Dear Bearcat Families,
As we head into November and what traditionally marks the start of our winter sports and activities, I want to make you aware of a change that I hope will be a positive one for our schools and community. The City of Bristol will no longer be coordinating and operating the Parks and Rec Youth Basketball program. Instead, a youth basketball program will be offered through Bristol Virginia Public Schools. This organizational change came about very recently, and I want to acknowledge that the transitional period has created some confusion.
The new basketball program to be offered through BVPS will allow boys and girls in grades K-8 to learn about the game of basketball and engage with their peers in a competitive, healthy environment. We will still hold practices and games at VPS and VIS, and we will still rely on parent-volunteers to step up and help with coaching responsibilities. There are, however, some aspects that we want to approach differently than they have been approached in the past.
Our newly installed Varsity Basketball Coaches—Kevin Timmons (Boys Basketball) and D.J. Newberry (Girls Basketball) will be working with the volunteer coaches to teach fundamental skills to our young participants. We want skill development and team play to be the hallmarks of the youth basketball program. At the beginning of the season, our coaches will coordinate a Coaches’ Clinic to share practice formats and drills that will allow our young basketball players to develop the skills and style of play that we want in our varsity programs. Throughout the season, our varsity athletes will also be assisting with our young players to reinforce good habits and a commitment to development.
We know that competitive Parks and Rec games can bring out the best and worst in our students and in our parents. We want to create an environment for our young athletes and their parents where competitiveness and sportsmanship hold equal value. We are going to be very intentional when we talk to players, coaches, and parents about keeping positive attitudes and keeping the focus on fun and development. While we all love to win and hate to lose, prioritizing team values over a win-at-all-cost mentality will benefit these young players greatly in the future.
Registration for the new youth basketball program will continue for one week, ending on November 13th at the end of the school day. A digital flyer will be posted on the BVPS website, and hard copies of the flyer will be available at Virginia Primary School, Virginia Intermediate School, and Virginia Middle School. The bottom portion of the flyer should be completed, detached, and returned to any of these three schools or the BVPS Central Office at 280 Lee Street. Alternatively, there will be an electronic link for registration on the BVPS website. There will be no cost to register for the basketball program. Anyone who has already paid to register through Parks and Rec will receive a refund as soon as those monies have been transferred to the school division.
This program is intended to serve all students in grades K-8 in Bristol, Virginia, who want to play basketball this winter. We are inviting BVPS students as well as homeschool and private school students in Bristol, VA. We will do our best to provide the following age and gender groupings, as long as we have enough participants:
Teams in the Kindergarten and First-Grade age group will be offered as coed
Teams in the Second- and Third-Grade age group will be offered as coed
Teams in the Fourth- and Fifth-Grade age group will be separated by gender
Teams in the Middle School age group will be separated by gender
Following registration, the season will begin the week of November 16-20 with age-group practices. Specific times and dates will be posted online next week. Practices will continue throughout the season. We will be setting aside Saturdays in December, January, and February to play games for all age groups. The Saturday game schedule will be provided to all participants once our coaches and teams have been set. In hopes of reducing some parental anxiety, I will let you know that we do not intend to play games while students are out of school for the holidays. Tentatively, the season will end by the second Saturday in February, barring make-up dates for inclement weather cancellations.
Please be on the lookout for the registration flyer if your child is interested in playing basketball. We will continue to use the BVPS website to update practice times and provide announcements until we have direct contact information from parents and guardians. We will post information online about beginning-of-season parent meetings.
