A REALISTIC APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP & YOUTH SPORTS
At Westwood Academy and the Warriors Basketball Club we understand that we are developing young minds and building future men and women, not just basketball players. We never lose sight of the fact that each child will one day be faced with real life challenges and situations. As such, we use the game of basketball as an avenue to communicate positive character traits that motivate our student athletes to become leaders inside and outside the gamut of basketball. We teach our players to learn how to become creators that are balanced emotionally and physically. Moreover, we preach the concepts of living in the gray, not the black or white of life. The path to success is sometimes littered with road blocks and obstacles. We believe in using failure and success on the basketball court as lessons for life. Our staff places a high priority on developing the emotional attributes of our players in combination with the physical skills needed to meet tough challenges on the court.
Our team culture and atmosphere is constructed with positivism and enthusiasm. We are passionate coaches that firmly believe that young people need mentors and not critics. We grasp that criticism is needed, however, so is praise. We try to always deliver a balance of each when speaking with our players. In addition, our program mantra is the true belief that “nothing great can be accomplished without enthusiasm.” Our teams are generally the loudest and most unified group in the gym. Our team's passion and enthusiasm translates into tremendous chemistry, which creates a fun and competitive environment for the kids and coaching staff.
Further, our goal is to foster and develop good character traits, such as work ethic, confidence, empathy, collaboration and emotional intelligence. We do this in a disciplined and structured environment. Our practices and classroom work are facilitated in a positive, authoritative, and interdependent atmosphere. We teach our players to share their knowledge the same way good classmates, teammates, and community member should for the betterment of all. 
Over the past 17 years we have been using these principles and can proudly say that the methods are proven to foster leadership qualities, critical thinking abilities and a creator mindset. Moreover, we are very proud to have helped mentor young student athletes that graduated from Westwood Academy and have gone on to become Police Officers, Firemen, Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Psychologists, Coaches, Teachers and even one NFL player. More importantly many if not all have be come good community members. Many of our former players come back and end up on our sidelines giving back to the next generation of Warriors. It is the most rewarding thing for us when we see something so great paid forward. As such our members understand the unity in community. We rest our heads knowing that as facilitators, coaches, mentors we can sleep well knowing we have conveyed the message the will endure for generations to come.
Our staff puts the time in to get to know the person as well as the player. We openly discuss the importance and real need for education. We explain that life is learned daily and learning never stops no matter what your age. Moreover, our kids know that a college degree is paramount to their success and survival in our current world. We preach this at every age level of our program, even as early as the 3rd and 4th grade. It is never to early to dream! AND dreams are a powerful tool that empower possibilities. Our concept is that a dream is a persons planned reality. You will see that results in our program are not measured in wins and losses, rather they are measured in the positive character traits of our student athletes and the achievements they make now and in the future. Winning games does happen frequently on our teams and is a bi-product of all of the above. There is a greater purpose in life and winning is only relative to one our personal happiness. We are in the happiness business.
Lastly, our coaches view ourselves as extended parents, so whether our players are in season or out, they know they can count on their Warrior family for support and guidance. What we want is simply the best for each child on and off the court.If you would like your child to learn the game of basketball in a supportive and structured atmosphere that applies a realistic approach to youth sports, then Westwood Academy and the Warriors Basketball Club is for you.
Sincerely,
Coach Rogers
Mentoring and our road to Westwood.
The greatest mentoring influence in our coaching staff has been the teachings of the late John R. Wooden. Coach Wooden truly understood that none of us are just born with character. “Character takes work and work takes character.” We grasp that same concepts and know that to help build character we must teach lessons, show patience, and teach our kids to embrace their failures as tool in their ladder to success. Moreover, like Coach Wooden we must invest ourselves in our student athletes to create interdependent relationships. Coach Wooden new that best and his relationship with his players lasted his entire lifetime. More importantly, his messages of leadership, faith and family are inspirations that will carry on in perpetuity. We share in that same notion and believe in giving our absolute best as mentors, coaches and people.
In tribute to the wizard of Westwood, as Coach Wooden was so affectionately and cleverly known, we call these principles of leadership theory Westwood Academy.
