We ask for your patience as we navigate the 2017-2018 scheduling or practices in conjunction with all the other activities in the district and school groups and their needs.  Thank You!

Dear Parents/Players:
Hello, my name is Trevor Knutson and I am the VP of Basketball for Prior Lake Athletics for Youth (P.L.A.Y.).  I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and provide information about the P.L.A.Y. Basketball program that your son or daughter may already participate in or may be considering.  This will be my 5th season as the VP of Basketball and 7th year as a board member.  We have seen this program grow to about 1,100 participants and it could not have been done without all the volunteers time and commitment.  Volunteers from coaches to Grade Coordinators are needed as we could not be such a successful program without all of the help from those that spend so much time helping develop our kids.  To those that have volunteered in the past, and to those that continue to, THANK YOU!!!  If you have not yet or are new to the program, please consider getting involved this year. Please contact any board member if you are interested or sign up when you register your child.

Important Dates:

Important dates for the program can be found below and details about both traveling and in-house can be found under the tabs on the left and the FAQ. The following are some key dates to be aware of:

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Traveling:

August  2017 – registration will open in August for Traveling and In-house Basketball

September 11, 2017 - Pre-Try-out Skills & Drills Training Nights Begin (Hidden Oaks Gyms) Open to 4th thru 8th Graders planning on trying out for 2017-2018 P.L.A.Y. Traveling Basketball Teams 

September 17, 2017  EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION FOR TRAVELING BASKETBALL CLOSES!

September 29, 2017 - Online Registration for Traveling Basketball closes

September 30th and October 1st, 2017  Mandatory Tryout days for Boys & Girls Traveling Basketball.  Both sessions are mandatory

OCT. 1st at TOMS Media Center - PARENT TALK delivered by Positive Coaching Trainer Troy Pearson!        Coaches and Parents encouraged to attend - only 55 minutes!   2pm & 3:30pm  (2 sessions)

October 9, 2017- all uniform and Laker Gear orders due for Traveling Basketball

October 15, 2017-  PCA Meeting- 6:30PM at Prior Lake City Hall

October 29th, 2017- Parent and Coaches meeting at PLHS 

Basketball Parent Meeting: 6PM-7PM in Auditorium

Coaches Clinic: 7PM-9PM in Gold Gym

Attending PLHS Coaches Clinic is highly Encouraged for all Traveling Basketball Coaches & is also a great opportunity for anyone interested in In-House BBALL Coaching

November 11-12, 2017 – Prior Lake Girls Basketball Tournament - Parents must dedicate time to working the tourney.

November 13-14, 2017 – Traveling BBALL Team Picture Nights  - Please see your Coach or Team Parent for Picture Packets and Schedules.

February 10-11, 2018 – Prior Lake Boys Basketball Tournament - Parents must dedicate time to working the tourney.

March 3-4, 2018 – MYAS Girls State Championships

March 10-11, 2018 – MYAS Boys State Championships

TBD- Equipment Return @ Basketball shed

TBD- End of season coaches meeting 

In-House:

October 9, 2017 - Early Bird Registration ends 11:59pm

October 22, 2017 - Late Registration Ends for Grades K-6th  ends 11:59pm

K-2 coaches meeting and training: (located at Prior Lake High School Wed, Nov 15 2017  7:30 PM - 9:00 PM HS Blue Gym)      

3-6th Coaches meeting: Twin Oaks Middle School Sat, Nov 18 2017 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM TOMS Jerabek (A/B)

Referee Clinic: Twin Oaks Middle School Sat, Nov 18 2017 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM  TOMS Jerabek (A/B)

Equipment pick up from Joe and Kenderick at shed: Monday November 20th and Tuesday Nov 21st.   5-6pm.

Coaches pick up kids Jerseys and coaches shirts from Grade coordinators: Week of November 27 – Dec 1  Need to be picked up prior to Saturday. 

November TBD - Team rosters announced. We can not announce teams until volunteer coaches are in place. Please sign up to volunteer coach!

November 27th, 2017: 3rd-6th grade In-House season begins

Wed.  November 29th, 2017: -  Referee clinic (Tentative)

December 2, 2017: K-2nd Grade In-House season begins PICTURES FOR ALL IN-HOUSE TEAMS!

February 17, 2018: K-2nd Grade Year End Jamboree

February 24, 2018 – 3-6th Grade In-House Year End Tournaments

Goals of the Basketball Program:
The P.L.A.Y. Basketball Program is designed to provide a means of teaching children from grades k-8 the skills of playing basketball. The Basketball Board will work closely with HS Boys & Girls Coaches and their Staffs to help create the building blocks of successful basketball players and young men and women. We want all of the kids, parents and volunteers to finish the season with a greater appreciation for everyone’s efforts. The kids should leave the season having a better knowledge of the game, improvement in their skills and a positive experience that makes them want to continue to play basketball in the future. During this process we want to create a fair and organized approach to securing players, coaches and volunteers, which will demonstrate the following principles:

Make the sport fun for the kids, coaches and parents

Teach the fundamentals of the game and create curriculum for the progression of skill development

Demonstrate admirable sportsmanship both on and off the court

Work as a team, be committed to your team and always give 100% effort

HAVE FUN!!!

