I helped coach a bunch of 7-9 year olds a couple of years ago -- none had any experience playing organized basketball, so we had to literally start from scratch. We had 10 kids, so we spent the first couple of practices just teaching rules and drilling on dribbling, passing, and defending -- just a very little bit of shooting. For the first game, we gave them each a number and a place to stand, and felt pretty good about them getting to the right spot on each trip. From that, we expanded out into marginally more complicated things as the weeks passed. The second week we worked more on shooting, but added rebounding. The next week, we started talking about screens and so on. It was kind of interesting to watch, because a team that lost 26-2 in its first game, ended up winning two of its last three.
I would definitely agree with those who say to take it easy with them and help them to enjoy learning about the game.
