BOYS' YOUTH BASKETBALL
Welcome to the Recreation Department’s Boys' Youth Basketball program!
Program Information
For all divisions except for Suburban Basketball, your coach will contact you regarding your first practice time (we cannot accept requests for days of the week due to the amount of kids in the program). The number of practices a team has each week may vary due to gym availability and age level. Our rules are specifically designed for your child’s age group and/or ability level. We will do our best to avoid scheduling games or practices during your child’s St. Pats or St. Teresa’s religious education classes. Players are not permitted to play for both St. Pats and a Recreation Department team (per both programs rules).
If practice or a game is canceled, the coach will contact you within an appropriate time period. You can also call the cancellation hotline at 538-5005 in cases of extreme weather. Please do not call the Recreation Department office as we will not know your coaches plans during marginal weather. Due to school policy, if school is closed due to weather, holidays or any other reason, practices or games will be cancelled during the evening unless your coach notifies you otherwise. Vacation week practices may be held during the morning as the schools are only available until 2pm.
Several different basketball options exist for South Hadley Recreation participants. Please review each to decide which is best for your child:
Kindergarten: This in town division is co-ed and players compete with other kindergarteners only. Teams will meet two times per week and will play mini-games on the weekends, mainly Saturday late morning or early afternoons. The focus of this age group is fun! We hope to introduce the kids to the basic skills and fundamentals of basketball and teamwork while providing some physical activity. This division uses a lower hoop and junior sized ball. Each player will receive a team tee shirt. Games/practices will be held at the Mosier and Plains Schools.
Grade 1: This in town division is co-ed and players compete with other players in first grade only (we may combine with grade 2 if registration numbers require that). Teams should meet two times per week (once during the week and once on weekends) and will play games on the weekends, mostly on Saturday afternoon. The focus of this age group is fun! We hope to build upon the basic skills and fundamentals of kindergarten basketball and progress into more organized games. This division uses a lower hoop and junior sized ball. Each player will receive a team tee shirt. Games/practices will be held at the Mosier and Plains Schools.
Grade 2: This in town division is co-ed and players compete with other players in second grade (we may combine with grade 1 if registration numbers require that). Teams will meet 2-3 times per week and will play games on the weekends (and maybe a few weeknights). Weekend games will be played on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The focus of this age group is fun! We hope to build upon the basic skills and fundamentals of first grade basketball. This division uses a lower hoop and junior sized ball. Each player will receive a team tee shirt. Games/practices will be held at the Mosier and Plains Schools.
Grades 3/4: The 3/4th basketball league is separated by gender into two separate leagues; one for boys and one for girls. The teams will meet 2-3 times per week and will play games during the week and on weekends. This division will require some travel to other towns such as Granby, Belchertown or Monson. Players will use a modified junior basketball and the hoop height is set at 10 feet. Players will receive a team tee shirt. Home games and practices will be held at the Middle, Mosier and Plains Schools.
Grades 5/6 & 7/8 Recreation: Players that are not interested in trying out for the Suburban basketball teams are invited to play in this division. Games will be played against other towns such as Belchertown, Monson, Granby, and Palmer. Games will be played on the weekends and some weeknights. Emphasis will still be on skill development and fun while introducing kids to more competitive play. Girls and boys in grades 5/6 will use a 28.5 basketball and boys in grades 7/8 will use a regulation men’s basketball. Home games and practices will be played at the Middle, Mosier and Plains schools.
Suburban Basketball: The Suburban Basketball League is the most competitive travel league in the Pioneer Valley. It is made up of strong competition from surrounding towns in Western Mass who showcase their best talent in these divisions. The league is open to both boys and girls in grades 5/6 and 7/8. The season includes practices, games, tournaments, and playoffs and runs from early November into March. This is a higher level of basketball than the recreation league and CYO; therefore tryouts will be held to set the team rosters. Our tryouts are conducted by an independent panel of evaluators who are not affiliated with any of the players or the program.
We are looking for boys and girls in grade 5 through 8 to represent the Town of South Hadley. We provide our teams with some of the nicest facilities to use home games, as the boys play at South Hadley High School and the girls use Kendall Hall at Mount Holyoke College.
DARE Basketball: For information regarding our high school intramural program, please refer to our DARE information sheet.
Coaches: As always, we need coaches for our teams so don’t hesitate to volunteer! If you are interested in coaching, please indicate that on the registration form. We will contact you with the specific meeting dates once the season approaches. Coaching youth sports is a very rewarding activity.
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