Hello Lincoln Talk, My name is Jal Mehta. I'm a parent of Alex (going into 9th) and Nico (going into 7th) and have learned a bit along the way about how to navigate the local basketball landscape. I thought I'd send this message to Lincoln Talk to pass on what I've learned over the years for parents of kids who might just be starting out. Our youngest Theo (who is 5) seems to be a theater kid - if anyone wants to do something similar for the theater scene, would love to see it!
There are roughly three seasons of basketball, fall, winter, and spring. I'll start with winter and come back to fall and spring. For winter basketball, Lincoln offers the tri-town program. It is for grades 3-8. Kids play in bands - grades 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8. Games are on Saturday mornings, one practice a week (on an evening chosen by the coach), no tryouts, no cuts. There are evaluation days to help build even teams in mid October. Register by the deadline - parks and rec is very strict about this. You will see the registration link on the parks and rec website, but it comes up fast - need to be registered by early October. Season runs from mid November to February break. Rec basketball, good place to learn the fundamentals, not overly competitive. Parent coached. Pros: kids play with their friends, the furthest you will have to go is Wayland or Maynard, Saturday morning games leave the rest of the weekend free to ski or do whatever else you like to do. Cons: Only 8-9 games, only one practice a week, currently no playoffs, although that might change. The other main option for winter basketball is the Metrowest Basketball League. Lincoln is part of Sudbury's cachement zone, so we are part of Sudbury Youth Basketball. Sudbury Youth Basketball runs a travel program for kids grades 3-8. There are tryouts - they do their best to place as many kids as they can on teams, but there are some cuts. For each grade, there is generally an "A" team and several "B" teams. Each of these teams competes in the Metrowest Basketball league against surrounding towns (Concord, Lexington, Newton, Needham, etc.). Metrowest is big enough that it has 6-7 levels (depending on the grade) and Sudbury basketball places each team at the level it thinks it will best compete. 2 practices/week (one weekday and one Saturday), games on Sundays, with a few extra Saturday games thrown in, and often a pre-season tournament the weekend before Thanksgiving. Parent coached; some of the coaches are quite knowledgeable. Tritown also requires man to man defense and limits pressing; Metrowest has no such rules after grade 5, I think, so for 6-8 it is full on basketball with zones, presses, plays, etc. Pros: Higher level of basketball, two practices/week, preseason tournament, playoffs at the end of the year. Cons: Playing mostly with Sudbury kids, practice and games on weekends will take over your weekend, more driving, could get cut. In general, Sudbury is serious about basketball and this is a well-run program. It is also significantly more expensive than tri-town - I think it was something like $700 last year; SYB has some financial aid available. This generally starts a little sooner than tri-town and runs a little longer - I think last year tryouts were around October 10th, practices started around November 1st, and the season ran until early March. If you want to do this, I think you need to register by the end of September. The third option is the school team. There is a middle school boys and a middle school girls team. Season runs from mid November through early February. Since there is only one team, the team tends to be dominated by the 8th graders and the very skilled 7th and 6th graders. Practices after school on Monday - Thursday. About 10-12 games during the week, after school mostly in January. You can do this alongside the others. I would say that for the boys, 8th graders should do it, skilled 7th graders should do it, and very skilled 6th graders should do it. Or you can just go to the tryouts and see what happens. Jordan is the boy's coach and he has a good rapport with the kids. Mr. Burke has been the girls coach for many years but retired at the end of last year. Pros: Play with your friends, more time on the court, represent your school. Cons: Can be limited playing time for younger kids; no playoffs, at least for the boys, many of the teams you are playing come from bigger schools so you are the underdogs. For fall and spring, for kids who want to keep playing, there are AAU programs. If you are a 90s kid like me, you think of AAU as something that is meant for future NBA stars, but that's not how it is today. AAU is now basically a money-making operation - while there are "tryouts" pretty much everyone makes some team if they are willing to pay for it. In the fall, tryouts are now (August) and then practices start after Labor Day, and your 4-5 tournaments would be about the 3rd week of September to early November. In the spring, tryouts are in January-February and the season is mid March to early June. You should look for a program that offers 2 practices/week in return for your money. Then the kids play 5-6 tournaments on the weekends for each season. These tournaments tend to be held at places like Mansfield and Foxboro, so get ready for some driving if you sign up for this. Tournaments generally consist of 2 games on Saturday and one on Sunday, with a 4th or 5th game for teams that win their first three. These programs are coached by the programs and not parent coached, but your kid may learn a lot more in the winter because the coaches aren't necessarily that invested in the teams the way the parent-coaches are. I also think the league format of tritown or metrowest, with a record that accumulates over time, is better than the tournament format, but maybe that's just me. Also, while you will sign on with a particular program, it's often the actual coach your kid has that will make or break their experience. Some local programs that people have tried are the Middlesex Magic, Basketball 2 the Limit, and TG Elite (you can google all of these and you will see tryout dates). It is possible to do these programs alongside a fall or spring sport if you are willing to pay the money and miss some games of one or the other. It costs $800-$1000 per season. If you want to play this fall, tryouts are roughly now. Summer, there is no shortage of basketball camps. My kids have liked Below the Rim the best. All of this applies for both boys and girls. My kids are boys so I know the boys side better, but, with one exception, everything I've described above is parallel for boys and girls. The one exception is that I believe sometimes the older girls divisions just go within the Sudbury program because there isn't enough demand to do it in Lincoln. Sudbury also runs their own rec program for kids who don't make Metrowest, and so sometimes Lincoln girls have played in that rec program, and the more skilled Lincoln girls have played in Metrowest. Good luck and happy basketballing. Would love to hear of any other options people have found. All the best, Jal
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