Northampton Suburban Girls Basketball:  What to Expect 

If a girl has never played on a traveling sports team that tries to blend player skill development and competition, there will be questions.  The following are some answers to frequently asked questions: 

How much travel is there? 

On average girls have 2 games a week and one of them is an away game.  The travel to an away game can be 20-45 minutes, as far as Palmer or Wilbraham, or as close as Amherst or Easthampton.  Many of the other teams in the league are in Hampden County so you should expect one game each week to be around 30 minutes away. 

How many times a week will the girls be playing basketball?

Expect the combination of games and practices to require three to four sessions a week.  Early in the season, when there are not as many games, coaches can have practices four times per week. Getting Gym access this year has been and will continue to be difficult, so please be prepared for some changes  and variability during the season. This year we have enough resources to create two teams; one in each division.  There is a 5th & 6th grade division and a 7th & 8th grade division.  Each division has an A and B league. The Northampton teams will participate in the A League.  While we realize playing and practicing three-four times a week is a big commitment, basketball is a difficult game requiring both skills, stamina and concentration, so consequently all players are expected to attend all practices.  If a player is unable to attend a practice or a game, the coach should be notified beforehand.

What should the girls be expected to learn?

The emphasis for all teams, from 5th through 8th grade, is on the fundamentals of basketball. The game is a difficult one with many skills to learn.  While coaches work on installing team offenses and defenses, the main part of most practices will be on individual skill work.  Teams will only improve if the individual skills of the girls improve.   During the season the coaches will work individually with girls on shooting, dribbling, passing, cutting, defending, and rebounding.  We mostly teach player-to-player defense, but we will also teach and play a few zone defenses.  While many other teams in our league use mostly zone defenses, we believe that playing player-to-player defense will better prepare the girls for a lifetime of playing the game. 

Will every girl play the same amount?

No.  This league is a blend of player development and competition and coaches have the difficult duty of trying to win the game while balancing each player’s play time.  Each girl on every team will usually play some part of every game but it will not be equal playing time.  We acknowledge that game time will not be equal, however, we do commit to the standard that every player will get equal practice time and coaching time and instruction.  Please remind your player that effort, attitude, and skills learned and demonstrated during practice far exceeds the time spent in playing in games.  

What do we expect from caregivers?

We expect all caregivers to lead by example in showing good sportsmanship.  If a caregiver has an issue that they would like to discuss with a coach, it is best to ask to speak to them before or at the end of practice. Coaches should not be approached as they are preparing for a game or after a game.  Most coaches are open to email and some may be open to phone calls.  Each coach will provide their contact preference to you at the beginning of the season.  They will also be asking you for your contact preferences as well.  Sometimes last minute practice and game changes have to be made and group communication is the only possible method.  Some individual coaches may also look for a team caregiver to be in charge of group emails, etc. 

We ask that all children be dropped off and picked up on time.  Please know the days and times that practices start and end.  Coaches are responsible for supervision during the assigned practice times; they are not responsible for your daughter outside of that time.  All facilities will have very strict rules for players using their facilities.  We ask that you speak with your daughter about these rules and help enforce them.  Players who do not abide by the Gymnasium rules risk being asked to leave and not return.  Depending on the infraction, this risk could also include canceling gym privileges for the entire Girls Suburban League, which would be devastating.  Gym time in Northampton is sparse and we want to respect their rules and continue to participate at the JFK facility.

We need caregiver volunteers from each of our teams to work as score keepers and run the clocks. This is a requirement of our league; the home team is responsible to man the “score table” for each home game.  We need caregiver volunteers to meet this requirement.  In order to help you feel qualified to do this, our coaches will provide a one day/hour of training for this during one of the team’s practices early in the season.  At least one caregiver of each player needs to attend this “practice” if they need to learn one of these skills.  The three different skills are the 30 second clock, the scoreboard and game time clock, and the scorekeeper documentation which includes recording points and player fouls.  On average we have 8 home games and 8 away games during the regular season which calculates to 24 volunteer slots that have to be filled.  We will need one caregiver of each player to sign up to volunteer for at least 2-3 home games.  Or if a caregiver wants to step forward and do even more games, then this would be wonderful too (We are sure several caregivers would be grateful to not have to do it as much).  We will send you a reminder email about this need later in December after we schedule our “Day of Training”.  Last year, the girls got to scrimmage in a “game-like” environment while the caregivers learned the score table roles and responsibilities. 

We are also asking for one caregiver to volunteer to manage/coordinate the home schedule calendar of score table volunteers.  Please talk to your child’s coach if you are willing to do this and we ALL thank you for stepping forward and helping us out.  Coaches have a lot of preparation immediately prior to a game and worrying about these tasks is not productive or fair to them.  Remember, these coaches are all volunteers themselves and the time and effort that they willingly donate to each of your children is very substantial.

Special Covid Precautions

Given that Covid is still an issue in the community and that we play in the season most likely to be affected by Covid, we expect caregivers and players to observe the same protocols as they experience in their school setting. We encourage players to bring hand sanitizers to use before, during and after practices and games. However, please be certain that any hand sanitizer has completely evaporated before touching any balls as the chemical in the sanitizers will affect the ball surface.

In the event that anyone is feeling any of the well-known symptoms of Covid we would expect the player to let their coach know as soon as possible and NOT attend practice until a negative covid test has been taken.  In the event someone on the team has tested positive, coaches should be notified and we will let all families know and communicate details on our resulting participation plan.

As Suburban is a traveling league, we will have to respect the code-of-conduct (including Covid-19 rules and regulation) of the facility that we are playing in. We can in principle be playing in mask-less gyms or playing in a gym where only a partial facial covering is accepted. We acknowledge the additional risks that this imposes to catching covid, but also realize that these are the conditions we have to operate under as we try to achieve a new normal that includes travelling youth basketball teams. 

From all the coaches of this 2021-22 Northampton Girls Suburban League, we want you to know that we are very excited about this season and we are committed to making it a successful one!

Thank you,

Northampton Suburban Coaches