Program Information
Program Mission
The women in the program will excel in the classroom, on the court, and in the community. Passion, confidence, intelligence, unselfishness and fundamentals are the corner stones of the program. The players and coaches will work together to create a culture that is positive and nurturing to all its members. Consistent preparation and continuous improvement in both mind and body will be the main goal for every person, every day.
Scheduling Topics: (website www.aaskylinebasketball.com “CALENDAR”)
Commitment: Athletes are expected to be at all team events. Family is first, academics are second and the basketball team should be third. We will work with students and families to be flexible and all effort should be made to be at ALL scheduled team events.
Practice: The basketball season is Nov-Mar. Some weekend practices/games do occur. Practice times during the week try to have younger players go after school most days. Sometimes later practices will be needed. Every effort will be made by the coaching staff to start practice on time and end on time. Please have rides arranged at the scheduled times. Coaches must wait until the last player leaves. Please work out rides ahead of time when needed. AFTER SCHOOL, PLAYERS AT SCHOOL MUST BE WITH A TEACHER, IN THE LIBRARY OR AT PRACTICE. PLAYERS MAY GO HOME AND THEN COME BACK FOR PRACTICE. PLAYERS CAN NOT JUST HANG OUT AT SCHOOL AROUND THE BUILDING.
Away Games: Students are expected to ride the team bus to the game if provided. If a parent wants to take their child home after an away game from the site of competition on a weeknight, it is allowed and you MUST inform the coach. We hope all players will attend varsity games especially on weekend nights. If a player leaves from another city with an adult that is not related to them then there must be written permission signed by their parent allowing it. AWAY GAMES IN WASHTENAW COUNTY DO NOT GET AAPS BUSES AND REQUIRE PLAYERS TO FIND A WAY THERE AND BACK.
School Breaks: Please know that varsity basketball games are scheduled during school breaks over Thanksgiving and winter breaks. These are opportune times for scrimmages and high-level competition showcases. As you move up the program, please take note of what varsity does so expectations are understood.
State Tournament: We will play in the Class A State Tournament.
Academics/Eligibility
Student grades are checked at the end of the first trimester and every 3 weeks during the season for eligibility. Players below academic requirements must have arrangements to get help and get back on track.
1) Players must be passing 4 classes at grade checks to be eligible. While ineligible, students will be required to make arrangements to get help like go to the ARC after school until they become eligible. Grades are checked each Friday for that player for the following weeks eligibility.
2) Maintain Amateur Status: Athletes cannot accept cash or any
item valued over $25 for anything sport related.
3) Early school dismissals are possible for some away games. We need to work together with the teachers to ensure that these players stay in very good standing in these classes and get the assignments before leaving and turn in required assignments before leaving.
Study halls may be scheduled in Coach Lovelace’s classroom during the season in addition to the ARC in the library to help players struggling academically.
Team Size and Selection Criteria
The evaluation for team selection will be done by the entire staff for each level with lots of notes and discussion. Many factors will influence the decision as to who makes the teams such as; shooting/scoring, defense, ball handling, court awareness, passing, speed, passion, confidence, coachability, team chemistry and GPA. When selecting the team, determining the most cohesive and successful mix of players for each level along with looking at what is the best for each individual player is the goal.
Player movement between levels during the season is possible and will depend upon merit, need and/or team chemistry.
Playing Time
The coaching staff will try to get all players into each game. There is no guarantee that this will happen. The coaching staff will not discuss playing time with parents. We will discuss playing time with the players. This is working to be a highly competitive program and is not a recreational basketball team where everyone plays. For varsity competition, the goal for every game is to win the game and we will play our best mix of players to win the game first. More emphasis will be put on getting everyone into games at the junior varsity and freshmen levels but playing time will not be equal for all and some may not play. There is also a 5 quarter rule allowed now for players to possibly play in two games in a day for a total of 5 quarters.
Award Criteria
All players in good standing at the end of the season will receive either a Varsity or JV award. Players must maintain player status and be with the team until the end of the year to receive their award. To receive a varsity award, a player must be in uniform for 4 varsity games or have a very significant impact, as decided on by the coaching staff, on state tournament game(s) after having been moved up at the end of the season.
** Please note the athletic dept. guidelines for ordering letter jackets colors.
Off Season Expectations
Introduction: We support athletes playing multiple sports. We do not expect the players in the basketball program to focus entirely on basketball all year long. We encourage players to play multiple sports. If a basketball player participates in a fall or spring sport, then they will be expected to focus on that sport during the respective season. If players are not playing a sport, then we expect them to come to scheduled workouts that focus on strength, quickness and fundamentals. Players should be active and working to improve. In the summer, we will cooperate with coaches from the other sports so that the athletes can split time to work in all desired programs.
Fall/Spring Expectations:
All players who are not playing another sport will be highly encouraged to lift weights, attend conditioning and speed/quickness sessions 2-4 days a week. We have basketball specific strength and conditioning programs. We will have scheduled 4-person skill workouts as gym time and player availability are possible.
Summer Expectations for returning program players:
The emphasis for the summer program for returning players will focus on improving fundamentals, improving team chemistry and having our new senior class learn to take leadership of the program while playing high level competition. We feel the spring/summer/fall months are a great opportunity to improve game play and fundamentals. Our summer program will include high level competitions mostly occurring in June after school gets out and we will have a major focus on player fundamental development. Full summer practices begin the Monday after Memorial Day with scrimmages throughout June and the summer program may possibly go into mid July.
Fundraising and the Basketball Program Player Fee is in addition to the district $250 “Pay To Play” amount required before tryouts.
