Playing time
Q. What is the SLP playing time policy?
Answer: Click
here for a link to a document that describes our playing time guidelines.
Equipment
Q: What size basketball will our son use?
Answer: Grades 6 and below use a smaller "28.5" basketball. 7th grade and older use a full-size basketball (typically full size bballs do not show the size on them, but are "29.5").
Q: Does my son need to buy a basketball?
Answer: No, your coach will bring bballs to practices and games. However, it's a great idea to have you own basketball for dribbling/shooting on your own. If you bring it to practice, make sure it is marked with your name!
Games
Q: Do teams play tournaments or in a league?
Answer: 4th and 5th grades play a combination of the Gopher State League and tournaments. Both are very competitive, but the Gopher State League results in a schedule that is less time consuming for the boys (and families). 6th - 8th grades play tournaments exclusively (typically 9-10 tournaments per year). 6th - 8th grades also participate in one "overnight" tournament (typically in Rochester the first weekend in March).
Tryouts
Q: Are players allowed to make a team if they do not attend at least one full tryout session? Also, can they make a team if they miss tryouts completely due to illness/injury?
Answer:
- We encourage boys to attend both tryout sessions. Their high score will be used...low score tossed out.
- The expectation is that every player attend at least one full tryout session. If any are unable to attend at least one full tryout, they must notify the SLPBTB President or Board Secretary in writing prior to tryouts, and then we will treat each situation on a case by case basis.
- If a player is injured or ill at the time of tryouts and unable to participate, the SLPBTBA President or Board Secretary must be notified prior to tryouts in writing, and we will treat each situation on a case by case basis.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENT
Q: What is the volunteer requirement for each family in the program?
Answer:
-
Parents will be required to work a minimum of one shift for each tournament that the Association hosts (typically 2 or more each season). We had 2 tournaments on the 2011-12 schedule: December 9-11 and March 17-18. As you know, the tournament on December 9-11 was canceled and a new opportunity for a single day tournament was added for Saturday, December 17. These are great fundraising opportunities for the Association and also a fun opportunity for players to help as well.
If we end up with just the two fundraisers, and someone works two shifts the first weekend, they will most likely meet their volunteer obligation (we won't know for certain until we have more details on the March tournament...if shifts need to be longer at that tournament due to it covering two days--instead of one--then there may be a need to get additional volunteer hours). Bottom line, anyone working two shifts on 12/17 will get credit for all of the hours worked, and given they're helping out the association in a bind, we'll do whatever we can to minimize if not eliminate any need to work in March. Note: If we are able to identify a third fundraiser (e.g. tournaments, pancake fundraisers, fruitcake bake-offs, etc.) then that would result in an additional commitment.
Future Topics…
Offseason Program
Website
