Basketball Tips for Parents in the Youth Basketball League
Below are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we receive. If you don’t find the information you are looking for, please email the basketball supervisor, Kent Hengels or please call the Park District at (847) 381-0687.
PUT ME IN COACH, I’M READY TO PLAY!
Players who are registered after the deadline will be placed on teams, based on availability. Players will be assigned to teams in the order they registered. If all teams are full, players registered after the deadline will not be assigned to teams.
Please send a copy of your receipt to registration@barringtonparkdistrict.org for a refund. If you want to pay the D220 rate up front, you must send your form to registration@barringtonparkdistrict.org or stop by our front desk, located at 235 Lions Drive in Barrington. **This only applies to the 3rd-8th grade leagues (D-League fee is determined by resident status)
Unfortunately, we do not honor any friendship requests for any level. One of the goals of our recreational basketball league is to give the opportunity for players to meet new friends who share a similar interest. If your child is hesitant to play without a buddy on their team, please let them know that they will be on a team with 9 other kids who also enjoy playing basketball, so they are sure to make a new friend!
PRACTICE? WE TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE?
Your volunteer Coach will reach out to you when they receive the team rosters. Some coaches are able to send out correspondence as soon as they receive their team roster while others need time to get that communication out. Please be patient and give them a few days to reach out and make contact to all the players.
Practices MAY begin as early as 12/5/22 for some teams, but not every team will start practicing that week. Once enough volunteer head coaches are secured for your child’s grade level, team rosters will be finalized and sent to the coaches.
I have times reserved at Countryside, Grove, Lines, North Barrington, Prairie and Roslyn. Times may start as early as 6pm or as late as 8:15pm. We encourage our Coaches for younger teams to choose the earlier spots, but please understand that most of our Coaches have full-time jobs and families so they may have to choose a time and location that works best for their schedule.
Unfortunately, you cannot request a specific practice time/location. Rosters are made before the volunteer coaches pick their practice slots, so there is no way to assure a coach picks your requested slot.
Contact Kent Hengels immediately! There are always a handful of players who have practice times that do not work out with your schedule. As long as there is a child on another team, who has a similar evaluation score as your child, we can switch their teams. Please do not move your child to another team without Supervisor approval; doing this will create uneven teams (both with the amount of players, leading to unequal playing time as well as the overall skill levels of those teams).
LOOK GOOD, PLAY GOOD!
All players should wear their Team Uniform to games, as well as gym shoes. Comfortable shorts are recommended for games. Players can wear any athletic clothing to practices, and must be wearing gym shoes.
Once all the jerseys have arrived and been sorted for each level, they will be handed out to your Team Coach. Multiple sizes have been ordered for each team, and we encourage our Coaches to line the players up by height and distribute jerseys that way, to ensure each player gets a proper fitting jersey.
ROSTER CHECK
Players are assigned to teams based on the schools they attend, as well as the amount of volunteer head coaches from each school. Due to the uneven number of players and volunteer head coaches who sign up from each school, teams are usually a combination of players from multiple schools. For instance, if I have 20 players from Roslyn and 4 volunteer head coaches, I will have 5 Roslyn players per team (as opposed to 2 full Roslyn teams, which would leave those other 2 Roslyn with players from a different school than the one their child attends).
We have 2 days of evaluations and we HIGHLY encourage every player to attend. Evaluations are the best way to ensure teams are made as fairly as possible. After every child is evaluated on a 1-3 scale, they are assigned a position related to their skill and height. I will take the highest rated player and lowest rated player in each respective league and place them on the same team. Then I will take the 2nd highest rated and 2nd lowest rated players and put them on the next team. I continue doing this until all teams are formed. I make sure to give every team a player from the top and bottom levels of skill, as well as balance out the height of each team. Please note, when a player does not attend an evaluation, they are randomly assigned to a team and, depending on their skill and height, that has the chance to skew the overall team score in either a positive or negative way. So please do your best to get your child to the evaluations to help make every team as evenly matched as possible!
Could be a handful of reasons. (1) Rosters for the different grade levels go out at different times (once all volunteer coaches have been secured at that level), and your level may not have enough coaches yet. (2) All coaches are volunteers, most of whom have full-time jobs and families so please be understanding that they will reach out to you at their earliest convenience. (3) We may have your email/phone # listed incorrectly on the roster.
Unfortunately, no. Our league is purely recreational and moving players up a level creates unneeded stress. We want all our players to just go out on the court, and have some fun playing with their peers. If your child skill level is well above the league average, we recommend looking into travel/feeder opportunities in the Barrington area.
GAME TIME, WOO!
1st/2nd Grade Boys & Girls – 8ft.
3rd – 8th Boys & Girls – 10ft.
1st/2nd Grade Boys & Girls – 27”
3rd – 5th Grade Boys – 28”
3rd – 8th Grade Girls – 28”
7th/8th Grade Boys – 29”
Each team will play 8 regular season games. Each team will also be guaranteed 2 games in the playoffs, although it is NOT a double-elimination tournament.
A GOOD COACH CAN CHANGE A GAME, A GREAT COACH CAN CHANGE A LIFE!
Please fill out a Coaching Application, found on our website or at our front desk. The league supervisor will confirm your spot.
Two hours per week, that’s it! Each team has 1 practice and 1 game per week. The coach will get to choose their practice time and location at the coach’s meeting.
Not at all! If you watch any NBA or NCAA games, you already know enough to coach at the recreational level. The most important thing is to keep practices and games fun! Also, the League Supervisor is always available to help answer any questions, as well as provide you with a TON of practice ideas.