Western Loudoun Basketball
League (WLBL) – 2012
1st Annual “Kickoff Meeting”
Agenda Review
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Welcome
WLBL History
Board Introductions
League Structure
Coaches
Technology
Sponsorship
Spirit Wear
Officiating
Coach/Player
Development
• Middle School
Program
• High School
Program
• Connections to local
High Schools –
LVHS, WHS
• Code of Conduct
WLBL History
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Formed in 1970 by parent
volunteers who wanted their
kids to play organized
basketball, regardless of skill
ability. First year organization
had about 75 players
In the 1990’s – longtime league
president Louie Saunders
stepped down in 1995. Louie is
still involved with the program
today as a lead official and
trainer.
New Board Elected in 1995
included Don Rose, Matt
Pinkston, and Norris Beavers,
among others.
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In 2004 league expanded to
include 2nd and 3rd graders due
to demand
In 2006, growth in area saw
league expand to 800 players in
youth, and 160 in high school
recreation league
In 2009, league exceeded 1000
player mark.
In 2011, league exceeded 1000
player in YOUTH program
alone, 1200 total – 108 house
teams, 8 travel teams, and 12
high school rec teams.
In 2012, Matt Pinkston and
Norris Beavers stepped down
after 15 years of service, but
remain actively involved with
board and officiating.
WLBL – Who do we serve?
• WLBL serves Western Loudoun County –
an area that includes elementary schools
and middle schools who feed into Loudoun
Valley High School and Woodgrove High
School. All residents living in the
geographic area who would be assigned
to a school in our defined region are
welcome to participate – this includes
public school, private school, and home
school children.
Giving Back
• Other than offering a great program for children of all
ages, gender, and skill level, WLBL has given back to
the community. Over the last 10 years, WLBL has
purchased scoreboards for the gymnasiums at Round
Hill ES, Emerick ES, Hamilton ES, Mountainview ES,
Kenny Culbert ES, Blue Ridge MS, and Harmony MS.
These scoreboards average $6,000+ each. Our
program is happy to give back to the institutions who
teach our children and who partner with us for gym
space and facility usage. We are proud of what we have
given, and are looking for additional ways to give back in
the coming years!
WLBL 2012 Board of Directors
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Derek Irelan, President / High School Liaison
Randy James, Vice President /Director of Coaches
Meg Adams, Treasurer
Stacey Hegerich, Secretary / Director of Spiritwear
Stephen Renner, Director of Technology, Registration, Scheduling
Adrianne Graham Hobbs – Director of Sponsorships, Equipment,
and Elementary School/Middle School Liaison.
Vic Diloreto – Director of Middle School Program
Onzy Elam – Director of Coaches/Player Development
Ed Markowski – Director of Officiating
Claire Volker – Director of Assessments
Danny Michael – Director of High School League
Randy Nixon – Rules Committee Chair
Norris Beavers, Dick Hickman, Louie Saunders, Teri Vineyard, and
Jeni Spagnoli – Officiating Committee
Recognition for Years of Service
• Matt Pinkston – 15 years of service to the
league. President of the league – 2 years. Vice
President of the league – 13 years. Official for
10+ years. Built initial league website. Helped
convert registration from paper to electronic
form. Kept all By laws and rules up to date. Also
runs NoVa West Lacrosse!
• Norris Beavers – 15 years of service to the
league. Treasurer for over 10 years. Official for
over 15 years. Also runs Upper Loudoun Little
League!
WLBL – Mission Statement
• WLBL is a youth organization comprised of
board members, coaches, volunteers, parents,
and players. It exists to enable the youth of its
member organizations to learn, grow, and
develop skills via basketball competition by
playing on their neighborhood teams. The
administrators, coaches, parents, and spectators
should never lose focus that the main objective
is to promotes sportsmanship, integrity, and
fairness that serves the best interests of the
overall majority of the children who participate in
our program.
WLBL – Mission Statement
• The purpose of the league shall be to implant firmly in
the youth of the community – the ideals of good
sportsmanship, honesty, loyalty, and courage so that
they may be well adjusted, strong, and happy, so they
may grow to be good, clean, healthy and trustworthy
citizens.
