In the 2010-2011 season, over 390 boys and girls participated in the Los Gatos NJB program and we expect similar numbers this year. We offer children in grades three through eight the opportunity to play competitive basketball against teams from Los Gatos and other Bay Area Chapters. We also offer older students who aren't playing for their high school teams the opportunity to play against similar teams from other Bay Area chapters.
Levels of Play
NJB has two levels of play, Divisional and All-Net. The majority of children play at the Divisional Level, where players attend Evaluations (mid-October) in order to form balanced teams. All children who participate at the Divisional Level receive guaranteed playing time throughout the year. Divisional play is at three levels according to the following grades. (These are NOT co-ed):
- Division 1: Boys and Girls – 7th and 8th grade
- Division 2: Boys and Girls – 5th and 6th grade
- Division 3: Boys and Girls – 3rd and 4th grade
All-Net Program
The All-Net level is for advanced players who qualify in All-Net Tryout sessions (early October). All-Net teams play teams from other Silicon Valley Chapters. There is an additional fee of $85 per players to cover added costs for All-Net. There could also be an additional fee for a few of the older age group All-Net teams that will be coached by non-parent coaches. Last season we had several teams coached by current high school coaches and we are working toward doing that again.
There are boys and girls All-Net teams for:
- 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.
Practice and Game Commitments
Divisional and All-Net teams practice twice a week…one night during the week and once on Saturday. Each practice is usually 90 minutes long. Practices are held in local gyms that include CT English Middle School on Summit Road, as well as Union, Dartmouth and Fisher Middle Schools. We may also use the JCC, Courtside, local Community Centers and even West Valley Community College.
Please be aware that your child will almost certainly have practices at CT English. We usually have parents express concern about this, but it is less than 20 minutes from downtown Los Gatos, it is a big gym that can accommodate two or more teams at a time, and most teams meet somewhere in Los Gatos and the coaches carpool the kids up and back. LG NJB would not be able to exist without CT English unless we cut the amount of children in the program in half.
There is some good news about the practice situation for this season.
We have now gained access to Union Middle School 6 days a week. In prior years we have only had it 3 days a week.
Since we use school gyms, we cannot use them until the schools are done with them for the day. This means practice times begin at either 6:00pm (usually the younger age groups) or 7:30pm (7th & 8th graders and some 5th/6th) during the week, and as early as 9am on Saturdays.
Games are played on Sundays. Our home games are played at either Los Gatos High School or Fisher. Road games could be as far south as Hollister or as far north as Redwood City. Most teams will have ~6 games in Los Gatos and 3-4 outside of Los Gatos.
Teams have 9 regular season games, and there is also a post season tournament (single elimination) that includes teams from Hollister up to Redwood City. Teams will most likely participate in a preseason tournament among other Los Gatos teams (we sometimes invite Saratoga to play in this if we don't have enough teams in a certain age group). There is also a tournament run by the Silicon Valley Section during the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving that typically has a few Los Gatos teams enter.
Attendance at practices is critical for both player and team development. We encourage you to carefully review the practice and game commitments before enrolling your child.
Alternatives to LG NJB
There are other leagues to play in if you feel that NJB is too competitive, two practices a week are too much, the cost is too high or if your child is on the wait list. Los Gatos-Saratoga Recreation Dept. has a basketball league. Calvary Church has had them in the past, but they have had some changes there and we are not sure if that will continue. The JCC will also most likely have children's leagues this season.
Volunteers Make it Happen
We continue to put a strong emphasis on volunteering. NJB relies heavily on volunteers for gym operations, clean-up, fund-raising, uniform distribution, coaching, and a host of other tasks. Please pay careful attention to which volunteer activity you would like to select on the application form. The strength and success of our chapter is directly correlated to the active participation of our parents! We expect a large turnout of children again this year and it is our goal to accommodate each and every child who wants to play. Sponsors are welcome to help us absorb the costs of gym time, which is our biggest expense.
If you are interested in Coaching, Volunteering or Sponsoring or know of qualified people who are interested to help us, please send to E-mail:
splaine@gmail.com We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you on the court!