Boys and Girls Basketball

Athletic Director: Ben McGraw

Boys Commissioner: Ryan Weigand

Girls Commissioner: Sam Merkel

New Families Can Use the 'New Registration" Link here

If you have an SBAA Blue Sombrero login credential, the Existing Registration link can be found here

Boys Basketball and Girls Basketball are offered for participants in Grades 3-8 who attend St. Bartholomew Parish, Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, St. Clare Parish, St. James of the Valley Parish and John Paul II Catholic School. No prior experience is required. Registration will start in September with tryouts/evaluations for upper grade teams will be held in late September-October (if there are multiple teams per grade). Official practice can begin the first week of November for boys and mid-November for girls, and the season runs from December to early March.  The primary purpose of the Basketball program for both boys and girls is introduce the sport in a caring Catholic environment, and teach and model Catholic values through the sport.

Team Selection

In most cases teams are separated by grade. Occasionally, due to low participation, teams may have 2 grades blended together and participate at the older grade level. The number of teams sponsored in each grade level by SBAA is based on the number of participants registered.

Players in grades 3-5 are evaluated and the teams are balanced based on skill, positions played, height and knowledge of the game. Play at this level is designed to introduce participants to the game, rules, and develop skills.  The SBAA will make as many teams as necessary to maintain playing time consistency and manageability for the coach.

Participants in grades 6-8 attend tryouts and teams are divided by skill level into A and B teams.  Players will be evaluated by individuals knowledgeable about basketball and are not family members of athletes being rated.  Every attempt is made to have a number of qualified volunteers for this step to have the players placed correctly. After tryouts, the evaluators and the Coordinator roster teams and players are notified by their coaches.

Game Information

St. Bartholomew participates in the Greater Cincinnati Catholic Youth League.  Each basketball team plays 10 regular season games. Regular season league games are generally held Friday through Sunday at the Krumpe Activity Center or at the various home gym sites of the opposing schools. Teams may participate in various tournaments before and during the season. This is determined by the SBAA board and coaches. At the end of the regular season, the GCCYL holds a city tournament for all teams.

Play Time Regulations

In grades 3-5, for all players who attend practices and games regularly, playing and practice time over the course of the season shall be substantially equal for all players. All play at this level is recreational and SBAA expects that playing time during games be as equal as possible for all players at this level.  The unit of measure shall be a quarter of a game.  The league requires that participants at this level play one continuous quarter per game.  SBAA expects coaches to play athletes more than the minimum amount of play required by the league in both regular season games and tournament games.

In grades 6-8, coaches will balance the needs of the players preparing for high school athletics and of those players using their last opportunity to play for their school team. No player shall ever attend a game and not play at all.

Practices

Practices vary by grade level and coach. Typically each team will have two practices each week. Practices are held Monday through Friday at the KAC and other gyms in the vicinity of St. Bart’s.  Gym time scheduled in coordination with coaches and determined by the Athletic Director and the Commissioner. Players are expected to commit to the sport and school team by attending practices on a regular basis.

 Coaching

St. Bartholomew actively follows the guidelines of the Archdiocesan Charter on Youth Athletics.  In addition to Virtus training for all coaches and assistants, the Archdiocese requires 2 Virtus trained adults to be at every practice. Therefore, we attempt to place 2 coaches per team. The SBAA actively recruits volunteers to fill these roles from our parent community, the parish community, alumni, etc… Every attempt is made to get appropriate coaches for each team.

In grades 3-5, parent coaches are permitted to coach any team. In grades 6-8, the A team head coach will not be a parent of a player on the team, and ideally, not an assistant either.  B teams at this level may, and generally, have parent coaches. If you are interested in volunteering to coach, please contact the SBAA at [email protected].