Please direct specific questions to grade level Coordinators for In-House or Boys or Girls Coordinators for Traveling whose contact information can be found by clicking “In-House” or “Traveling” on the left side of this screen and then click on “Board” which will also appear on the left side of the screen.

We are looking forward to another great P.L.A.Y Basketball season.
 GO LAKERS!!!

The SSC is one of the top conferences in the state.  Come cheer on the Prior Lake High School Basketball Teams.  All PLAY Basketball players get in free when they wear their jersey and are with a paid adult.

Half-time P.L.A.Y. Team Scrimmages for most 2015-2016 Boys and Girls Home Basketball games are being planned once again this year

Prior Lake Varsity Players Assigned to Each Traveling Team for the Season

**To Learn more about what's going on with the Prior Lake Boys & Girls Varsity Programs, Click the Team links on the left tool menu bar.**

P.L.A.Y. is currently planning on offering Intramural Basketball for Grades 7th-8th after school at HOMS from 2:30-4pm. Registration Ends Nov. 2nd.

We are hoping to be able to form a League with Burnsville and Lakeville - but that is in the infant stages of planning at this point - more information should be available in early Dec.  Games in BAC are on Saturdays starting anywhere from 8am - 2pm  usually lasts about 1 hour.

The days of the week will mostly be Tue & Thur , but due to some school events on some of those days we will need to mix in a Couple Mondays. This program has been 99% boys. The competition in the BAC League is comparable to  C level Middle School Basketball.

This year we won't be able to get started until Jan. 2nd and will try to get 12-13 dates in between Mid Jan and end of Feb.  We will play in a year end tourney about the first weekend of March.

The school gets their gym times first and then we are secondary - so they have some events during our dates so it has to move around some.

We have enough players for two teams currently but hope for a few more registration to get us to 3 teams. The number of teams will also depend on Volunteers to step up to coach from 2:30 -4 on practice date and on Saturdays for games. Cost is still under review, but will come in around $100.

Did you see one of our coaches following the double-goal coaching principles?  Do you have a youth athlete in a PLAY sport or did you compete with a PLAY team?

It's important that our coaches get your feedback directly, but we want to hear your feedback too so that we can continue to provide the best possible experience for our athletes.

Please take a few minutes to let us know what you think.
http://links.playinfo.org/feedback

To Learn More about the Double Goal Coaching and Parent Involvement go to the "Positive Coaching" Page under the HOME page - left side. Are you a Positiive Double goal Parent? Learn how to move your athlete into a 'Triple Impact athlete'.
Help your athlete become a Master of ELM - Effort, Learning, Recover from Mistakes

What is the Purpose of Athletics?          
Why do we want our child to be involved in a sport?

When Parents are asked these questions, many will respond with one of these:

• Promotes Confidence

• Provides Exercise

• Experience Team Concepts

• Build Individual Skills – Learn the Game

• Create Understanding of Winning and Losing

• Get to participate with Friends, meet new kids and have Fun

• Learn about Sportsmanship and being a good citizen

• Relationship of Effort and Accomplishment

All those are good reasons for being involved in sports- somewhere along the way Winning and the scoreboard often becomes the only measuring point for many.
* When was the last time you asked your child a direct question on the purposes above ...

- Did you gain Confidence at Practice/Game today? How?
- Was that a good workout?  Can you push yourself more?
- Do you like being part of a Team?  Why?
- What did you learn today – did you try something new?
- What have you learned about Winning (or) Losing?  Why?
- Did you enjoy the practice or game?  Why?
- How was Sportsmanship Shown (good and bad) today?
- Did you give your best effort? How did that feel?

- Instead we usually ask… Did you win?, How many points did you score?
It becomes Scoreboard related only !!!  It is OK to ask that – but wait until after you ask a few other questions.

P.L.A.Y. 's IMPACT Committee - in accordance with a variety of resources has come up with a series of topics and over the Basketball Season will look to address one topic each week.
Coaches-  review these topics with your players (even if for only 5 minutes, before, at or after practice) and try to make points on each topic as a "Weekly IMPACT Resolution".
It is sometimes hard to stay on a topic for a whole season - but to put them in small nuggets and work on those areas - it will help with the big picture.
It will help answer why you want your child in athletics.
The items and questions above will be covered in weeks to come.

Parents - be sure to preview with your player so that when the Coaches speak on it - they are aware of the topic. Then at the end of the week Coaches and Parents can check back with the players to see what they have learned on the topic of the week. (Again 5 minutes)

The IMPACT Committee would like you to take a look at the WEEKLY TOPICS - BELOW and use that as your IMPACT Resolution – Talking Point for at least a week. Revisit one if needed as the season goes on.
What and Why I.M.P.A.C.T. - check out the definition and how it relates to sports in the document at top of the page.  
        I.M.P.A.C.T. - I Make Positive Actions Count Today*

Coaches & Officials Sportsmanship tally program

Please use the appropriate form below for entering your information:

• Coaches URL   (Coaches use this site to enter information):
• Coach = https://coach.questionpro.com
• Officials URLs   (Officials use this site to enter):
• Official = https://official.questionpro.com

Be sure to completely fill out your survey to get proper credit for the information.

Coaches that do not reply - may not be considered for coaching positions in the future. Officials must reply in order to be paid for their games. Thank you for your support of the Team Sportsmanship award program.