Availability: Children in grades 4 through 8 who reside in Summit.
Registration: Children will register for the Travel Program through the SBC on this site (www.summitbballclub.org). Registration for the Travel Program will automatically register the player for the DCP In Town League should a player not qualify for a Travel team. No additional fee is required if the registration fee is paid in full. Players who do not qualify for the Travel Program will not be required to attend evaluations for the In Town League and will be placed on a team using their evaluation rankings from the Travel tryouts.
Travel Commitment Fee: Registration Fee $300 plus the cost of uniform and shooting shirt
Season: November through middle of March. Individual teams may add offseason schedules or in-season tournament participation if player and parent interest exists.
Team Formation: The program plans to offer two boys teams (A and B) and one girls team at each grade. Each team will have two evaluations to rank players objectively by independent evaluators (who are not coaches or parents of any players involved in the teams being evaluated). The 7th and 8th Grade Girls teams will have extended workouts until the Middle School team is selected. Factors considered are dribbling, shooting, passing, defense, court IQ and attitude. The overriding intent will be to populate the best teams possible. In subsequent years, Past commitment record (attendance, priority level given to team) and coaches evaluations may also be considered. Based on evaluations, the top 7 players will be qualified. The selected coach of the team has certain discretion, with Board approval, over the final three spots if they are taking 10 players, in order to accommodate positional demands, size, etc., to have the best team possible.. If the coach is taking 11 or 12 players, the top 8 or 9 ranked players, respectively, will be qualified for the team Any roster moves of this kind resulting in selections varying from the evaluation rankings, must be approved by the Board and must be proven and to be positional in nature and confirmed as same by the evaluators. The same will hold true for any B Team. Girls and Boys team coaches may attend the evaluations (as silent observers) and will supply their prior season’s evaluations in order to assist the evaluators. Players who do not qualify for the Travel Program will not be required to attend evaluations for the In Town League and will be placed on a team. Teams can only be formed with less than ten players by SBC Board approval only.
Additional Teams: We have set the number of teams based on historical interest, skill and commitment levels and the continuing limited availability of courts for practice and games. At this time the Board will only consider additional teams if a particular girl’s grade level has a qualified number of skilled players to field a B team. If court availability should change, the Board may add additional teams. No additional Boys teams will be fielded if there are enough registrants to field a second Girls team at any grade.
Our initial analysis in 2013 indicated that court availability suited a total of 12 teams if we were to maintain our quality over quantity approach. Prior to the 2015-2016 season, we were forced to merge the Girls 7th and 8th Grade teams due to lack of registrants. We filled the vacancy and expanded the program for the 2015-2016 season by adding on a pro tem basis Boys and Girls 4th Grade teams. This expanded the total teams from 12 to 13 (9 Boys and 4 Girls). The 4th Grade teams were adopted as permanent teams prior to the 2016-2017 season In response to high registrant volume, we added on a pro tem basis for the 2016-2017 season a second Girls 5th Grade team, increasing our total teams to 14 (9 Boys and 5 Girls). We decided to separate the Girls 7th and 8th Grade Teams for the 2017-2018 season as registration for those grades has returned to levels indicating that two grade specific teams could be fielded competitively. Any prior year’s pro tem teams will be under review for level of interest and competitiveness. Should no pro tem teams be permitted, the total number of teams for 2017-2018 will be 14 (9 Boys, 5 Girls).
Commitment Level: Travel players and their parents acknowledge that basketball and this program in particular will be their top priority for the winter. The only exceptions are for players who are members of the Summit Middle School teams in grades 7 and 8. Players must be committed to attending every practice, skills clinic and game. Other sports and teams are not valid excuses for missing any events. Violations of this will result in reduction in playing time and will be considered a potential disqualification in future seasons.
Coach Selection: Parents and others interested in coaching will submit an application for each season. Coaches will be selected by the SBC Board based on coaching and playing experience. If no qualified applicants are available, the Board will install coaches as they see fit from their ranks or from previous seasons. Coaching assignments are on a year to year basis. Coaches will have to have received Rutgers SAFETY certification, submit to a background check and accept the Program Guidelines and Coaches Code of Ethics. Players and parents may take the opportunity at year end to give an outgoing anonymous review of their coaches. These reviews will be considered in subsequent years’ applications.
Practice and Game Schedule: Teams will have 2 practices and 1-2 games per week. Total practice time will consist of a minimum of 2 hours per week. Teams will be entered in the Jersey Basketball Association at a matching level of competition. JBA offers 10-12 games per season plus playoffs.
