WHERE OUR COMMUNITY’S KIDS LEARN TEAMWORK AND SPORTSMANSHIP
The New Canaan YMCA’s Youth Basketball (Y-Ball) league provides kids with the opportunity to develop skills and a love for the game of basketball. Y-Ball runs from December through April for kids in grades Kindergarten through eighth grade. The program is led by volunteer coaches and provides a fun and engaging opportunity for kids to develop skills, teamwork, and knowledge of the game in both a practice and game environment. Practices are held during the week and games are held on Saturdays. Everybody plays in Y-Ball and everybody has fun!
The league is open to boys and girls in grades K-8 and is broken out into the following structure:
Co-ed: K & 1st grades
Registration Begins: Monday, August 12, 2024
Registration Ends: Friday, November 22, 2024*
K-8 Practice Begins: Monday, December 2, 2024
K-8 Season: Saturday, December 7, 2024-Saturday, April 1, 2025
*Any participant in grades K-8 not registered by Friday, November 22, will be placed on a waiting list and will not be guaranteed a spot in the program
Please Note: League schedule follows the NCPS school calendar. Games and practices will not be held on the following dates: 12/23/24-1/1/25; 2/17/25-2/21/25
Weekly Practice Schedule
Teams practice one hour, one evening a week (Monday – Thursday). Practice days, times and locations are determined based on gym availability as well as coaches’ availability. Players will have an opportunity to indicate a day of the week they are UNABLE to attend a practice. Efforts will be made to honor unavailable days selected but are NOT guaranteed. Teams will have one game per week on Saturday. Games are 60 minutes and will be posted on the New Canaan YMCA’s League website.
Mandatory Evaluation
Each grade will be evaluated individually. Player evaluations will be broken up into small groups.
The evaluation will consist of more game-like competition and less skill drills to get a more accurate reading of their basketball ability in a game.
Player evaluation will take place October 24 through October 30. Exact days and times will be determined at a later date and depend on the number of registrants. Participants will receive an email by November 20 of their team, coach, and practice information.
Practices begin the week of December 2nd. Once rosters are posted, player transfers/changes will only be approved by the Sports Director in extenuating circumstances.
***Please understand that due to the magnitude of this program, we cannot honor any special requests for team placement with individual coaches or other players.***