• The purposes will be achieved by teaching basketball
fundamentals, and providing supervised related
activities. The coaches and Board members shall bear
in mind that the attainment of exceptional athletic skill or
winning of games is secondary, and that molding future
citizens is of prime importance.
WLBL Goals
• Goal of program – to help each and every
participant learn the fundamentals of
basketball and sportsmanship. Help each
and every participate improve their level of
skill in the game of basketball. Help each
and every player learn MORE about the
game of basketball. ENSURE EACH AND
EVERY PARTIPANT HAS FUN AND
WANTS TO RETURN THE NEXT YEAR!
WLBL Structure
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House program: 2nd grade through 8th grade – boys and girls. WLBL is the only program other
than Upward (Leesburg) to accept 2nd graders in program. Must live in defined region of Western
Loudoun County – child should be zoned to attend LVHS or WHS in high school. Program has
end of season tournament to determine league champion and recognizes division champion.
HUSSA program – “house league” all star tournament which includes all Loudoun County House
leagues . Leagues may enter teams from 5th grade up to 8th grade– separated by gender. Teams
are chosen by coaches who vote for 10 top players for each school represented (Middle Schools).
Teams practice for a week, sometimes, two, and participate in a three day tournament.
Middle School (formerly travel): 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys and girls tryout for “select” teams, who
compete against other Loudoun County schools. Middle school is used only as term to designate
geographic areas for who tries out for which team – program is not administered by the schools,
so participation is open to anyone in WLBL program who wishes to tryout.
High School program – recreation league for high school divided into two leagues – 9th/10th grade
and 11th/12th grade. Boys and girls play together – league does not have any practices, just
games on Sundays at the high school.
CBC – Catoctin Basketball Club – local club which recently came under the WLBL umbrella –
provides opportunities for additional time on the court – via clinics, camps, and AAU basketball.
AAU basketball is active during spring, summer, and fall. Program does not have AAU outlet
during winter season when WLBL program is underway. Program is open to ANY resident who
wishes to participate, or any team – not an exclusive program for Western Loudoun Residents.
WLBL Officials – WLBL has its own Officials organization. We do NOT contract with any local
officials organizations – we recruit our own officials who are local residents, and many residents
who have gone through our program as players and come back to become referees. Officials
may begin in program at age 16.
WLBL – Coaches
• Composed of volunteers – many parents, and
many non parents!
• Recruitment – we are always looking for
coaches – many times the number of teams we
can field is a direct result of the number of
coaches we can recruit!
• Goals – teach the kids the fundamentals of
basketball, competing, and sportsmanship!
Make them want to come back next year!
• Training – clinics, invitation to attend high school
practices, attend middle school practices.
Technology
• All new website design – trying to streamline info
to make site interactive for coaches, parents,
and referees.
• Facebook/Twitter!
• Coaches Corner – tools for coaches
• Communication (e-mail, text, etc)
• Rainedout.com – coming out this week – will
help with communicating last second blackouts,
and weather related cancellations/delays
• Feedback
Sponsorship programs and
Fundraising!
• Sponsorship program – includes two
packages:
$250 – team banner on team page,
front page of website banner for all to see,
business on jerseys for 1 team
$150 – team banner on team page,
business on jerseys for 1 team.
• Sponsorships due Friday, November 2nd.
Fundraising – Spirit Wear!
• No more Kettle Korn! We be selling t-shirts, shooter
shirts (long sleeve), sweatshirts (hoodies), and car/fridge
magnets! Link is now on the website and is LIVE!
• Order by November 9th to guarentee items before the
Holidays! Orders after 11/9 will not be delivered till
February
• We are looking into selling spirit wear at the Turkey
Shootout tournament, and may have some drinks and/or
food as we are allowed for sale as well!
• Future tournaments will have t-shirts for our league, as
well as food and other items to help bring in more money
and keep registration low, and help us give more back to
the kids with clinics, more scoreboards (maybe Harmony
Aux gym?) and other great benefits!
Officiating Organization
• Who are our officials? People in our community!
• Training provided to them – clinics, on court practice and
feedback
• Message for 2012 – CONSISTANTCY and Feedback!
• Will keep officials who specialize in a certain grade
group/gender, with the same group THROUGH the
playoffs. This should help stabilize how game is called
and allow the players to “play”!
• WE ARE HUMAN! Mistakes happen. This is not as
easy at it looks!!!