This player fee supports our individual program and covers what is given to the players during the season for them to keep. Families can write a check made payable to: SABC or donate through our donation drive online. If families are in financial need, we will offer various ways to help the players earn the money to cover their player fee:
i) You can apply for a $150 player scholarship through SABC. You can email me requesting financial support and I will pass the information onto SABC.
ii) Online donations from family and friends. Link to be sent out soon.
iii) Depending on fundraising needs, we will work to schedule volunteering opportunities during the season to help earn money for our program.
** We also accept additional donations from families to help out those families in financial need.
This Years Player Fee for Varsity/JV/9th is $237
- $7/bagged meal for away games when we get a bus (5) $35
- (1) Dri fit T-Shirts $14
- Nike Gear worn on game day Embroidered Hoodie $66 and Pant $48
- Nike Pregame Shooting Shirt $19
- Practice Jersey $40
Spirit Shop
There will be a team spirit store for players/families to order additional gear.
We have a full budget sheet and a comprehensive fundraising plan. Please do your part to help make our program operate financially. If you have any ideas to help the team raise money, please feel compelled to lead up an effort to help. We fundraise to pay for everything outside of away game buses, refs and game workers.
Parent Involvement and Communication
As parents you love your children and want to see them succeed, just like the coaching staff does. Therefore, parental involvement in the basketball program is welcomed.
Positive involvement:
Parents will be encouraged to communicate with their player on physical, mental and academic well-being. If parents have concerns of any kind in these areas, we fully encourage you to communicate with the coaching staff so that we can work together to help support our players. Parents must provide emotional support for their child during the season.
VOLUNTEER! Parents are encouraged to get involved with one or more of our various committees and volunteer to help when opportunity arises. Please sign up to lead or help out on a committee or at an event!
Parents are encouraged to tell the coaching staff about scheduling conflicts as soon as possible prior to the intended date.
Please come to as many games as possible, cheer on the whole team and bring others as well!
Negative involvement:
The most negative interactions between the coach and parent normally occur when the parent is upset about their child’s playing time/role on the team. It can hurt the overall success of the team which is the most important goal of the team. Individual success is important, but not as important as the success of the team. As a coaching staff we work to achieve the greatest success of the team that we can get to. Players need to excel in their role that best helps the team.
The difficult decisions a coach has to make concerning players are team selection and deciding who plays at specific times in the games. All parents want to see their child play in all the games as does the coaching staff. However, in a very competitive contest typically 7-10 players get the majority of the playing time. Some players may not get into the game at all. There will be plenty of discussion between the coach and player on playing time. Parents will have to talk with their child about discussions with the coach on playing time.
If you have a concern…..
When a concern arises about a coach to player issue, the parent should react thoughtfully to seek as much information as possible from both sides before drawing conclusions. If parents have a concern, here is the process to address concerns:
i) Talk to your child. See if your concern can be worked out first with a coach to player conversation when the player brings their concern to the coach. This helps to foster important life lessons of learning to communicate and working together. The meeting will not be on a game day or before practice. If unresolved then …
ii) Set up a meeting with the head coach of the team to try and resolve the issue. The meeting will not be on a game day or before practice. If unresolved ….
iii. Set up a meeting with the varsity coach of the team to try and resolve the issue. The meeting will not be on a game day or before practice. If unresolved ….
iv) Set up a meeting with our Athletic Director to try and resolve the concern. If your concern is still not properly addressed, you may ask the AD for additional action to take.
Conclusion
The player to coach relationship is the glue that holds the program together. Negative discussions and comments about the coaching staff by the parents to the player(s) will result in weakening the strength of the team and the program. Parents have every right to expect the coach to be a role model for their child and we will do our very best to always be consistent, fair, and compassionate when dealing with problems that occur during the year. I fully encourage parents to communicate with the coaching staff about concerns they have during the season so that we can all work together, and never against each other.
College Information/Recruiting
We will work very hard with each family to find a college for any player who wishes to play basketball at the next level. Please let us know if this is your families intention. College coaches cannot initiate contact with any player until after their Sophomore year in June. Players can initiate contacts with colleges and there are rules that we can discuss about how to go about this. There is a set of rules on how and when college coaches can contact players and when players contact the universities. All players wanting to play college basketball must register with NCAA clearinghouse preferably by Junior year. Instructions are on the NCAA website.
What is the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse?
The NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse is the organization that determines whether prospective college athletes are eligible to play sports at NCAA Division I or Division II institutions. It does this by reviewing the student athlete's academic record, SAT or ACT scores, and amateur status to ensure conformity with NCAA rules.
When should students register with the clearinghouse?
The NCAA recommends that student athletes register with the clearinghouse at the beginning of their junior year in high school, but many students register after their junior year. There is no registration deadline, but students must be cleared by the clearinghouse before they receive athletic scholarships or compete at a Division I or Division II institution.
How do students register with the clearinghouse?
Our website has all important start up information to get started.
https://sites.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/aaskylinebasketball/college-information
*** Be Proactive Contacting Schools
Just like adding your resume to a general pile can be difficult to be noticed, just hoping a college sees your child play and becomes instantly impressed is difficult to do. It is best to make a list of college you think are a good fit skill wise and for academics and then have our contact their staff to show interest and get your child onto their radar. Making personal connections is essential to more successful recruiting. We will do our best to help make it a reality!
Player Health: Hydration
At lunch, need 20 oz of water. When school gets out. 10 oz of water
During practice need 10 oz of water every 20 min of intense practice
After practice/game need 20 oz of water.
Use the water bottle and drink often. Get it washed every once in a while also.
· Do not share water bottles to avoid sharing germs.
Highly suggested players do not have Energy drinks and pop/soda to gain fake energy.
Sleep: Very important to try and get 8 hours of sleep a night. Don’t text/excessive phone use at night and don’t stare at a screen for extended time before bed.
Wash Hands Before Eating: Schools and basketballs have germs. Make sure to thoroughly wash hands before eating every time.