Aiea League is running a 13-Under again this winter. The league will be on Sundays (like last season) and the cutoff date is Dec. 31, 2015. So players need to be 13 as of that date. We have five players who meet that criteria. Please let me know 1) if you want to join this league, and 2) if you can bring some friends to join the team and they're 13 or younger.
We need to decide on this within a few days because Aiea League only has a few spots still open for teams. Mahalo!
Aiea 13U League
Begins Nov. 22
Games on Sundays at Aiea District Park gym
Birthdate: Must be 13 as of Dec. 31, 2015
In event of three-way tie, regular-season total points scored is tiebreaker.
2015-16 Winter
13U
# Name Gr Birthdate Age as of 12/31 School
12 Jance Apuya 8th 05/19/02 13 Kalakaua
14 Skylar Kawakami-Bechtel 8th 13 Kaimuki
17 Jayden Ramos 8th 10/15/02 13 Ewa Makai
29 Matthew Pascual 8th 01/20/02 13 Moanalua
34 Chaz Enos 7th 11/28/03 11 Stevenson
** Malosi Viena's dad, Dean, said he'll play. Jayden will be gone for two weeks in December (mainland trip), so we really need to have a reliable 9-10 players who will practice and be there for every game. Anything less, no go.
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Friday, December 5, 2014
Coming soon
January will be busy. There are three leagues (at least) available, plus we'll be finishing up AIea League. These are leagues with 13U/11U or Intermediate/Elementary divisions.
Here are my preferences.
1. CAL (Compete & Learn). We've played in this since the beginning (2011), which makes us a charter member. Very well run, very good officiating. Greydon is very fair with teams, parents, coaches, players. He tries to accommodate us for schedule conflicts. Games are mostly at Kilauea gym.
• Open Court. Geremy does not like National Federation rules and says that his league prepares his teams for mainland tournaments. He simply doesn't think Federation (high school) rules allow real basketball. He also won't use high school referees. Also, when we played in their first league, I once questioned his scoreboard operator about missing points for our team, and the guy told me to shut up. He wanted to fight me after that. He is one of Geremy's right-hand guys. We don't need to be associated or affiliated with that kind of craziness. He asked us to play in their second league, and we politely declined. But he kept asking, offered half-price off, and even after I told him several times that we weren't coming back, he kept asking.
Open Court is banned from at least two leagues, and their league is down to just a few teams. We will not play in that farce of a league.
Here are my preferences.
1. CAL (Compete & Learn). We've played in this since the beginning (2011), which makes us a charter member. Very well run, very good officiating. Greydon is very fair with teams, parents, coaches, players. He tries to accommodate us for schedule conflicts. Games are mostly at Kilauea gym.
Pros: Quality referees, good sportsmanship required, convenient location.
Cons: Normally none, but for this winter season, CAL uses Intermediate/Elementary format. That kind of works against us since some teams have repeat-grade players (who are 14), but it also allows us to suit upJosh M DE Jesus.
2. PAA (Positive Attitude Always). Overall, fairly good officiating. Lloyd has been helpful to us, tries to help out on schedule conflicts.
2. PAA (Positive Attitude Always). Overall, fairly good officiating. Lloyd has been helpful to us, tries to help out on schedule conflicts.
Pros: This is an age-division league. Games will NOT be at Koko Head gym, which is what I'm trying to avoid for the sake of some of our players and families.
Cons: Because the date cutoff is March 1, we will lose roughly half our guys who turn 14 during Jan-Feb.
Note: Lloyd said he will no longer allow teams to have two spots in the league while shuffling the same starters to both. I like this because it's too repetitive to play the same team twice before the playoffs.
3. NJB (National Junior Basketball). We normally play NJB in the summer, not fall or winter.
3. NJB (National Junior Basketball). We normally play NJB in the summer, not fall or winter.
Pros: Convenience. Games are usually at Palama, Kilauea and Palolo. NJB has very specific rules, and though some people don't like them, at least the rules are clear-cut and enforced consistently.
Cons: Very erratic officiating. Stephen does not guarantee that bad referees will be banned. Also, players cannot play in two different age divisions. (This doesn't affect us in the winter league since no league has a 15U/JV division until late Feb.) Also, NJB is going by Intermediate/Elementary divisions for winter. This is also the most expensive league at $550 entry fee plus $5 per player (insurance). That works out to more than $600. PAA is $500 and CAL is normally $475.
