Hopkinton Youth Sports Association (HYSA): Welcome

BASKETBALL: 

HYSA Basketball provides children in Kindergarten thru 8^th grade the opportunity to play basketball while fostering skills development, teamwork, and sportsmanship.   For children in grades kindergarten thru 2^nd grade, the “Biddy Ball” program provides nine weeks of skills development on Saturday mornings in November, December, and January.   Dave Chase conducts the program with the assistance of the Hopkinton Boys and Girls Varsity Basketball players. As the Hopkinton Middle School does not sponsor a basketball program, HYSA also guides the boys and girls Middle School teams which play a competitive schedule against other middle school teams from throughout the area.  In order to successfully compete at this level, the middle school teams will practice 2-3 times per week and play 15-20 games over the course of the season.  Involvement in the Middle School program requires a much higher level of commitment from both players and parents. For the remainder of athletes in grades 3 thru 8, HYSA currently participates in the Merrimack Basketball League (http://www.nhsports.net/mblbasketball/ ).  Teams at this level practice one to two times per week and games are generally played on Saturdays with a 10 to 12 game schedule.   

Basketball Evaluations
Basketball evaluations will run from the 19th to the 27th of October at the Hopkinton High School Gym. 
For 3^rd  and 4th grade, a basic skills evaluation is used to balance the skill level among the teams. 
For 5^th thru 8^th grade, evaluations are conducted in two parts; a skills evaluation and a scrimmage evaluation. 
Players interested in participating on an “A” level team are required to attend both sessions.

Timeline 

Registration:  Online Registrations for the 2009-2010 season will open on September 20^th and run thru October 7^th.  The link is located ablove on the HYSA home page.  Registration may also be conducted in person at "Marklin, The Marketplace", 28 Riverside Drive in Contoocook from 6-8 pm on Thursday, October 1^st and on Wednesday, October 14^th.  Players who fail to register by the deadline are not guaranteed the opportunity to participate and must pay a late fee if they are accepted. 

Evaluations:  Evaluations will be conducted at the Hopkinton Middle High School gym beginning the week of October 19^th.   For Grades 3 and 4, the evaluations are used to make the teams as even as possible.  For players in grades 5-8, players are matched with other players of their skill level and then participate against other “A” or “B” teams in the MBL or against other middle school programs.  The evaluation schedule will be posted on the web site at least one week prior to the evaluations and will be sent to the email provided at sign-up. 

Teams:  Teams will be finalized by Nov 1st and rosters and coaching information will be emailed to the players and posted on the website at that time 

Practices:  Practice for most teams will begin the week of November 9^th.  The 3rd/4th grade teams will practice once per week at the Harold Martin School.  The 5^th/6^th grade teams and the 7^th/8^th grade “B” level teams will practice 1-2 times per week with practices held at Harold Martin School, Maple Street School and the High School.   Most weekday practices are in the evening while morning and afternoon practices are held on Saturdays and Sundays.  Practice schedules are published monthly and will be available on this web page and will be emailed to the coaches for distribution to their teams. 

Games:  Dave Chase coordinates the game schedules for the middle school teams.  For the teams participating in the Merrimack Basketball league, the game schedules will be finalized in November once all the member towns have formed their teams.  Games will likely begin around the 5^th of December and run thru mid to late February, ending with a league tournament to crown a champion at each level.      

Costs 

HYSA is a non-profit organization.  Participation fees are used to cover the cost of equipment, uniforms, insurance, league fees, and referees. 

Costs for the 2009-2010 season: 
       Biddy Ball:  $45
       3-8^th grade:  $65
       Maximum per family:  $150
In case of hardship, financial assistance is available.  Please contact Basketball Commissioner John Reidy at 746-2510. 

Volunteers

Like all HYSA sports, we can not operate without volunteer coaches.  If you have some basketball experience, please consider volunteering to be a head coach, co-coach, or assistant coach.  If you don’t feel your basketball knowledge is sufficient to be a head coach, we can pair you with an experienced coach so you can learn more about the game and perhaps be able to coach in the future.  If coaching is not for you but you would like to assist in another way, consider joining the HYSA board or the HYSA basketball committee. 

Additional Information 

If you would like more information about the program, feel free to contact us by phone or email.  You can email any questions to HYSA.Basketball@gmail.com or you can call John Reidy at 746-2510(H) or 995-1695(C).  

BASEBALL : 

            Baseball Commissioner:  Martin Marklin 746-5452
            Softball Commissioner:  Dave White 746-3531 
            Teeball Commissioner:  Bob Berliner 226-2575