Blog
Spirit Wear
-Thursday, November 15, 2018
Parents,
This is the second email I'll send over a four day period.
Spirit wear is available for purchase. I will submit one more order this year on 11/30. You MUST pay for them in advance or the order will not be placed. I will place another order to be filled in early January.
You can order spirit wear from our website. Again, payment is required before any spirit wear order is filled. You can choose the "pay in person" option, but you must contact me or my wife to drop off payment.
https://www.bataviayouthsports.org/basketball-2
Parents,
This is one of four (I reserve the right to change this number :-) ) emails I'll send over the next four days, as we get closer to the start of the season.
I want to remind those of you with children playing in the CPYBL that if you are suspended, your child is suspended.
You read that correctly.
The league we play in has tried many things to curb poor parent behavior, and it hasn't helped. They are hoping that by putting your child on the line, you'll behave.
If you find you can't handle the officials or whatever.. get up and walk out of the gym immediately.
This leads me to a second point on this topic. I have very limited authority in regard to poor officials and such. I've seen what you've seen. You just need to let me know (if I'm not in the gym) and I'll report to the league, but you'll likely need to ride out that game with those officials.
Parents,
The state of Ohio requires that BCRL collect a few signatures from you. In the next week or two your childs coach will be asking you to sign two documents. Your coach will have these documents, you do not need to print anything out.
1. Acknowledgement of the concussion rules/expectations/etc...
http://www.healthy.ohio.gov/concussion.aspx
2. Acknowledgement of Lindsays Law.
The 2nd one also requires that you AND your child watch the video, and in our legislators great wisdom.. you AND your child have to sign the paper.
Please be ready when approached by your coach.
As most teams have practiced and I've observed many things this week, I wanted to send a few reminders.
- Doors should NEVER be propped open. Already ran into this, this should not happen.
- Siblings need to be in the gym or cafeteria, and always supervised. Had a first for my 8th year doing this... fire alarm pulled. It happens, but it can't become a thing.
- At the elementary, NOBODY is to be on the bleachers when closed. I've had to ask some adults and many children to not do this. There are actually green signs on the wall stating this.
- Cameras everywhere... just keep that in mind.
- Phones don't work in the elementary. Just as an FYI.
- When school is closed due to snow, practice is canceled. No exceptions.
- When school is closed for holidays and elections, practice is ON.
- Not all concerts cancel practice. Only the ones that need more seating. If practice is canceled, the school lets me know.. and I let the coaches know.
- Doors should NEVER be propped open. Yes, said this twice.. it is that important.
I think that covers the obvious.
Family pass
-Sunday, November 4, 2018
Last year we offered a family pass for the first time ever, we are doing it again this year.
A few facts:
- Cost is $25. If you have multiple children or playing on a SWOL team, this is an easy choice for you!
- It covers two parents and associated children. Mostly on the honor system, so not aunts/uncles and the like.
- You do NOT have to pay until you pick up the pass, but if you opt to pay that is fine. In the payment section of the online order, just mark "Pay in Person."
- THIS IS ONLY FOR HOME BCRL GAMES!! This does not cover road games, it does not cover school games.
- We do not charge admission for K1 games.
All orders must be placed on our website, frankly dropped the ball a little last year in some email or other non-traditional orders.
Home admission cost is the following:
$3 Adult
$1 Student
Seniors and young children are free.
Family max of $7.
Parents,
The season is starting to ramp up for us.
I want to start off by saying
thank you. There are options to play elsewhere, I appreciate you staying in your community and making it stronger.
This year brings unbelievable growth. When I started this role 8 years ago we were at 87 players. Today we are at 266, and we may still add a middle school team.
We have officially tripled as an organization, blows my mind. That being said, it is pretty much become more than one man can handle in many ways. So if you think you have a desire to make your community better, reach out to me and lets talk. There are some things that have to be done by me.. but there are many things I could shift some responsibility to over time (things like some of our K1 stuff, the uniforms, the practice schedule, Lindsey Law stuff, and more).
Finally the personal note, and I promise this will be the only time I use this medium to push this. Batavia schools has a levy up for vote. I can confidently say that many of your children would not be playing for BCRL (maybe at all) if not for a great partnership with the school system AND the nice new elementary. If we were still in that old elementary we would be in big trouble and probably not have K1 or 2nd grade basketball (as most of our Clermont and Brown county neighbors offer to their children). I expect a new middle school to equally transform our organization and community. The middle school gym is old and on its last legs before a MAJOR reinvestment is needed. The floor is nearing the end of its life, and the overall setup of it is not real great anymore. The high school is just not a good building in my opinion. Never has been, and with our phenomenal growth.. it just isn't good enough. Your support for the levy would go a long way in it passing, the last levy to replace a 100+ year old elementary only passed 2521 to 2477. So your vote matters.
