Paperwork, Birth Certificates & Uniforms

Bring in all paperwork to Friday's practice. If you can't make practice, call me (551-1054) and I'll pick it up. NJB is strict about this stuff. No papers, you can't play. I turned in what we had on Thursday. But with 15U shorthanded, we're still looking for more players.

Also, please bring your jerseys and shorts to practice so the 15U can wear uniforms this weekend. I'm still waiting for our uniform guy to call me and tell me the new gear is in.

Schedule
Friday, 4:30 p.m. Practice
Saturday — no practice
Saturday, 12:30 p.m., Kilauea Gym, 15U game
Saturday, 4 p.m., Kilauea Gym, Coaches Meeting
Sunday, 2 p.m., Palolo Gym, 15U game
Sunday, 4 p.m., Makiki Park, practice. We'll have a shootaround, have a workout to keep the 16U/17U sharp. Anybody hungry for pizza?
Monday, 4:30 p.m., practice

I lub this game.

CAL (shot clock) league 13U starts in June. I'm looking for players right now instead of waiting until then. If you know some ballers who love the game, send them to us. THUNDER!

Practice Wednesday (and today) is on (updated)

1:15 p.m. Short practice today for guys who can make it. Primarily for the 15U squad to get more reps with defense and offensive sets. The sun is out!

9:20 a.m. Thank God, we have help. Coach John (JJ's dad) will run practice on Wednesday. He's got a busy work schedule, but he's making time to be there since both Bo and I have work obligations.

Schedule
Tuesday: no practice (unless it stops raining by early afternoon, then I'll ask 15U to practice)
Wednesday: 4:30 p.m., Makiki Park
Thursday: no practice
Friday: 4:30 p.m., Makiki Park
Saturday: no practice; 15U game, 12:30 p.m., Kilauea Gym. NJB All-Net Coaches Meeting 4 p.m., Kilauea.
Sunday: 15U game, 2 p.m., Palolo Gym

16U and 17U — no games this weekend

Monday, April 2: 4:30 p.m., Makiki Park

Video: Thunder 16U vs. Waipahu (updated)

Part 1


Saturday, 8:22 pm: Parts 2 and 3 coming early tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Takes 6-7 hours to upload each part to YouTube and I'm at work right now. Gaaaah!

Sunday 9:35 am: Parts 2 and 3 are ready.

Part 2

Part 3

Game 1 in the books

THUNDER BALLERS - That was fun. Not easy just being a "fan" now, but Coach Bo did great work with the rotation and you guys did just about everything that contributes to a solid win. Lucky for us, Waipahu was on the back end of a doubleheader. Also good that you made your own luck with hustle plays and smart decisions.

Back to work with shooting/ballhandling workout Saturday 11 am & Sun 3 pm. Sharpen those tools, gentlemen. We got a lot of basketball ahead. I lub this game!

Aiea League (16U) schedule

The Aiea League had ups and downs trying to find an eighth team, but Rob Godinez (Aiea Blazers) finally found a reliable team and the schedule was released last night.

The Thunder play on Friday, 6:45 p.m., against Waipahu. All games are on Fridays at Aiea District Park gym. I'll have copies of the schedule for everybody. Make sure you turn in your registration forms for Aiea League (16U) and NJB All-Net (17U, 15U). If you haven't turned in a copy of your birth certificate last year or this year, make sure you bring one this week!

Still not sure if we're having a 15U team. If Brent's friends show up this week, maybe. If not, we don't have enough players for 15U.

Also hoping to get a new batch of uniforms from Kelii Silva (Phyxius Sports). He's always been super helpful to us in the past and he's trying to get the new uniforms rushed through his printer guy.

The players who already have a jersey will use those for games. The new jerseys will go to new players and/or those who don't have a jersey. All jerseys will still belong to the team, so please take care of them and do NOT put them in a dryer after washing. They're $55 (jersey and shorts) and we need to make them last as long as possible.

PRACTICE/GAME SCHEDULE
Tuesday - no practice
Wednesday, 4:30 p.m., Makiki Park. I will be working so Coaches Bo, Larry and John will be in charge.
Thursday, 4:30 p.m., Makiki Park. I'll be there with Coach John and Coach Larry. Coach Bo and the Kaimuki guys will be in the weight room (Tuesdays and Thursdays).
Friday - Game
Saturday, 11 a.m. Shooting and ballhandling workout. If we have enough guys, we'll scrimmage.
Sunday, 3 p.m. Shooting and ballhandling workout. Same thing, we'll scrimmage if possible.
Monday, 4:30 p.m., practice

Practice schedule

Sunday (today), 3 p.m.
Monday, 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. (Coach Bo)
Thursday, 4:30 p.m.
Friday, 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, 11 a.m.
Sunday, 3 p.m.

All practices at Makiki Park.

