Thank you for registering for Blue Eagles Basketball!  Please read the following carefully for more information as it pertains to your child’s grade level.

BOYS and GIRLS (4th, 5th and 6th grades):  Mandatory Skill Evaluations for ALL children in 4th-6th grades is on Sunday evening, October 23rd.

Blue Eagles Basketball will be fielding both competitive and developmental/recreational teams for the upcoming season.  Based on evaluation scores from October 23rd, selected children will be invited back for a 2nd evaluation the evening of October 30th (6-7p for girls and 7:15-8:15p for boys) to tryout for up to two competitive-based teams per grade level.  Competitive teams may be placed in different leagues offering advanced competition compared to developmental/recreational teams. Being placed on a competitive-based team may also require additional commitments or other mandatory activities.

Below is the Skills Evaluation schedule for October 23rd which is mandatory for ALL 4th, 5th and 6th grade children within Blue Eagles Basketball:

Girls Divisions (grades 4, 5 & 6)
4:30-5pm - Registration
5pm to approximately 6:30pm - Evaluations

Boys Divisions (grades 4, 5 & 6):
6:30- 7pm - Registration  
7pm to approximately 8:30pm - Evaluations              

Evaluations will be at Northampton Community College’s Arthur L Scott Spartan Center (gymnasium).  The college is located at 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem.  We are excited to once again be using this beautiful multi-court facility to host all evaluations, which will be conducted independently by NCC’s players and coaches.  All 4th, 5th and 6th graders, should plan to attend this evaluation event. 

Evaluations serve as a helpful guide for Blue Eagles Basketball to determine your child’s skill level which help to determine their team placement, regardless of whether they are placed on a competitive or recreational team.

We are asking you to have your child in a cotton t-shirt rather than a dri-fit/performance shirt for the tryouts.  We utilize stickers which will be placed on both the front and back of each child with a number so that evaluators can identify each child appropriately.  Stickers on the dri-fit/performance shirts tend to fall off easily.  This makes it harder for the evaluators to identify children correctly as well as it creates a mess for the gym floor as the stickers are extremely difficult to remove. We're blessed to be able to use NCC for this event and would like to continue our relationship on a positive note.  In addition to wearing a cotton t-shirt, we ask that your child bring their own basketball (please have your name on the basketball!) and a water bottle, if desired.

Children will be evaluated on their shooting, passing, dribbling and defensive skills in addition to their individual effort/attitude/game knowledge.  Your child should be dressed ready for the evaluation with shorts and appropriate shoes.  

These evaluations occur to help facilitate the process of placing children of similar ability on competitive team rosters as well as creating equally-skilled recreational team rosters.  This helps to foster skill development, allows coaches to more easily teach basketball skills across the entire team as well as fostering equal playing time.  Final rosters should be announced by early November at the latest.  Parents should expect practices to begin immediately after team selections are announced so long as their assigned head coach has received their volunteer clearances.  No team will begin practices until the head coach has received their final clearances.

We are asking all parents to please arrive earlier in the registration time frame to ensure all children can be registered so the evaluations can begin on time.  No parents will be allowed inside the gym during evaluations.  Cleared head coaches only may be in the gym to observe, but will not be able to evaluate.  There is a small waiting room just outside the gym where parents can congregate during the evaluations.  You are permitted to drop your child off and then return to pick your child up as well, if you prefer.

Thanks again to everyone for participating with Blue Eagles Basketball.  Please email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.