The Sea to Sky Youth Basketball League is holding its first practices this week, and judging by the numbers, there’s room for more coaches for the younger kids, and more players at the high school level.
"There are a lot of younger kids, Grades 6 to 9, that are interested in playing, but we don’t have enough coaches for this group yet," said Mieke Prummel, one of the many parents who is volunteering to help organize the league.
"At the high school level, there are only a handful of kids from each grade. Some of the older kids really want to play, but without more interest from the older grades we might have to combine them with the younger groups."
To accommodate kids who play hockey, ski and snowboard, the games were moved to Sunday afternoons. The boys practice on Tuesday nights from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Whistler Secondary, and the girls practice on Fridays.
The league will include youth from Pemberton and Mt. Currie, and as many teams as they can muster. The organizers would like to see between four and six teams in the league for each age group to keep the level of competition high.
The league will play its first games on Dec. 15 and then breaks until the New Year, so there is still lots of time to sign up says Prummel.
The league is sponsored by Basketball B.C. and NBA Dallas Maverick’s star Steve Nash, who is from Victoria. In addition to supplying the league with jerseys, the sponsors are also funding training for coaches and referees.
The emphasis for the league is on fun and skills development, and all kids from Grade 6 to 12 are welcome to play, regardless of ability.
For more information, contact league organizers Myrna Bush at 604-938-9762, Mary Romanin at 604-938-1975, Michelle Flynn at 604-932-2210, Sue Daugulis at 604-932-7294, Wendy Craveiro at 604-935-1822.
