stats for your child. Many College, high school, and traveling team coaches search the Venom site to inquire about Coach Earl and his players.
2: Venom Sports Calendar- $20, Coach Earl's daughter Kenya is compiling pictures of all the Venom Sports kids in all the areas. Each kid will have their birthday highlighted in their respective month and their picture featured in their birth month.
3: Have your child's AAU/traveling team play an exhibition game before 1 of Coach Earl' ABA team in the Quad Cities. Also whole teams can field trip to a game through the season.
4: Controlled Scrimmages-Coach Earl is toying with the idea to in the grade/Jr. High group for 1 weekend day to randomly split the kids up and play. Coach Earl will hire coaches and refs to actively coach/teach kids while they play good habits and skills while we keep score. The idea is to teach the kids the right moves and skills to make so they can take those lessons to their school, league, and traveling teams. Prices would be double per child for each game day scrimmage of what you pay for individual training sessions.
5: Parents can advertise your business/trade on Venom's website and brochures. Coach Earl has advertise/sponsor places where you can promote your self in major areas where Coach Earl promotes and passes out flyers. Iowa City surrounding areas, Rockford, Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities, West Chicago suburbs. Brochure spaces are $35 and web site places are $75 for lifetime.
Sincerely,
Coach Acie Earl-Venom Sports
319 430-2537
coachaearl@aol.com