Youth Basketball: Free Clinics tonight & next week; Register now for Town and Travel; Travel tryouts start 9/22

Above: Time to sign up for Travel and/or Town youth basketball. If you are doing that, you can also sign up for free pre-season clinics tonight and next Tuesday. (Photo left contributed, right by Joao Melo)

Fall sports are underway. That means it’s already time to start planning for kids’ winter sports.

Southborough Youth Basketball registration for 1st – 8th grade is now open. They asked me to share the news.

(Note: For information on Southborough Recreation’s program for even younger players, click here and search for “Biddy Basketball”. There’s one starting in November and another session in January.)

In checking on this year’s registration details, I came across info on free pre-season clinics offered tonight and next Tuesday night.

The clinics are only for players who register to play for SYBA this year on a Town and/or Travel team:

SYBA is holding two, FREE Pre-Season Basketball Clinics for any prospective town or travel players in grades 4 to 8. If you are planning to participate in the travel tryouts, these clinics will be a great opportunity to prepare for the sessions, shake the rust off from last season and have some fun. To be eligible to participate in this FREE clinic, you must register here AND be registered for either town or travel (or both) basketball. Each player should bring a basketball (with his or her name on it!), if possible. Spaces will be limited to 40 players per session.

Tuesday, 9/10 at Trottier
Boys and Girls Grades 4 and 5 from 6:00pm to 7:15pm
Boys and Girls Grades 6, 7 and 8 from 7:30pm to 9:00pm

Tuesday, 9/17 at Trottier
Boys and Girls Grades 4 and 5 from 6:00pm to 7:15pm
Boys and Girls Grades 6, 7 and 8 from 7:30pm to 9:00pm

Registration is requested. Click here to signup.

Now here are details on the Town and Travel programs.

The season is expected to begin mid-November. The registration deadline is October 2oth, but players seeking to join the travel team need to act this month.

Town Program (grades 1-8 for Girls and Boys)

All children of all skill levels are encouraged to learn the game, have fun and socialize with friends. All children play an equal amount.

• Practice for most grades generally begins mid-November though games don’t begin until December 7th. The season ends February 22nd.
• 1st Grade – play in a clinic format on Saturday mornings (no weekday practice). 
• Grades 2-6 – mid-week evening practice, teams have Saturday games in Town (except if plans are made to play against other towns in particular grades.)
• Grades 7-8 – mid-week evening practice, Tuesday night games at Trottier, Saturday games at Algonquin. Playoffs follow the regular season.
• Fees:
  • Grades 1-3: $90 per player ($10 sibling discount)
  • Grades 4-8: $120 per player ($10 sibling discount)

Travel Program (grades 4-8 for Girls and Boys) 

Optional program for children interested in pursuing more competitive basketball. Players are selected through a tryout process. 

• Tryouts will be held on Sunday, September 22nd and the week of September 23rd
• Season runs from December 7th through March 1st. Playoffs are scheduled for the week of March 1st.
• Travel teams play games on Sundays and practice one to two nights per week. Expect 12 games with about half in town.
• Minimum playing time is 50% for 4th graders and about 40% for older players with discretion of coaches based on competitive play.
• Again this season, not all grades will require travel players to also play town basketball. (Sounds like that means some grades still may. It’s also possible that not all grades will have both a boys and girls travel team. It will depend on the number of players who tryout.)
• To tryout – players must be previously registered for town basketball or be named to a team (unless specific permission is otherwise granted).
• Fees:
  • Travel ONLY Basketball – $250
  • COMBINED Town and Travel – $320
  • (Players who register for Travel but don’t make a team will have fees applied to Town and the difference refunded.)

For more details on the SYBA program, or to register, visit southboroughbasketball.org. If you have any questions, please email southborobasketball@gmail.com.