EP161: High School Coach of the Year Carson Huelle on Applying CLA Principles

About this episode

Carson Huelle discusses the implementation of Constraints Led Approach principles in high school basketball coaching.

In this episode, George is joined by Carson Huelle, head coach of Fort Collins High School Girls Basketball. They talk about implementing constraints led approach (CLA) principles into his practice environment; this has fostered a player-first culture rooted in trust, growth, and creativity that led to a successful turnaround season. Chapters: 00:01:00 – Returning to coach at his alma mater, Fort Collins High School, and taking on his first head coaching role 00:02:00 – How skill acquisition and the Constraints-Led Approach became central to daily practice plans 00:03:30 – Lessons learned from working with Jeff Schmidt and how mentorship reshaped his basketball philosophy 00:06:30 – Practical small-sided games coaches can use to teach offensive actions like ball screens, Zoom action, and spacing 00:09:30 – Using fast-break scenarios and finishing games to develop decision-making and scoring creativity 00:13:00 – What it means to "meet athletes where they're at" and why every player needs to be coached differently 00:16:15 – How player empowerment, trust, and culture fueled a dramatic team turnaround 00:20:40 – Why Carson would add even more chaos and game-like environments into…

People in this episode

Host: George

Guest: Carson Huelle

Topics covered

• Constraints Led Approach
• player empowerment
• coaching philosophy
• basketball practice
• team culture
• skill acquisition

Keywords

• basketball
• coaching
• CLA principles
• player-first culture
• skill acquisition
• team turnaround
• mentorship

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Fort Collins High School, Jeff Schmidt

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