Recreation Information

Beginning January 2024:  Players who are assigned to a travel team may not play in the In-Town/Rec program.

The Westfield Basketball Association is proud to sponsor our Recreation Basketball program for students in grades 2 though 12.

This program is primarily played on Saturdays from the first Saturday in January through the third Saturday in March. Practice and game times are combined in sessions as close to 90 minutes as our allocation of gym time from the Westfield Board of Education will allow. At all levels there will be two teams in the grade school gyms at all times and in the larger gyms there may be four teams in the gym at the same time. Each player will receive a WBA shirt. In past years we have registered over 1,100 students to play basketball in our recreation program alone.

Please note that we ask that if you bring water bottles to the gym, bring ones that have pop-up tops and not screw off tops to reduce the possibilities of water spills. Flavored sports drinks are discourages as they leave the floors sticky when spilled. We ask that if you need to bring siblings to the gyms that you keep them in the gym at all times and do not let them wander the halls or damage items on the walls of the schools. Finally we ask that all players remove any and all garbage that they bring with them into the gyms. We are guest of the Board of Education and while we have to rent the gymtime, we can lose the privilege of the gyms at anytime at the discretion of the BOE or a school Principal.

For the early grades (2nd, 3rd and 4th) the program is primarily instructional. We work with the players to help initiate an understanding and love of the game of basketball. As these are considered instructional leagues we do not keep score in the "games" played and there are no playoffs or league champions. This program allows the coaches to work with players in game situations without concern on the part of players, other coaches and parents that on court coaching and "Do Overs" could end up in someone unfairly winning or losing a game. The WBA encourages a greater emphasis on teaching at this level. We also understand the desire on the part of the players to actually play the game so the sessions are split into two sections, the first is for instruction while the second is for scrimmaging. Everyone gets to play equally.

Grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 play more of a league type of program with referees, standings and a championship tournament at the end of the year. Trophies are awarded to the league champions and runner ups. In the past couple years some time allocation for the older grades was reduced to 60 minutes but the teams were able to access the big courts at Edison and Roosevelt. There may be less instructional time as the players get older and more actual game time.

The high school boys program games are played on Saturday afternoons during the school year. The WBA obtains certified officials for this games and the players choose captains to determine teams.

The WBA is encouraging interested parents with basketball backgrounds to contact us if there is an interest in being a Head Coach or an Assistant Coach of one of our teams. Please go to your account and register to volunteer if you have not offered your services at the time you registered your child.

ALL COACHES MUST HAVE TAKEN THE RUTGERS S.A.F.E.T.Y COURSE. BACKGROUND INFO WILL ALSO BE REQUIRED.

Thank you for allowing us to work with your children to share with them this great game.
 

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Positive Coaching Alliance