All in all, these are three quality leagues. We will NOT play in these leagues: PAL, Open Court.
All in all, these are three quality leagues. We will NOT play in these leagues: PAL, Open Court.
• PAL. Referees are NOT trained. Though some of their refs are veteran, experienced guys who are basically volunteering (the pay is very low), there are also some refs who are horrendous. Because of this, serious injuries are common. We can't enter as ourselves (H1 Thunder) and would have to assume the name of a park or something like that. Competition level is often not good. The only positive is that it is free. Not worth it.
• Open Court. Geremy does not like National Federation rules and says that his league prepares his teams for mainland tournaments. He simply doesn't think Federation (high school) rules allow real basketball. He also won't use high school referees. Also, when we played in their first league, I once questioned his scoreboard operator about missing points for our team, and the guy told me to shut up. He wanted to fight me after that. He is one of Geremy's right-hand guys. We don't need to be associated or affiliated with that kind of craziness. He asked us to play in their second league, and we politely declined. But he kept asking, offered half-price off, and even after I told him several times that we weren't coming back, he kept asking.
Open Court is banned from at least two leagues, and their league is down to just a few teams. We will not play in that farce of a league.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Aiea 13U League starts Nov. 30
Got the official word from the league. No referees available, so the first game has been pushed back by one week.
Good news - they found one more team to be the 8th.
Practice Saturday 5:00 pm at Makiki Park. Let's get a good 5-on-5 going!
Good news - they found one more team to be the 8th.
Practice Saturday 5:00 pm at Makiki Park. Let's get a good 5-on-5 going!
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
13U league at Aiea?
Just got an e-mail today from Rob Godinez III of the Aiea Blazers. They are offering a 13U league at Aiea gym that will be played on Sunday mornings beginning on Nov. 23.
This works for me since I don't work Sunday mornings. If we have enough interest and players, maybe we enter. Right now, our 13U guys (as of Nov. 23) are Colin, Javan, Chris, Micah, Ryan, Jayden and Chazz. That's six guys and I'm not sure how available everybody is.
If we cannot, that's fine too. I just wanted to get the word out. We'll need more 13U guys anyway, whether it's a winter league or spring league. Felcris turns 14 on Nov. 23. Colin turns 14 in late January. Javan and Chris turn 14 in February. Micah turns 14 in March.
Sunday mornings, anyone?
This works for me since I don't work Sunday mornings. If we have enough interest and players, maybe we enter. Right now, our 13U guys (as of Nov. 23) are Colin, Javan, Chris, Micah, Ryan, Jayden and Chazz. That's six guys and I'm not sure how available everybody is.
If we cannot, that's fine too. I just wanted to get the word out. We'll need more 13U guys anyway, whether it's a winter league or spring league. Felcris turns 14 on Nov. 23. Colin turns 14 in late January. Javan and Chris turn 14 in February. Micah turns 14 in March.
Sunday mornings, anyone?
Monday, October 13, 2014
Coming next
• Scrimmage (with referees) at Mid-Pacific during the week of Nov. 17. Varsity coach Ryan Hirata called a few days ago and invited us. Always fun to play in high school gyms. NOTE: This is a JV scrimmage and our non-high school guys will play. Those of you who are playing JV or varsity basketball are not going to suit up for this UNLESS your coach allows it. Which I doubt. We'll take 'em on with our 13U/eight graders.
• Tournament? Still thinking about organizing an intermediate tourney in November. Lot of variables and cost involved, like gym rental cost, referees, scoreboard operators/scorekeepers. I'll ask around and see if there's any interest. Preference is to have school teams enter. The ILH private-school intermediate teams play their season in late November and December, I think.
• There IS a HI-PAL intermediate level (or 13U) tournament in Hilo every December. I'm not big on that one since the competitive level isn't super high, and it's a busy time of year for me and all the parents. But it's a thought.
• CAL and PAA start their leagues again in January. CAL will have intermediate and elementary divisions, which means Big Josh will be eligible to play. Same with guys who are turning 14 this winter like Felcris and Colin. We could definitely use 2 more players since Chris will be busy with Big Boyz winter football league (January to May).
