Dear Parents and Players, February 11, 2003
I would like to start out congratulating the Riverside Vikings on an outstanding basketball season. Your daughter has worked very hard during this past season and has great potential for being a high school basketball player. Our continued goal is to develop these young athletes into the best basketball players they can be. Our school sponsored program is very limited in the time allowed for these athletes to develop. I believe that players need much more playing time to be able to compete at the high school level in the future.
I would like to invite your daughter to tryout for our New Castle Wolves Club Team (Spring and/or Summer seasons). This is not a school sponsored program. The team, 8th grade, girls- U14, will be made up of a maximum of ten players and 5 practice players. Practice players have the opportunity to continue their development and it is possible to work themselves onto the team. My philosophy is a little different than that of middle school basketball. All players will not get equal playing time, nor are they guaranteed playtime. By devoting hard work on the practice court, players will improve their skills and knowledge of the game and be rewarded playing time on game day. If you are unsure how this philosophy might affect your daughter or have other concerns, I welcome your questions or comments.
Club team basketball is a very large commitment for the athletes and their parents. This commitment of time and expenses should be considered before you allow your daughter to tryout. If you participated in years past, you know how demanding this commitment can be. If this is your first year to consider Club Team it may be helpful to talk to experienced parents who can give you some insight. All players are required to read and to agree to all team rules. (see Code of Conduct)
It is very hard to determine our practice schedule. I will do my best to get you a schedule as soon as possible. I will try to practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30 P.M each week for the Spring Season. Our games will be on the weekends. No practice on Monday after a weekend game. Out-of-town games often require over-night lodging, meals etc. We always have several parents traveling with us, all of whom are very happy to share rides and rooms with any of the players. Our Spring season lasts from March to the end of April. There are many local tournaments that we have attended in the past,.approximately 6. I will leave it up to the team and parents on which tournaments we will attend. Summer season starts in May and ends in July. Most games are on the Eastern Slope.
Our program has grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years. I have found that it is impossible for one person to run this program and coach at the same time. If your daughter is picked to play for the New Castle Club Team we will expect you, as parents, to help in the organization. Attached are some of the responsibilities we expect parents to fulfill. Our parents have always done a wonderful job in the past. New Castle always has a great turn out of fans on game day. We are looking forward to another great year.
Please confirm with Coach Mike Cox if your daughter will be trying out for Club Team this year. Team and parent meeting will be held Saturday February 22nd at the Riverside Gym, from 5:00 to 6:00. Tryouts will be held February 23rd at the Riverside Gym, from 4:00 to 6:00.
If you have any questions please feel free to call me anytime or stop by the gym.
Coach Mike Cox 984-0332