This is the last week to sign up for a short winter youth sport with the Greene County Youth Athletic Association.

GCYAA President Travis Warnke says youth basketball has two leagues, including third and fourth, as well as fifth and sixth grades. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio the season is from December through February, with eight regular season games and an end of season tournament. Warnke points out that while their teams will play surrounding areas teams, the structure is two 16-minute halves with a continuous clock that only stops for free throws. He emphasizes that these leagues are meant to teach the youth about the fundamentals and team play. 

“This is more of that local aspect of every kid gets a chance, every kid gets to play. It’s fundamental league, teaching the basics, making sure that the kids understand that. The nice thing is since we’re all real local, if we see the scores getting out of hand, a lot of the coaches will back off. So that’s a really nice thing about being in that local league.”     

Warnke notes that the GCYAA basketball program is meant to introduce the sports and not be so aggressive that the kids end up disliking basketball.

“That’s what I think a lot of people forget is we’re dealing with youth sports. This isn’t NCAA things that we’re doing, it’s for fun. Let the kids enjoy themselves.”  

The fee is now $70 per player, which Warnke notes is mainly to pay for facility use for practices and games, and the deadline to sign up is the end of this week. Each player will also receive game shirts with their registration fee that is to be worn for games and the tournament. Click here to sign up.