We normally don't have practice on Thursday and Friday, but my work schedule is a little different this week. We're less than two weeks away from our first game at the Aiea 16U league. Much work to be done!

Registration forms for the two leagues (Aiea 16U, NJB 17U/15U/13U) must be turned in.

Any questions, call me at 551-1054.

Registration: Aiea 16U, NJB 17U/15U/13U

Some info on our spring leagues.

AIEA YOUTH BASKETBALL LEAGUE 16U
> Location: all games at Aiea Recreation Center gym (next to Aiea High School
> Entry fee: $350
> Game dates: Friday nights, beginning Mar. 23
> Eligibility: players must be no older than 16 as of June 1, 2012
> Paperwork: all registration forms and birth certificates must be submitted before the first game (if I have a copy of your birth certificate, you're good)

NJB ALL-NET SPRING LEAGUE 17U/15U/13U
> Location: games will be a various gyms in town
> Entry fee: $500 plus $5 per player for insurance (this rate has increased from $450 due to City & County rental fee)
> Game dates: various, to be announced
> Eligibility: Age as of Sept. 1, 2012
> Paperwork: all registration forms and birth certificates must be submitted by Friday, March 16
Note: NJB doesn't allow a player to compete in two age groups, same as before. So, if you're 15, you have to specify to me whether you want to play with our 15U team or 17U team. This rule applies to NJB only.

Later, we'll have 15U in CAL (shot clock league at McKinley/Kilauea gyms), which begins in June.

Also, possibly 17U at Pa'a, which plays at gyms in town and Kaneohe. That starts again in July. NJB also starts again, I think in summer.

I'm not interested in the Ikaika league, which runs the clock through all free throws. That shortens the game drastically, as short as a 30-minute game. Not wasting money on that.

I'll be ordering extra jerseys for the two/three teams we'll have, and if we have 13U, then we definitely need many more new ones.

Rain or shine: new dogs on board

Thunder Update

Met most of the new players this afternoon thanks to Coach Bo (and his truck): two freshmen, three sophomores. Good to have more numbers, more guys who love this game on our side. Still need more players for 13U, 15U and 17U, but looks like we're near maximum for 16U. Next practice Wed 4:30 p.m.

John came to practice even though the courts were wet from this recent rain storm. Props to John, one of our most dedicated Thunder players. 

Gym? 

I stopped in at McCully gym on the way home. The gym director said there's no open gym time for any teams due to lack of budget. If he opens the gym to anyone, even if it's for a rental, he has to have staff there. I'm not sure how that's a problem because he charges $15 an hour, which would pay for staff, right? But it's an issue he can't control, so I didn't push it. 

I did see Kekoa Ng and his club team practicing there. I was told that they're a PAL team, which is city and county-affiliated, and that's why his team is allowed to practice there. However, I learned later from one of the assistant coaches that only some of the PAL kids practice there. The rest were part of the club team. 

In other words, the policy at McCully gym is not consistent. I'm looking for any gym we can get practice time in, but McCully is the closest and I'm going to keep pursuing the possibilities. We benefited from using a gym two years ago (Aina Haina) and that was just 45 minutes each day, once or twice a week. 

Step up!

We're nearing Aiea league (two weeks away) and NJB All-Net (three-four weeks), so those of you who want to play should decide if you're committed or not. If you're not coming to practice at all, let me know if you have a reason. Otherwise, I can't assume you're committed, and there will be other players who will be on the roster, kids who really want to improve and be part of the Thunder. 

I know JJ is working a lot, which is great for him. But the guys who miss most practices, please let me know what's going on. I am not going to let Coach John, Coach Bo and the rest of our players down when game time comes. I don't want guys coming who haven't practiced, don't know the plays, have no chemistry with the guys who are there every day. I'd rather have new guys who can commit at least two or three days a week. 

Time to step up or get out. I hope you choose the best path. 

Reminder: Practice Sunday, Monday

Sunday practice is 1 to 5 p.m. Some guys can make it at 1 and some can only come at around 3, so I'll be at the park the whole time so we can get solid work in.

Monday practice is definite, 4:30 p.m. The rest of the week, I'll know once I get my schedule from my editor. It's already March and the Aiea league will start in a couple of weeks, followed by the NJB All-Net league at the end of the month.

Fun times ahead. We're getting more 17U and 15U players via Coach Bo (Tai's dad), who trains a handful of kids at Kaimuki. Coach Bo used to be an assistant football coach at Kaimuki, so he has these hungry kids in the weight room on Tuesdays and Thursdays, mostly doing leg work. But he'll bring our new teammates on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Still looking for more players, especially with 13U and 15U. NJB 13U starts at the end of this month, and CAL 13U starts in June. Please get the word out and bring your friends to practice so we can go to work!

See you guys on Sunday!