Look forward to seeing your children play basketball and getting to know each of you.
As always, you can read past messages here. If you are new to this list (as late signups are.. please take the time to read each post especially the one about communication. Many of you should turn on notifications for our Facebook group for basketball.
https://www.bataviayouthsports.org/blog/tag/basketball2018
Parents,
Teams are 2nd-6th grade teams are formed. I've asked all coaches to reach out by this Friday.
If you've not heard from your childs coach by then, please email and let me know.
I am working on confirming K1 coaches and will communicate that information out soon.
Practices will be starting soon, many of our teams are coached by the same people who coach in soccer and football so they may be conflicted out a bit.
The first batch of uniforms have been ordered. Just a few of you need to order still.
As a reminder, you can read prior emails at the link below. Please take a moment to review if you are a recent signup as it answers many questions you may have (especially the one about staying informed.. our FB page is just few likes short of 400.. will you put us over the edge).
Parents,
I want to act on this super fast. I have 164 children that need uniforms, so this is not something we can just order a few weeks before the season. Read this email closely. I will email you frequently until you order. You are getting this email because I feel you have to order one.
I will place two orders. One will be placed on 10/21. The other will be placed in mid-November.
PLEASE ORDER for the 10/21 order.
ALL orders must be placed online:
https://www.bataviayouthsports.org/basketball-2?orderby=15
You do not have to pay there, you can choose to pay when you pick up the uniform.. but I want all orders placed there as that gives us all an official order to look at if a mistake is made. If you want to pay, by all means.. do.
A few things:
- People with K1 players, place your order separate from all other children as you should NOT pay for them online. The jersey will be given to you by BCRL. If you order shorts, that is on you.
- I have your jersey number documented.
- Did I mention that ALL orders need placed online?
- 5th grade boys will get a second email on this topic. Do not see Valerie, she does not have samples of your uniform.
- Those on Jen Whitakers team, do not order online. Need to talk to her and likely remove you from this list.
Regarding sizing. If you need to try a uniform on outside of the times below, please contact Valerie @ 513-319-8869 or vklopfstein@outlook.com. You order at your own risk if you don't try on the uniform first.
One of us will be at the BCRL soccer fields (2487 Bauer Road) for the following schedule:
10/11 - Thursday - 5:45PM - 7:45PM
10/12 - Friday - NOT THERE
10/13 - Saturday - 11AM - 3:30PM
10/14 - Sunday - 12PM - 6PM
10/15 - Monday - 5:30PM - 7:30PM
10/16 - Tuesday - 5:30PM - 7:30PM
10/17 - Wednesday - 5:30PM - 7:30PM
All other times will be arranged with Valerie.
I thankfully don't get much negative feedback on this topic, the coaches have historically managed playing time pretty well. However, I want to be clear on the topic.
Here are the requirements for CPYBL teams:
K1 - Seriously... have never had an issue here, but it should be close to equal. Sometimes kids don't want to play and while we do strongly encourage them to get out on the floor, we can't make them.
2nd and 3rd grade - Two quarters
4th grade and above - 1.5 quarters
If you have a complaint about this and approach me on the topic, I'm going to ask two very simple questions:
- What grade is your child in?
- Did your child play <insert requirement> minutes?
If the answer to number two is yes, I won't discuss it any further. This is not to be dismissive of the topic, but they've met the requirement expected of them.
I will be direct in that I've had this complaint for three reasons:
- Player didn't play close to the minimum. Not often, but I've gotten it.
- Player always plays the minimum.
- Some other player plays much more than others.
One is an issue that I do want to hear about. I won't promise something will be done on the first occasion, but I'll at least discuss with the coach.
For two, I'd hope it isn't "ALWAYS" but this is how it goes at times. Playing time is the coaches discretion.
For three, this happens. I'd hope the child playing deserves it by talent and such, but playing time is the coaches discretion.
I'm a firm believer that if you take a families money, they deserve to play. I believe this at all levels of competition that even at the AAU level, if you take a families money you should play that child.. or cut him.
Okay, back to back "negative" emails. I promise, not a lot of those but I do have to cover the bad as well as the good or administrative.
Sometimes you're not happy with a coach, referee, or situation. I ask that you wait until Monday morning to reach out to me about any issues you have.
Already addressed approaching an official is a SERIOUS, suspension (for you AND your child) grabbing no-no.
However approaching a coach is a huge no-no as well. You will have times you disagree with your childs coach. After a game is a terrible time to approach them. You will get a reaction that is much more over the top than if you ave it until Monday morning to discuss (generally the rule is 24 hours.. in the case of practices and such).
Give it time to see if you still think it needs addressed and then address it. 100% of the time you will at least address it with less emotion than if you did it in the moment.
Your childs coach is a volunteer. We don't even give a break on registration fees. So giving them a super hard time is usually frowned upon.