Kevin Berger – Leader Staff
With basketball fever at an all-time high in Canada following the Toronto Raptors’ historic victory in the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals, a group of Barrhead educators are looking to host a skills development program for elementary school students starting in January 2020.
Alberta Distance Learning Centre instructor Gary Frederickson, Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS) teacher Jessica Mayen and Barrhead Elementary School teacher Jaylene Blum have formed a new association called Barrhead Minor Basketball.
The group’s first initiative will be the Junior NBA program. Initially, it will consist a 12-week after-school program for male and female Grade 5 and 6 students.
The cost of the program will be $55. Besides the high-level coaching, participants will receive a jersey, a basketball and player’s insurance through Basketball Alberta.
Frederickson, who will assist his daughter Jessica in coaching the Grade 7-8 girls’ basketball team at BCHS this fall, said the Jr. NBA program will enhance the phys-ed curriculum and three-on-three programs that Blum already teaches at Barrhead Elementary School.
Frederickson said he had been very active in grassroots development for basketball in the communities he previously taught at in both Saskatchewan and Alberta.
“You start them young and then they’ve got a really good chance of success when they hit more competitive levels at high school and beyond,” he said.
Frederickson said it seemed like there was a gap at the younger levels for extracurricular basketball in Barrhead, so starting this program was the logical thing to do.
“There seems to be a pretty good interest at the elementary level for the in-school program,” he said. “I’m hoping there’s a few kids who want to do it as part of an after-school program.”
Whether or not the program expands to younger age levels depends entirely on how many parents and youth want to get involved.
“You’re better off starting smaller and doing a good job and then trying to expand if you think that there’s a need,” he said.
On a background note, the Jr. NBA program’s roots go back to 2007, when Canadian athlete and eight-time NBA All-Star Steve Nash launched the Steve Nash Youth Basketball (SNYB) program.
For a number of years, the SNYB was Canada Basketball’s flagship youth basketball program for a number of years.
Then in 2014, the NBA launched the Jr. NBA Rookie division for boys and girls aged five to seven. It was initially offered at 50 clubs throughout Canada.
Earlier this month, the NBA and Canada Basketball announced the merger of the Jr. NBA and the SNYB into a single program: Jr. NBA Youth Basketball, which would be targeted to boys and girls aged five to 12.
Any parent with further questions about the Barrhead program, as well as volunteers interested in coaching basketball, should contact Gary at (403) 795-7632. They may also try to contact Jessica or Jaylene at their schools.
