How to Choose a Youth Basketball Program in Regina

Ten years ago there was not much youth basketball in this city. Now there are several options and a parent is expected to somehow tell them apart from a website. Here is a way to actually do that.

Start with what your kid needs, not what is available

Almost every parent asks "what is the best program". The more useful question is which of three things your child needs right now.

• More reps. They like it and just want to play more. What they need is court time and games, not a curriculum.
• To get better at something specific. They are frustrated by something, usually shooting or handling. What they need is coaching in a small enough group that somebody notices them.
• To be pushed. They are already good and are coasting. What they need is better competition and a coach who will not settle.

Those three answers point at completely different programs, and a child who needs the first is poorly served by a program built for the third.

The questions actually worth asking

How many kids per coach?

This is the one that tells you most and the one nobody advertises. A gym with thirty kids and two coaches is supervision. A group of eight is coaching. Ask the number, not the philosophy.

For reference, our weekly skills sessions cap at 8 per level, Girls Only at 16 with both levels in the room, and camps at 32 across a full staff.

Is there a tryout?

Tryouts sort a program by current ability. That is right for a competitive team and wrong for a child still working out whether they like the sport. Our league has no tryout and teams are formed by the head coach during the program, which is deliberate.

Neither model is better in the abstract. They are better for different kids, and knowing which you are looking at matters more than the price.

What actually happens in a session?

Ask for the shape of an hour. If nobody can tell you, there probably is not one. Ask what happens when a kid is struggling, and what happens when a kid is bored.

What does it cost, all in?

Ask about the full season rather than the headline number, including uniforms, tournaments and travel. Some programs are cheaper up front and considerably more expensive by March.

Where we genuinely are not the answer

If your child wants a high-level competitive club team with a tryout, a travel schedule and a fixed roster, that is not what we run and you should look at a club program. If they need a place to play for free, the outdoor courts and drop-in open gym will serve them better than any registration.

We would rather tell you that than take a season's money and have a kid quit in November.

What we are built for

Kids aged 3 to 17 who want to get better, in small groups, in our own gym, without a tryout deciding whether they are allowed to. Weekly sessions, camps in the school breaks, and a league with real games and a leadership block every night.

The $10 Get Started package is a planning meeting with a HoopLife Director plus a coached session. It is the cheapest way to find out whether any of this fits your kid, and we will say so if it does not.