About Us

Meet Your Coaching and Training Team

Head Coach Chris Corbett

Playing Career 

• Grew up in the playgrounds of NYC playing with and learning from (and getting his butt kicked) by players like Mark Jackson, Kenny Smith, Chris Mullin and more.
• UMaine at Fort Kent – Point Guard
• Has trained and played with hundreds of NBA players in summer leagues and gyms.
• Still trying to play and makes many of the same mistakes your kids do!

Coaching Career

• Multiple Youth Basketball Leagues and Community Services
• Basketball Camps Director from Maine to California to Texas
• Founder & Director of Player Development for Austin Youth Basketball focused on skill development of thousands of kids.
• Principal BasketballHQ.com
• Principal Coachtube.com 
• Provider of Basketball Clinics for Dripping Springs Youth Sports Association
• His work in basketball has been endorsed by NBA and WNBA players, by NBA scouts, by college coaches, and by thousands of families like yours.
• Trains college teams like the University of Maine at Fort Kent

 

Assistant Coach Doug Kley

• High school player
• Duke University -1990 BS Electrical Engineering
•  Football – 2 year starter at defensive tackle, including on the 1989 ACC Championship team
•  1st team Academic All-American 1989
•  Harvard Business School – 1994 MBA
• Have worked for 25 years in management and executive positions, including the last 16 as owner of companies in Austin and San Antonio with approximately 75 employees
• Wife Rachel, daughter Natalie, son Charlie

This from Coach Chris on Coach Doug:

First off Doug is a Fierce competitor.  He is one of the best rebounders I have ever played with or against.  He is also intelligent, strong, kind, humble  and happy.  Doug did a great job as our assistant coach in the Fall season.  Despite his basketball proficiency, Doug was a collegiate football player at Duke University.

Doug is extremely capable as a head or assistant coach, but loves working with the players as a teacher on the bench as they learn during the game.  He is also a never ending positive force and a calm balance to my fiery style.  Coach Doug and I recently sat down to discuss what we can offer the girls.   He really stressed that despite some big wins, it was the camaraderie and mutual respect that he experienced during his collegiate athletic career that he wishes our players to experience.   

 

Team Administrator & CFO (Chief Fun Officer)  Heather Corbett

She is Fierce.  Say no more.

Select Basketball in Austin Philosophy for Your Players

We have a distinct set of beliefs for Austin Girls select basketball.   Our girls need coaches dedicated to helping them become winners before we focus on winning.   They deserve coaches who can see the winner inside them and give them the guidance with encouragement, expertise, and accountability to become passionate about growing and reaching toward their goals.   They also deserve a team dedicated in both expertise and hours to teaching skill development rather than talking about “fundamentals.”

• The Fierce plays full court man to man defense.   Period.  We know this will hurt our win / loss record.  But it lays a foundation that our players will thank us for as varsity or college athletes.  We went to the Bowie Westlake girls Varsity game last week.  The reality is unless you can play aggressive, on balance, in a stance defense… there is no place for you on the roster.
• The Fierce plays aggressively and will spend less focus on control and instead place a greater emphasis on forward looking fast break offense.   The players will benefit by increasing their athleticism greatly over other players stuck running control based slowdown offense.
• The Fierce is a family.  Players will respect each other.  Hidden agendas and rooting against other players is not tolerated.   By parents or players.   Our players are a family.  And their families are part of that family.  Communication should be transparent.   Hidden agendas are natural, but not healthy.  The coaching staff must remain open to questions and problems of parents in order to keep communication healthy.
• Our job is to teach vision with assertive, collaborative decision making.   We coach to guide and support, not turn players into robots  running our “offensive” plays.
• We play position-less basketball.  Yes, our taller players need to rebound, but so do our smaller players.   And if your player works hard on ball handling, we don’t tell them they can’t dribble because they play center.   Everyone can shoot threes.   We spend more time teaching skills that support their basketball dreams than telling them what they can’t do.
• We give players platform not ceilings.   When it comes to what they can and can’t do… there is yet and not yet.  There is no can’t.  That said, playing time is earned, not a given.  Just like life.  Because we full court press in man to man, with a focus on quality of 100% effort minutes over quantity of minutes, most of our players have been happy with their playing time.   We are preparing these ladies for Varsity basketball and life.
• We coach with Passion | Purpose | Power.   We expect the same effort from our players.  Your children will know the meaning of all in.  We consistently help them dig deeper to move their effort meter and turn effort into a skill.
• We believe loyalty and the “family” of a team is a two way street.   Meaning your players are lucky to play with us.   But we are lucky to have coachable, fierce young women play for us.   We don’t take this lightly.  We see our players as the most important thing on the court at all times.   We see them as individuals that choose to come together as a team.  The rules are the same for all, how we get them there can be a customized path for each player.
• We believe in a competitive spirit that is Fierce, Focused, and Fun.  We don’t believe in the assassin type mentality we see glamorized in sports.   Players can be fierce and smile.   You can pick up an opponent you knocked over.   You can be happy 10 minutes after a loss.  We also create toughness.  Toughness that these girls can use the rest of their playing days, but more importantly in their lives.   They will face anxiety and stress in their schools, careers, families, and in our world.  We help use the hectic game of basketball as a real life classroom often lacking in the schools.   We will teach them what it means to balance being a good teammate while still choosing to stand out from the pack.
• We believe fun and friendships are a very critical element of this and are thankful for parents that support that theme.   Thank you to our newly appointed CFO (Chief Fun Officer) Heather Corbett.  Thank you also to parents like Kara Fields for the Fun support at her pool party etc.    We have an ideas list of fun events we will choose from with parent and player feedback.
• We have been part of the training process of many young women who go on to college players.  We are proud of all of them.  If and when your child decides that is a goal, we will be there to guide you so they may move on to places like University of Texas, Columbia University, Maryville University, Colorado College, and Hendrix College where we currently have players recruited and playing.  We see all of these girls as potential college athletes if they are determined.   The odds against it are huge… only 2% of Varsity players can continue on to college basketball.   But we like to overcome odds.

We Are Fierce.