Is a school Basketball Academy right for me?

Over the last couple of decades our North American education system has recognized the benefits of providing students with opportunities to pursue their passion within the school system in coordination with their academic pursuits. While there’s general agreement around the need to maintain the traditional core academic courses (social studies, math, language arts and science) in every student’s timetable, there’s been much more debate about the role for PE, Art, Home Economics, Drama and other less academic courses.

Although there’s little doubt these courses can be beneficial for some students, the debate has focused on whether they are the BEST use of non-academic time for the students.

Many parents in our generation (myself included) have tried to find areas our children can be intrinsically motivated to pursue excellence because we believe the surest path to success in life lies in finding our true passions and fully immersing ourselves in pursuit thereof.

Whether these passions should be pursued inside or outside the school system is a big topic that I will save for another blog article. We certainly recognize that this new flexible school model isn’t for everybody. However, we also know that for some students, having the ability and encouragement from their teachers and school councillors to spend time pursuing their passion on the court (or in the dance/art studio etc) can truly be a game changer. It can lead to greater engagement, energy, focus and work ethic for both their academic and non-academic pursuits. It’s because of this that Split Second Basketball is offering our Basketball Immersion training.

WHAT DO THESE OPPORTUNITIES LOOK LIKE IN OUR COMMUNITIES?

Split Second Basketball is primarily supporting athletes in Vancouver, Richmond and Delta. In these communities there are several dozen “specialty” programs that allow students to change their academic schedules so they can pursue their passion. While there are too many programs and schools to name them all, I’ve put a list of the following that are currently available in Vancouver, Richmond and/or Delta to give you an idea of the scope of

• Sports based programs

  • Golf

  • Soccer

  • Lacrosse

  • Baseball

  • Hockey

• Arts and socials based programs

  • Digital arts

  • Film Acting and Film Producing

  • Theater

  • Music and Opera

  • Dance

There are also mini-schools with specific focuses and specializations. There are schools within schools, like Magee Leaders or Byng Arts that allow students to passionately explore their areas of interest. The more you look around, the more you realize that the school system is actively working to create these kind of opportunities for students in most fields of interest….with ONE BIG EXCEPTION…

NO BASKETBALL

Despite all these diverse offerings there isn’t currently a single school basketball academy. I know this because, before COVID shut things down, Split Second ran the only one in these districts. In our very first year in 2019/20, we had more than 50 players train with us during the school day at the Richmond Oval all year long. It was fantastic to see the kids pursuing their passion, on the court with our coaches and in the High Performance centre with the Oval Strength and Conditioning and Mental Performance staff.

BASKETBALL IMMERSION

While it’s too big a discussion to get into all the details here, the main reason that school basketball Academies have not taken hold (while everything else has flourished) is because of school politics (coaches/teachers not wanting the majority of strong basketball players to go to one school) and the lack of an integrated calendar between schools to allow a district wide program.

The Vancouver and Richmond school systems are doing some restructuring of their timetables that is opening up new opportunities. Schools that for years have resisted aligning their timetables are now being mandated by their school boards to have common lunch breaks and to fix (not rotate) their afternoon blocks. These are 2 of the biggest impediments to running district wide programs.

The bottom line is that our school system has clearly recognized the need and encouraged the development of programs like this one…but has failed to make basketball available in our districts. (Interestingly, both the North and West Vancouver school districts have been able to navigate the politics and have long running successful basketball academies.) We are excited to be able to work with schools and families to provide this type of opportunity to the next generation of student athletes.

WHO IS BASKETBALL IMMERSION DESIGNED FOR?

This program is designed for students who love sports and are willing to push themselves hard. Players should have a moderate to advanced skill level for their age and a high level of motivation for training and improvement. They also need to have strong study habits to be able finish their academics in a condensed format and maintain good grades. Motivation and commitment are more important than current skill level.

For next Fall we are focusing on finding interested athletes in grades 8-10. While we will definitely accommodate older players in the future and will consider them for this year, we know it is going to be important to have a relatively homogenous group to ensure we get good competitive game play each day.

NEXT STEPS

1. Go to https://www.splitsecondbasketball.com/basketball-immersion for more information and program application form.

2. Talk to your school councillor about arranging your 2022/23 school timetable in a way that will free you up to participate and/or apply to Magee SPARTS

3. Come to a special information session at the Richmond Oval at 6:30pm on May 25th.

4. Contact Eric Butler at eric@splitsecondbasketball.com to let him know you’re coming to the information session and to ask any questions you have about the program.