9/22/24.  8:53pm

We hope you are all having a great summer!! With summer winding down and school about to start, it's time to start preparing for basketball season. Accordingly, we wanted to let you know about a few important items.

NOTE: We are finalizing the registration forms with Sports Engine and expect them to be open soon. Please check our website for updates. We will also send an email out with the link. 

Key Dates - Mark your calendars!!

• Pre-Tryout Workouts:  September 10th and 12th at McGuire (see times below)

• Travel Tryouts:  September 14th and 15th (see times and locations below)

• Parent/Athlete/Coach Meeting:  September 30th at Lakeville South High School (Time TBD)

• Coaches Meeting/Clinic:  October 1 at McGuire Middle School Gym 3 (Time TBD)

NEW THIS YEAR:  Grades 3-8 In-House and Travel Tryout Registration are Combined

Based on our experience last season and discussions with our board and new head coach, we have decided to change our process for registrations and tryouts.  In past years, we kept our In-House and Travel programs separate from the beginning of the season.  There was crossover when parents who registered for In-House reached out to ask about Travel, in some cases after tryouts were complete.  Similarly, our board also reached out to our In-House registrants to gauge interest in Travel based on registrations in each program.  For a variety of reasons, we no longer believe this is the best avenue for developing girls and placing them on teams.

This year we are going to change our process: Everyone who registers is enrolled in tryouts and expected to come to the one-day evaluation assigned to their grade.  Our evaluators will make a recommendation for everyone at tryouts for whether a player will be placed on a travel team (A, B, or C) or if they will be placed on an in-house team to continue their development.  Players offered a spot on a travel team roster will need to accept their spot by registering for their travel team (see below for additional details).  For those who know they do not wish to be evaluated and considered for placement on a travel team, there will be a place to opt out of the tryout within the registration.

In order to implement this change to our process, we are revising the way we charge for travel tryouts and team registration.  When you register for tryouts, the initial tryout fee will be equal to the in-house fee for your child’s grade ($200 for grades 3-8).  When you register for your daughter’s travel team (if offered a spot), the fee charged will be based on the additional costs for their travel team, which is dependent on grade and number of tournaments.  No further fees will be charged to players continuing in the in-house program.

In-House Program Registrations and Team Assignments

Registration for our in-house program for grades K-2 will open in September and will remain open until the middle of October.  Watch our website for updates.

The primary focus of our In-House program is to introduce girls as young as kindergarten to the game of basketball. It is the perfect place to learn about the game and begin working on fundamentals.

Once registrations are complete, we will put together teams based on grade level. While the exact dates have not been finalized, expect practices to begin in early November with games from December or January into February. For more information, please visit our website or reach out to our In-House Director, Peter Tapper.

Travel Tryouts

Our Travel program is meant for players that have some knowledge of the game of basketball and who desire a higher level of competition and skill development. We plan to have teams in grades 3-8 again this season.

Tryouts are scheduled for the weekend of September 14th and 15th. 

We will have one 60-75 minute session for each grade level with a 15 minute warmup prior to starting.  This is a change from prior years.  The high school coaching staff will be conducting the evaluations and will be recommending placement on a travel or in-house team.

• Saturday September 14th at Kenwood Trail Middle School:  Grades 6-8

  • 7th & 8th Grade:  1:00 - 2:30

  • 6th Grade:  2:30 - 4:00

• Sunday September 15th at McGuire Middle School:  Grades 3-5

  • 5th Grade:  3:00 - 4:30

  • 4th Grade:  4:30 - 5:30

  • 3rd Grade:  5:30 - 6:30

Please see our website for additional information on tryouts.

Travel Team Announcement and Registration

Following tryouts, we plan to announce team rosters the evening of September 26th.  This allows the high school coaching staff to agree on their recommendations and submit the tryout results to the LSGBA board for final approval.

During this time we will also be reaching out to parents who indicated an interest in coaching to hold any necessary interviews.  Our intent will be to have named coaches by the time teams have been announced so coaches can begin reaching out to their teams and can meet their teams at the Parent/Athlete/Coach meeting.

Following the announcement of the travel team rosters, we will concurrently be opening the travel registration on our website.  To accept your child’s spot on a travel team, you must register your player.  Our goal will be to close registration and finalize our rosters by Sunday, September 29th prior to the Parent/Athlete/Coach meeting on Monday, September 30th.

Pre-Tryout Clinics

The week before Travel tryouts, we plan to have two training sessions for grades 3-8. These sessions will focus on skills that will be evaluated as part of the tryout process. We encourage players registered for tryouts to attend as many sessions as possible. If you or your daughter is unsure about traveling basketball, we highly encourage that they attend this free clinic as the high school coaches will be walking them through a mock tryout to ease minds and provide confidence. 

Training sessions will be held at McGuire Middle School on the evenings of September 10th and 12th as follows:

• Grades 3-5:  6:00 - 7:30

• Grades 6-8:  7:30 - 9:00

Uniform Sizing

As we have done in prior years, we will plan to have board members work with players to try on uniforms during the training sessions and tryouts.  To ensure adequate time to try on uniforms without taking away time on the court, please plan to have your daughter come 15-20 minutes before or stay 15-20 minutes after their training or tryout sessions.

Coaches Meeting/Clinic

We will be holding a mandatory meeting and clinic for all travel coaches at McGuire Middle School on Tuesday, October 1st.  We will be working with the high school coaching staff to review expectations for coaches.  The high school staff will be explaining their philosophy and will also be demonstrating drills consistent with building a successful program for grades 3-12.

We look forward to another great basketball season. As additional information becomes available, we will be updating our website and communicating as appropriate.  If you have any questions, please let us know.

Go Cougars!!

Alan Williams | LSGBA President

Lisa Smith | LSGBA Travel Director

Peter Tapper | LSGBA In-House Director