New Castle basketball travel team tryouts for fifth – eighth graders start next week

September 25, 2009
by Susie Pender

The New Castle Youth Basketball Association has announced the schedule for travel team tryouts for girls and boys in fifth through eighth grade for the 2009-2010 season. Anyone who is interested in trying out must register first at www.nchba.org. “We are urging players to register as early as possible online so the tryouts can be organized and conducted in the fairest possible way,” stressed President of the New Castle Youth Basketball Association Gary Abrams.

“The tryouts are conducted by independent evaluators,” Abrams pointed out, “including members of the board of directors and coaches of NCYBA who have no affiliation with the grade being evaluated and coaches from outside the community. The teams are selected based on the tryouts and determined by the evaluators.”

The board of directors of the NCYBA will contact team members by email three days to one week after tryouts to inform them whether they made the team and who their coach is. “It’s a big commitment,” Abrams warns players and parents. Players will play or practice three times per week, once during the school week and once on Saturday and once on Sunday, playing between 20 – 35 games in the season depending on age. 

The schedule and locations for the tryouts of the various age groups are as follows:

Age group         Date                   Time                   Place

5th grade girls     Thursday, Oct. 15     6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Bell Middle School

5th grade boys     Tuesday, Oct. 13     6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Seven Bridges

6th grade girls     Thursday, Oct. 15     6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Seven Bridges

6th grade boys   Tuesday, Sept. 29     6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Seven Bridges

7th grade girls   Wednesday, Oct. 7     7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Bell Middle School

7th grade boys   Thursday, Oct. 1     6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Bell Middle School

8th grade girls:    **To be determined**  Check web site   www.ncyba.org 

8th grade boys   Monday, Oct. 5         6:30 - 8:30 p.m.  Seven Bridges

Each coach sets his or her own schedule deciding what day during the school week the team will play or practice. The season officially begins when football and soccer season are over, after November 22, and ends before spring sports begin. Because the league is so careful to work around the fall and spring sports schedules, “indoor lacrosse or indoor soccer is not an excuse to miss basketball practice,” Abrams noted.

In addition, all teams will play in 3-4 tournaments throughout the season including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Tournament in January sponsored this year for the 22nd time by NCYBA. “The Martin Luther King, Jr. Tournament is the largest youth basketball tournament in Westchester,” Abrams explained, “drawing over 100 teams from the tri-state area including New York City teams.”

The New Castle Parks and Recreation Department also runs a recreational league for fifth through eighth graders. All fifth and sixth grade boys on a NCYBA team are required to also play rec basketball. 

For additional information about NCYBA tryouts, check the web site, www.ncbya.org or contact Gary Abrams, 914-238-0398.