Haywood County youth basketball league opens sign-ups Oct. 5
Sep. 24—The Haywood County Recreation and Parks youth basketball league is back in action this year after sitting out the 2020 season due to COVID.
The league is open for children 5-12 years of age for everybody in Haywood County. Sign- ups will begin Oct. 5.
Ian Smith, Director of recreation and Parks, is happy to be back.
"It's the same basketball league that we've been running for a considerable number of years now," Smith said. "I played in it when I was a kid. It's a rec basketball league, there's no traveling involved. Every kid gets to play at least two quarters of play per game and only one practice per week. It's a lot lower commitment basketball league than other leagues."
There are four different age categories, 5-6 years old, 7-8 years old, 9-10 years old and 11-12 years old.
Teams are determined by the Recreation and Parks staff. Five to six year olds are paired with friends and school mates and are encouraged to make new friends. With the other age groups, the staff will select teams to be as balanced as possible. The five to six age group plays six minute quarters and the remaining groups play seven minute quarters. All the games are played at the Waynesville Rec Center. The 5-6 age group plays Friday nights and the remaining groups play on Saturday mornings.
Former Appalachian State head basketball coach Kevin Cantwell is Coaching Coordinator for the league. Coach Cantwell will help coaches use the best possible methods to teach the kids the game. This will impact the practice environment and the game environment. Coach Cantwell led basketball camps this summer for the department.
Practices will start in mid December. The first games will be Jan. 15 and the season will continue through March 5 with a make-up weekend of March 12. The season will consist of eight games for each team.
"It's not about the win-loss records. It's about getting active and learning the game," Smith said. "This is the entry point for basketball for a number of kids, the first time players, and less of a commitment than other leagues. The coaches are volunteers, similar to AYSO, we have guidelines that we set to teach the fundamentals during practice. It's more about having fun, making them have a good experience in the game of basketball."
Teams are capped at six in each age category, ten players on each team. A total of 220 plus kids will participate this year.
Registration is simple. Call Recreation and Parks at 828-452-6789 with questions and you can register there. Another way is to drop by Haywood County Recreation office, located at 215 N Main Street in the Historic Courthouse, and register in person. Cost is $40 per player.