• Fundraisers. Planning on a car wash in the next 30 days. Also Free-Throw Challenge II. We've got that monthly bill to pay (loan), plus the upcoming leagues and new uniforms. Coach Bo has asked us to help with new uniforms for Anuenue (high school), where he's an assistant coach, so that could be a small fundraiser for us. Gerard, who hooked us up with our newest uniforms (teal blue), is supportive of that idea.
• And about uniforms... Everybody has a different color preference. I'll continue to take everyone's input.
Felcris likes navy blue. Josh prefers sky blue. Kali‘a likes black. Tani likes orange. I like metallic silver, gold and copper (like a shiny penny). Tough to find a uniform shop that has those metallic fabrics though. It would be simpler to re-order a new set of the current teal blue uniforms, especially since everybody's going to grow in the next several months. So we could go with new teals for guys who need a bigger size, PLUS another color. Maybe white with metallic copper (instead of our original orange). (See photo below for an idea of what the white/copper combo can look like.)
• Travel. Some of the guys have asked about next summer. I still want us to go somewhere new. Vegas/Anaheim and Kona will always be there. So I'm going to get in contact again with Coach Young at ‘Iolani. He told me he'd get in touch with his guy in China since they have a connection with the Nike-affiliated schools there. If we could go there in the summer and play five or six middle-school or high school teams, that would be fantastic!
It doesn't have to be China. Open to ideas.
• Practices. We'll still have drill workouts to keep improving our fundamentals. Shooting. Ballhandling. On-ball defense. I'm thinking once or twice a week, especially if we can find a gym with open play. I'll let everybody know. Enjoy the free time off for now.
WEEEE LUBBB THIS GAAAAME!!
• Tournament? Still thinking about organizing an intermediate tourney in November. Lot of variables and cost involved, like gym rental cost, referees, scoreboard operators/scorekeepers. I'll ask around and see if there's any interest. Preference is to have school teams enter. The ILH private-school intermediate teams play their season in late November and December, I think.
• There IS a HI-PAL intermediate level (or 13U) tournament in Hilo every December. I'm not big on that one since the competitive level isn't super high, and it's a busy time of year for me and all the parents. But it's a thought.
• CAL and PAA start their leagues again in January. CAL will have intermediate and elementary divisions, which means Big Josh will be eligible to play. Same with guys who are turning 14 this winter like Felcris and Colin. We could definitely use 2 more players since Chris will be busy with Big Boyz winter football league (January to May).
• Fundraisers. Planning on a car wash in the next 30 days. Also Free-Throw Challenge II. We've got that monthly bill to pay (loan), plus the upcoming leagues and new uniforms. Coach Bo has asked us to help with new uniforms for Anuenue (high school), where he's an assistant coach, so that could be a small fundraiser for us. Gerard, who hooked us up with our newest uniforms (teal blue), is supportive of that idea.
• And about uniforms... Everybody has a different color preference. I'll continue to take everyone's input.
Felcris likes navy blue. Josh prefers sky blue. Kali‘a likes black. Tani likes orange. I like metallic silver, gold and copper (like a shiny penny). Tough to find a uniform shop that has those metallic fabrics though. It would be simpler to re-order a new set of the current teal blue uniforms, especially since everybody's going to grow in the next several months. So we could go with new teals for guys who need a bigger size, PLUS another color. Maybe white with metallic copper (instead of our original orange). (See photo below for an idea of what the white/copper combo can look like.)
• Travel. Some of the guys have asked about next summer. I still want us to go somewhere new. Vegas/Anaheim and Kona will always be there. So I'm going to get in contact again with Coach Young at ‘Iolani. He told me he'd get in touch with his guy in China since they have a connection with the Nike-affiliated schools there. If we could go there in the summer and play five or six middle-school or high school teams, that would be fantastic!
It doesn't have to be China. Open to ideas.
• Practices. We'll still have drill workouts to keep improving our fundamentals. Shooting. Ballhandling. On-ball defense. I'm thinking once or twice a week, especially if we can find a gym with open play. I'll let everybody know. Enjoy the free time off for now.
WEEEE LUBBB THIS GAAAAME!!
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