Looking at athletics in universities, most people see that the head coach of the team has most of the spotlight, followed by the players and then the assistant coaches. However, what most people do not see are some of the other people that contribute a lot to the success of the team. These people are none other that the graduate assistants. These assistants have a very busy schedule everyday and it gets even busier during the season.Everyday life for a graduate assistant is very fast passed and hectic.
During the season on an average day, these hard-working men wake up early in the morning to lift, so they can start the day off strong. Then like an average student they go to class the whole day. Once that is done they head right to the gym to help the any of the coaches out as well as the players. While in season these men have other jobs that do not come up everyday, but they do once in a while. For all games the grad assistants will help with the scouting report as well as the finding the right hotels and restaurants for the away games. Graduate assistant Ryan Richman is one of these men that work hard everyday to not only help himself but to help his team as well.
Richman also explains that his day to day schedule is never the same, there is always something new that comes up that he may need to handle. This could be training a player, helping the strength and conditioning coach with workouts, or just being there to talk to you.
While in season one of the main roles for Richman is helping with the scouting report.
The scouting report consists of three different keys. They include, figuring out the other teams plays, figuring out each player's tendencies, and finally teaching the scout team the other teams plays. To start the first part Richman watches hours of film to identify the other teams plays as well as the player tendencies. After this is done he helps create a video that shows the other teams plays as well as their players go to moves. He then creates a sheet of paper that gives the exact style that the player likes to play as well as his height, weight, year, and what his numbers are per game. Once this is finished Richman then goes out and helps the assistant coaches teach the scout team the other teams plays and in some cases runs them himself.
This is a very integral part in helping the team succeed during the season. Assistant coach of the University of Maryland, Orlando Ranson says, "no game in division one basketball is easy, you need to prepare every game like you playing the best team in the country." Without the scouting report any basketball team can beat anyone on any given day. That is why every team must go out and prepare and play like it is their last. Luckily, we have men like Richman that will go above and beyond to help his team.
After interviewing many different people about how to win a basketball game, Junior Samuel Krosnick's almost hit every single point necessary in the scouting report.
The only thing that Krosnick forgot about was teaching the scout team the opposing team's plays. Being an aspiring graduate assistant, Krosnick knows a lot of the ins and outs about basketball and the duties of being a graduate assistant. However, he did not even know all the necessary details that go into only on aspect of being a graduate assistant.
Before the season starts, Richman has to set up reservations for hotels to stay at and restaurants to eat at while traveling.
This is a key component of going to away games; this is because without this we cannot play on the road. The team and staff need to eat and have a place to stay to prepare for the game the following day. Since there are a lot of us with very strict dietary needs, Richman must collect as much information as he can in order to make sure that everything is good enough and right for the team. To do this he will not only look at plays in the area with good revues, but he will also ask friends, family, and work associates what places they know about in the area.
This job may sound simple, however it is not. There are a lot of different choices and Richman needs to pick the most suitable. This can sometimes be hard because he also has to abide by a budget that he is given by the university. This will then eliminate many different choices that he might have for hotels and restaurants.
Being a Graduate assistant is not a walk in the park. Richman has countless tasks that go beyond what has been discussed. At any given time Richman, along with the two other graduate assistants could be asked to do something to help out the coaching staff or the players. When this happens he must find a way to complete the task no matter how hard it is. This is because if he does not complete it then the whole team could be in jeopardy. Richman makes everyone's lives better that are associated with the team. Since he has put in all of this hard work it will help him with what he really wants to do and move higher up the coaching totem pole.
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