IS YOUR SON READY FOR 7TH OR 8TH GRADE NOVEMBER PRACTICES?
At ABI, 7th and 8th grade represents the Confidence & Team Entry Level of our player development pyramid. It will help him attend November’s first practice having already experienced situations that cause young players to become nervous. November will arrive quickly. Let's help your son enter practice and the season with the confidence to use what he knows.
Continuously Preparing to Better Prepare
Coach Paul Houlsen's commitment to youth development reaches far beyond the basketball court. Through coaching, teaching, community engagement, international academic presentations, and continuous study of leadership and human development, he is constantly expanding the knowledge and experiences he brings to Alabama Basketball Institute. His work reflects a belief that basketball can be one of the most powerful classrooms for teaching confidence, leadership, resilience, emotional control, and character. As he continues to grow professionally, ABI continues to grow. Ensuring youth players develop, prepare, and compete for success on the court and throughout life.
Only Serious Parents Need Apply
ABI's recruiting methods have been wrong for the last two years. We have been recruiting 5th grade players instead of 5th grade parents.
We have researched the top five parenting traits and discovered a family possessing these traits can often turn an average 5th-grade basketball player into an exceptional high school player.
Many talented players disappear because of family instability, unrealistic expectations, poor attendance, coach-parent conflict, or a lack of long-term commitment. Therefore, the highest-ranked traits are those that sustain development over 8–9 years.
For a program like ABI, the ideal parent is not the loudest parent in the gym or the parent with the most basketball knowledge. The ideal parent is the one who can commit to an 8-year developmental process, trust the coaching, reinforce accountability at home, and help their son grow into a confident, disciplined leader regardless of where basketball ultimately takes him.
Our Student Athletes will all "Become Complete"
ABI's Evolution
Basketball skills alone do not determine a child's future success. As ABI continues to evolve, we are taking another step toward becoming more than a basketball training organization. Beginning this year, ABI will begin assessing three important characteristics that research has shown to be strongly connected to long-term success: Grit, Confidence, and Resilience.
These assessments are intended to help us understand where each athlete begins and how they develop over time. Just as we track shooting percentages, ball-handling skills, speed, and agility, we believe it is valuable to track important personal qualities that influence performance in sports, school, and life.
Our goal is to develop young people who are prepared to accomplish meaningful goals, believe in their ability, and manage difficult situations. If we can accomplish that, basketball training will continue benefiting ABI players beyond the game.