• Interested in joining the organization? See Ed
Markowski!
Coaches / Players Development
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Coaching Clinics and opportunities
Sunday clinics coming soon!
Feedback
Turkey Shootout tournament (1st annual) –
will include ALL house teams. 2-3 games
in scrimmage style, running clock style.
Will allow coaches to get a few games in
and see what they need to concentrate on!
Middle School Program
• Harmony and Blue Ridge
• Teams are composed of anyone who lives in our geographic area –
who would like to tryout and be considered.
• Tryouts include an independent team of evaluators for each grade
level – of which NONE have a child trying out, and most have not
seen the players play.
• Teams selections are made by Head Coach, Middle School
Director, and President/Vice President using evaluations from the
independent assessors.
• 6 boys teams – 6th/7th/8th for each school
• 4 girls teams – “A” and “B” for each school – composed of girls in
6th, 7th, and 8th grade
• Games on Sundays at selected gyms. Teams play all year at the
same gym with other teams for that grade/gender level.
High School Program
• Open to anyone in our defined region and
both high schools.
• No practices
• Games on Sunday afternoon at the high
schools!
• NEED HELP WITH RECRUITINC
COACHES AND PLAYERS!!!!
• Goal – allow the kids to have fun, with
friends, and keep active!
High School Connection
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WLBL is connected directly to LVHS and WHS programs. Since our
program is the primary “feeder” program to the high schools, we maintain
relationships with the leaders of these programs – the Athletic Directors,
Head Coaches, and Assistant Coaches of these programs. We had several
head coaches come out this year for our evaluations, and many players
from the high school teams came to help out during evaluations – many of
whom participated in our program before going to high school. WE even
have some players who coach a team from time to time!
We enjoy great relationships with Chad Dawson, Kevin Weeren (who
coaches in our league), Kenyama MacFarlane, Steve Douglas, and Kevin
Copley. We are also connected with Kris Kelican (AD –LVHS) and Rusty
Lowery (AD – WHS) frequently and they are very supportive of our program
and our youth.
Both high schools will have WLBL night – where our players get in for free if
they wear their WLBL uniforms. We will also have some teams participate
at half time during games at all levels – Varsity, JV, and Freshman!
There are clinics/camps each year locally for the kids sponsored by the
coaches – Chad Dawson, Steve Douglas, and Kevin Weeren.
WLBL Code of Conduct
• New policy this year – “no tolerance”.
• Background – kids have changed in the last 10 years,
and so have parents. We have witnessed people
screaming at other coaches, players, fans, and officials.
There is no place for this behavior.
• These are your neighbors – you may see them tomorrow
at Harris Teeter or Giant or Coaches Corner!
• How would you feel if someone screamed at you over a
3rd grade basketball game? REALLY??
• This is YOUTH basketball…not the NBA and not college.
ESPN is not coming out today…and no one will appear
on the ESPYS next week.
• Our worse offenders, year after year – the younger ages.
WLBL – Code of Conduct
• Our community is seeing more confrontations in
other sports, and we are coming close to being
the community pictured on the next ‘U Tube”
video, with a viral effect! We need to take a
deep breath and realize – this is YOUTH
SPORTS!
• Positive energy only – no negativity toward
players (ESPECIALLY), coaches, and referees.
(YES, we said REFEREES).
WLBL – Code of Conduct
• No one has the right to yell at people
incessantly.
• Referees are human – they make mistakes
• Know the rules – there is no such foul as “over
the back”. The foul is a “push” in the back to
gain better position for a rebound.
• Treat others as you would like to be treated –
how would you feel if someone was yelling at
you for an entire game while kids were playing?
Code of Conduct
• New rules:
• First offense for yelling obsessively or behaving in a way contrary to
our league’s behavior guidelines – a warning. Please be respectful
as a board member, referee, or PRCS representative can issue this
warning, and will ask your name to ensure we have a record.
• Second offense – Ejected from venue. No exceptions, please leave
the premise. Declining to leave or being confrontational will prompt
venue to call the authorities. Must meet with select Board members
prior to being allowed back in any gym or league venue/function.
• Third offense – Expulsion from the league for the remainder of the
year. Cannot petition to come back to the league until next colander
year, and must meet with select Board members prior to being
accepted.