Caleb Hugh is the head coach of the Loyalist Lancers women’s basketball team; he says his coaching career started out because of his love of the game. When he was in high school, he helped coach a lot of youth leagues, he recalls helping his father coach at Tyendinaga Public School when he was a teenager. The practices were at 7 a.m., so Caleb would help coach for an hour and then his father would drop him off at high school, he says after classes he would go to his practice, Caleb jokes that it was kind of a selfish way of getting more hours in at the gym.
Caleb says that most importantly, he values the relationships he has built and maintained as a coach. He tells his players that basketball is a family thing and Caleb truly believes that, after all he met his wife through coaching and now, they have a three-and-a-half-month old little girl who he says was born into the basketball family.
Caleb says one of the biggest challenges for him as a coach is patience and realizing that he can’t solve every problem. He said a lot of the time he goes home after a loss and watches the game tape and takes pages worth of notes. He says it is also important to stay true to yourself and maintain your vision, along with confidence.
Caleb says if you are considering becoming a coach, just do it, jump in. But remember how important it is to communicate and make it fun.
As a coach, he is most proud of the relationships that he has been able to build, form and maintain through basketball. Caleb says that he believes whatever you put in, you get back and he says he has put in a lot of time and love with the sport and has received back for sure.
