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Bball Frequently Asked Questions

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CHAP BASKETBALL

 

Q:           For what ages does CHAP offer basketball teams/trainings?

A:            Boys and girls ages 7 – 18.

Ages 7 – 10 are able to participate in our CHAP Youth League, which is 100% local and CHAP kids practice and play games against only each other.

Ages 11-18 get placed on team based on combination of age, experience, and skill level. The age groups are 12U (sometimes referred to as elementary), 14U (sometimes referred to as Junior High), 16U (commonly referred to as JV), 18U (commonly referred to as Varsity). The age eligibility is determined by the player’s age as of Sept 1 in the current year. So, if the player had turned 13 prior to September 1st (which would be approximately 2 months PRIOR to start of season) then they are no longer age eligible for 12U and must play on a 14U or older team. Players can always play up an age level but cannot play down.

 

Q:           When is the season?

A:            Youth League season begins after Thanksgiving and ends the last week of February or first week of March

Ages 11 – 18 the season begins the last week of October or the first week of November. It typically ends the last week of February. If a team makes the state championship game in their age group that game will typically be played on the first Saturday in March.

               

Q:           When are the practices and games?

A:            Youth League starts with practices on Monday or Tuesday evening (depending on gym availability) and Saturday mornings. In late December or early January Saturday mornings switch from practices to games and stay that way through remainder of season.

                Practices for Ages 11 – 18: can be on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and/or Saturdays.

Based on age brackets these are the number of practices per week:

                12U – Two 90 minute practices per week the first 2-3 weeks. After that games begin and the number of practices drops to one 2-hour practice per week.

                14U – Two 2-hour practices per week the first 2-3 weeks. When games begin the number of practices is still two per week but the duration is only 90 minutes per practice.

                16U (JV) – 2-3 two hour practices per week for first 2-3 weeks. When games begin the number of practices is limited to 2 per week but the duration is still 2 hours, if the gym time is available.

                18U (Varsity) - 2-3 two hour practices per week for first 2-3 weeks. When games begin the number of practices is limited to 2 per week but the duration is still 2 hours, if the gym time is available.

                Games for Ages 11 – 18: Typically games are played on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Every now and then we will have games on Mondays or Thursdays. We will not have homeschool games on Wednesdays or Sundays. One exception is 12U and 14U may choose to play in the local Red Cedar league, which competes against school teams. In that case we request the league director not schedule our teams for Sunday games but unfortunately the still get scheduled now and again. No CHAP player is expected to play on those Sundays unless they want to. If they choose not to play on Sundays that will not be held against them whatsoever in terms of playing time in other games.

                12U – will play 16-20 games per season

                14U – will play 16-22 games per season

                16U – will play 20-24 games per season

                18U – will play 24-32 games per season

 

Q: What does the travel look like for CHAP basketball teams?

A:            Youth League does not travel. All practices and games are in the mid-Michigan area

                Ages 11-18 teams will travel and the travel increases as the players’ age. Most of the travel is within 75 minute driving distance of Lansing. However, our teams do make at least two trips to Indiana each year. One trip is to Fort Wayne for a homeschool tournament. The other is to the Northside of Indianapolis (Westfield, IN to be exact) for the homeschool regional tournament.  Varsity teams will travel the most as they are in a great lakes conference with teams from Indiana.

 

Q: Where are the gyms located that CHAP practices and play games?

A: We practice and play all over the Greater Lansing area because we do not have a gym that has two courts for us to use. Here’s our current list of locations, listed in order of most utilized to least utilized:

Capitol City Baptist Church and School – Holt (use for practices and during the week home games)

                Riverview Church Westside Venue – Delta Township (just for practices)

                Charlotte Middle School – just for Friday and Saturday games

River Terrace Church – East Lansing (just for practices)

Holt Lutheran Church and School – Holt (just for practices)

Trinity Church – Lansing – for Youth League on Saturday mornings

 

Q:  How do you decide on player placement and are there cuts made?

A:             Youth League – we have yet to reach our cap of players for youth league and do not anticipate that happening anytime soon.

                Ages 11 – 18 – team placement starts at the Varsity level and works its way down. We fill the varsity teams first. We have tryouts in September and/or October for each level, but we view them more as “placements” rather than tryouts. Our goal is not to cut anyone but in the past we have had to do that at the high school level. Each season we start with the intention of finding a spot for every player. The only variables that would cause us to cut players is lack of enough experienced coaches and/or lack of sufficient gym space for practices and games.

 

Q: Is CHAP basketball recreational focused or competitive focused?

A:            Youth league has a recreational/development focus and we welcome and encourage inexperienced players to participate. The intensity and competitiveness level increases significantly as players enter 12U and each level beyond, so our Youth League is a great opportunity for families to determine if their child is ready, willing, and able to take on the intensity of schedule, travel, and competitiveness that comes with our older teams.

                Ages 11 – 18 – as referenced above, these teams are very competitive. Certainly we welcome beginners to participate, but more so at 12U and 14U than at the older ages. Basketball is a skill based game and the skills are very hard to develop sufficiently at later ages. It is rare that we see a player start with basketball at age 15 and above and have success. Certainly it has happened with CHAP in the past and we welcome every players to come to tryouts, but at the JV and V level there is a chance they may not make the team. Ages 14U and below we have always welcomed every player regardless of experience and skill level. This could change in the future as homeschooling grows more and more but our goal is to find a spot for every player age 14 and below. Age 15 and above we will do all we can to find a spot for every player but historically have had to make cuts now and again due to reaching capacity for numbers or having players that simply cannot compete at the level necessary for coaches to run successful practices.

 

Q: What is the cost for the season?

A:            Listed below are the cost range for the different levels. Each season we look at the budget and adjust based on projected gym and referee costs.  Here are the cost ranges over past few seasons:

Youth League -- $60 - $80

                12U -- $220 to $300

                14U -- $300 - $350

                JV -- $350 - $400 (plus uniform every few years of $120)

                V -- $450 - $550 (plus uniform every few years of $120)

 

 

Q: Is there a way to fundraise to cover the cost?

A:            At this time we do not have program wide fundraising available. However, if you believe that you can successfully get corporate sponsorships for our basketball program then we can utilize a portion of the funds raised to offset your child’s player fees. Please contact Nate Reusser at nathan.reusser@gmail.com if you would like to pursue this fundraising option.

                Other fundraising opportunities we have tried over the years to varying success and not currently running due to low involvement:

  1. Program Ads (currently not putting together a program)
  2. Little Caesars Pizza Kits
  3. CHAP Discount Cards