Circular #1
Dear Coaches and Managers,
First and foremost, thank you very much to all the teams who have not only shown interest in the league but have also made sure that they honour the matches and kept a good spirit among all. It is very important that we keep that going because this is beneficial for the boys and girls who are receiving an opportunity to get exposure on the court.
There are a few housekeeping orders we would like to share with all coaches and managers as we continue with the league to Week 4:
1. Registration:
a. Player registration will remain open till your 25-player limit has been reached. Team managers are requested to verify their updated teamlists with Mr Thabang Molebatsi every match day. Verification should be done by Sunday, 20 May 2023.
b. Team list should include the following:
i. Updated team list
ii. Identity documents
iii. ID photo of each player if it is a birth certificate.
c. Reminder: No new players will be added during the play-off stage of the league.
d. Teams are not allowed to switched players throughout the season.
e. Forfeits: Can we avoid forfeits as far as possible. Teams will be given warnings and will be expelled at a certain point of multiple forfeits. No registration fees will be reimbursed after expulsion.
2. Parking:
a. Please inform players, coaches, parents, and managers not to park on the grass. Please do not park behind another car where you will evidently block their movement in and out of the venue.
b. Cones will be placed on match days to indicate the restricted areas on the premises.
3. Bathrooms:
a. There are two designated bathrooms on the premises which are located opposite the Astro Turf (near tennis courts) and down at the Pre-Prep Hall (bottom rugby field).
4. Safety & Security:
a. The entire school is under constant camera surveillance and security personnel who always keep track of movement of all individuals. Please remind the boys and girls to be responsible and ensure that they keep at the main courts where we are running the league. Managers are asked to keep a close eye on all the kids.
5. Girls’ teams:
a. We have been struggling with the girl’s registration and we have decided that we will not cancel the girl’s division, but we will break them up into 2 sections instead of focussing on age-dependant entries. We will rather focus on having a Junior Eagle and Upper Eagle division type of girls’ structure which will be explained to all the Clubs who entered girl’s teams on Thursday: Eagles Girls Basketball Division Meeting
i. Thursday, May 11 · 4:00 – 5:00pm
ii. Google Meet - Platform
iii. Video call link: https://meet.google.com/uzt-nasg-xcg
iv. Only Girls Team Coaches/managers allowed to attend the meeting.
b. Basic Structure of the Girls division:
i. Junior Eagle: All the younger and inexperienced girls will be in this division. So, if a girl aged 16 and above but inexperienced then they could play in the Junior Eagle division as long as they are still in school.
ii. Upper Eagle: All the older and more experienced girls will be in this division. If a girl is younger but more experienced but is younger than 16 years old, then they could play in this division.
iii. Things to note:
1. Girls can cross over between both divisions.
2. Teams will be allowed to keep 1 x registration fee and have their girls play in both division because we will only use one official during most of the matches which will allow us to have more matches for the girls.
3. Teams will be expected to be honest about their division and not have majority of their “more” experienced girls fielded in the Junior Eagle division. That division is to allow girls who started and are not strong enough to play in that division.
4. We have had talks with the ABC league, and we are looking in bring ladies teams from their league into ours where the girls will have more competition as well during the season.
c. The alternative was to cancel the girl’s section, but we do not agree with cancelling the girls because there are girls who want to play, and we will find a way to make sure they play and that will encourage other girls to also compete when they see the girls playing. We look forward to the support and assistance from all.
6. League Schedule
a. Please keep track of the website and take note of the changes that the schedule will take after we have finalised the Girls schedule after the meeting on Thursday, 11 May 2023.
b. Matches for the Sunday, 14 May 2023 is confirmed for this weekend on the website.
7. Camps & Coaching Clinics:
a. We know that leagues are mainly there for Clubs to show their muscle and overall growth over the season and years, but we would like to add a component to help the growth of all individuals within the league. Coaching clinic for coaches and camps for all the boys and girls. There will be a coaching clinic held on the following dates for coaches at no cost to the coaches but a cost of R100 for all the boys and girls who would like to be part of the camp:
i. Coaches Clinic 1: 10 June 2023 – 11h30 – 14h00
ii. Players Camp 1: 10 June 2023 – 14h30 – 17h30
iii. Players Camp Registration form: https://forms.gle/nvKAVzZnbGCH1p6j6
iv. Clinic and Camp 2 dates: TBC
b. Notes: The coaches from various Clubs in the league will be part of the coaches to help teach the kids.
c. The registration fees of the boys and girls will be used to remunerate the coaches who are part of the camp sessions.
d. Coaches must be part of the Coaching Clinic before being part of the camp with the kids’ camp thereafter.
e. Refreshments will be served for all coaches. Players should bring their own refreshments.
8. All-Star Weekend
An invitation will be sent out to various leagues and districts to put together their best teams and we will have our All-Stars selected during the season and they will play against the best of other leagues / districts or even provinces. More information will be provided in due course.
Thank you to everyone for your commitment to make the league a success and let us keep working together to ensure that kids have the best possible platform to compete and grow through the sport.
Kind regards,
Eagles Basketball