Basketball Supplement Sports

A. Introduction: The purpose of this section is to provide detail guidance for the basketball program so it follows the overall School Athletic Program Guidelines and Goals. The basketball program is broken down into three sections: Little Dribblers, JV and Varsity.

B. Little Dribbler: Little Dribblers is a non-competitive recreational program for grades 1-4. The overall purpose of this program is for students to have fun while developing basketball skills, teamwork, and a sense of community spirit.

1. There are 8 separate teams divided by grade and gender.

2. The students normally practice 1 to 2 times a week and play a game on Saturday. Practices are normally 30 to 45 minutes long and occur after school. The games are one hour long, 10-15 minute warm-up and then as many 5 minute periods that can be played before the hour is over. Players should be rotated at the end of each period so that all participants have equal playing time.

3. All teams play on lowered baskets (8 to 8½ feet) and use a junior size basketball.

4. There is no tracking of score.

5. All 1st and 2nd grade teams, boys and girls, will play a modified zone defense. The defense will be a 1-2-2 alignment with one player at the top of the key, one player at each elbow, and one player on each block. Defensive players may not leave their designated defensive area.

6. All 3rd and 4th grade teams, boys and girls, will play man-to-man defense.

a. There is no full court press.
b. No double-teaming.
c. No reaching in, defense may not steal the ball from a player with the ball.
d. Defense may steal the pass.

7. Coaches should do their best to give all players at least one opportunity to score in every game.

8. The season for the program will begin in January and end in March.

C. Junior Varsity: Junior Varsity is a competitive and recreation league for grades 5-6. It is divided into 2 divisions: JV Rec and JV Comp. The season starts the 1st Monday following November 15th and ends in March.
 
1. JV Rec allows the 5th Grade students to transition from Little Dribbler to a more competitive program.

a. The students practice 2 to 3 times a week and play one game a week. Practices are 1½ hours long and occur per the attached schedule.

b. Scores are kept during the game, but there are no league standings.

c. All players must play during the game. Playing time is to be determined by the coach. The coach should strive to balance the playing time.

d. JV Rec may play in one tournament during the season.

e. If there are enough 6th grade students for the JV Comp team and there are 14 or more students on the JV Rec team then 2 JV Rec teams can be formed. How the students are divided  into teams will be determined by the coaches and Athletic Director.

2. JV Comp allows the 6th grade students to play at a competitive level.

a. The students practice 2 to 3 times a week and play one game a week. Practices are 1½ hours long and occur per the attached schedule.

b. Scores are kept during the game and league standings are maintained.

c. All players must play during the game. Playing time is determined by the coach.

d. JV Comp may play in three tournaments during the season not including TOC.

e. If there are enough 5th grade students for the JV Rec team and there are 14 or more students on the JV Comp then 2 JV Comp teams can be formed. How the students are divided into teams will be determined by the coaches and Athletic Director.

f. If there are not enough students to form either a JV Rec from the 5th grade or JV Comp from the 6th grade then tryouts will be performed as the 7th and 8th grades.

g. Both girls and boys will play on a 10 foot goal and use 28.5 in. circumference ball.

D. Varsity: Varsity is a competitive and recreation league for grades 7-8. The league is broken into Varsity Rec and Varsity Comp. The season starts the 1st Monday following November 15th and ends in March. In order to balance skill levels, playing time, competitiveness and to encourage participation, all students in the 7th and 8th grade wishing to play basketball will tryout for the teams. All students wishing to play basketball will play. The number of students trying out for basketball will determine the number of teams.  There will be one Varsity Comp boy’s and one Varsity Comp girl’s team. If there are enough students to form another team (14 or more) then a Varsity Rec team will be formed.

1. Tryouts: Tryouts will occur during the two weeks prior to the start of the basketball season.

a. There will be six 1½ hour sessions used to evaluate the students. The sessions will be set-up similar to a practice session which will include exercises and scrimmages. At the end of the session the coaches will evaluate each student in eight areas (dribbling, passing, shooting, rebounding, defense, court/team awareness, endurance and enthusiasm) on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being best.

b. At the end of the 6th session the coaches will assign the students to a team. If two teams, Varsity Comp and Varsity Rec are formed, the 7 to 10 students with the highest evaluation will be assigned to the Varsity Comp team and the remaining students will be assigned to the Varsity Rec team. Players will be notified individually of team assignment. If there are enough students, a third team could be formed. What type of team this would be, Comp or Rec, would be determine by the Coaches and Athletic Director.

c. If after the evaluation there are several students equal in ability vying for spots on the Varsity Comp team, the 8th grade student will be given priority.

d. If a 8th grader is assigned to the Varsity Rec team and they wish to play on the Varsity Comp team they may do so as long as there are enough students on the Varsity Rec team without transferring another player from the Varsity Comp team to the Varsity Rec team. The 8th grader must also understand that because of the competitive nature of the Varsity Comp playing, time could be limited.

2. Varsity Rec: Varsity Rec allows 7th and 8th grade students an opportunity to play organized basketball without some of the pressures of comp. Players at this level are afforded more playing time than they might receive at the comp level.

a. The students practice 3 to 4 times a week with the Varsity Comp team and play one game a week. Practices are 1½ hour long and occur per the attached schedule.

b. Scores are kept during the game, but there are no league standings.

c. All players must play during the game. Playing time is to be determined by the coach. The coach should strive to balance the playing time.

d. Varsity Rec may play in one to two tournaments during the season.

3. Varsity Comp: Varsity Comp allows 7th and 8th grade students an opportunity to play organized basketball that improves their skills and helps them prepare for the next level of competition

a. The students practice 3 to 4 times a week with the Varsity Rec team and play one game a week. Practices are 1½ hour long and occur per the attached schedule.

b. Scores are kept during the game and league standings are maintained.

c. All players must play during the game. Playing time is determined by the coach.

d. Varsity Comp may play in three tournaments during the season, not including TOC.

4. Varsity girl’s teams will use a 28.5” circumference ball and Varsity boy’s teams will use a 29.5” circumference ball.

E. Coaches: The previous year coach is given priority for coaching the current year’s team. The Varsity Comp and Varsity Rec coaches will be determined between the coaches who coached the year before and the coaches moving up from JV Comp. The Varsity Comp coach will normally be the senior grade parent (i.e. 8th grade parent) and the Varsity Rec coach will normally be the junior grade parent (i.e. 7th grade parent).

F. Facilities: Use of the gym is according to the attached schedule. An effort will be made to resolve any schedule conflicts with coaches. Changes to the schedule must be agreed to by the coaches and approved by the Athletic Director. The schedule goes into effect at the beginning of the season and continues through the season until TOC’s are complete; this includes any holidays. Any time not covered by the attached schedule must be coordinated on the schedule maintained in the administration office. Some practice times will be effected by school functions that have priority. These functions will be noted on the schedule maintained in the administrative office. The gym will be opened and closed by a member of the sports committee. Committee member having responsibility for that week will be noted on the calendar in the administrative office.

G. Uniforms: Little Dribblers will use their school PE clothes as uniforms. The JV and Varsity teams will be issued uniforms, after winter sport fees have been paid, in November to be used during the season. At the completion of the season the uniforms will be returned. Failure to return a uniform will prevent a player being issued a uniform the next year or a diploma for 8th graders graduating that spring.