25-26 McFarland Basketball's (K-3rd) Player Development Program (League)

Note:  If on a phone, turn phone sideways for better viewing of information below.  

Purpose:  To help players of all skill levels improve individual technical skills and understanding of foundational team offense/defense concepts.

ELIGIBILITY:  Any player in K-3rd grade during 2025-26 school year.

2 Divisions:   K/1st (Co-ed)
     2nd/3rd (Co-ed + New! Girls Only Teams - see below for details)

*For experienced 4th/5th grade players and teams, register for our Academy League here.

REGISTRATION:   Friday, August 29 - Wednesday, October 1 (or until sold out).  

SPACE IS LIMITED!  Sign up early to ensure your player’s spot

PRICE: K/1st Division = 2 payments of $120 per player
2nd/3rd Division = 2 payments of $130 per player

Family Rate:  $5 off each additional family member on the same order

General Admission:
$5 Adults
$3 Seniors & Middle School
Free = Elementary Students & Younger

Scorekeeper and Bookkeeper = Free admission!  

The website does charge a $3 service fee per transaction.  If signing up more than one player, register all your players together in the same checkout to save on the website service fee instead of doing separate orders. 

2ND/3RD DIVISION: 

Coed 
- Same as previous seasons. 
- Boys and/or girls teams. 
- Girls can sign up for this division if they would like to play on a co-ed team.  

Girls Teams
- Play with an all girls team. 
- Goal = 4 teams this year
- Would play some girls and some competitively scheduled coed games.  Will tailor to each team's needs as best as possible.
- 4+ girls teams = will have separate tournament for the girls
- If we have less than 4 girls teams in 2nd/3rd = would still maximize the number of all-girl match-ups, competitively schedule other games against coed or other girls teams within our K-5th leagues, and then have them play in the coed tournament that we competitively structure to give the best match-ups possible.  

TEAM TRAININGS:  

• Once a week starting the week of Monday, October 27th
• All trainings held @ the St. Henry Athletic Complex (SHAC)
• Mondays or Wednesdays based on coach's availability
  • 5:30PM = K/1st
  • 6:20PM = 2nd/3rd
  • 7:20PM = Academy (4th/5th)

Trainings will focus on both individual and team offensive & defensive fundamental skills.  After the first week, team time will be incorporated where coaches can work on specific needs for their team (10-15 minutes) on things that we have worked on or things they would like to add.  Our staff can assist with that aspect as well if needed.   

Note:  When signing up individually (not a full team), we cannot guarantee which night your player(s) trains on due to all the logistics involved.  We definitely try to accommodate requests if at all possible (and most the time able to do so), but sometimes there is logistical no way to do so with all the factors involved.  A training schedule will be posted when all teams and coaches are finalized.  Please keep in mind that weather may cause trainings to be rescheduled for different dates, times, and/or location.  


GAME SESSIONS:   

• Saturdays @ Next Level in Wilder, KY with start time between 9AM - 5PM
• First game is Saturday, November 8th
• Tournament the weekend of February 7th.  Possibly play Friday evening, Saturday (8AM-7PM), and/or Sunday depending on the number of teams. 
• Games will be two twenty-minute running clock halves with substitutions every five minutes. 
• Game Day Set-Up: 
  
  • All players will play an equal amount of time.  Sub every 5 minutes.
  • Minimum of 2 minutes to warm-up, but typically will have 5-10 minutes depending on when the game before finishes. 
    
  • Teams will compete 3v3 against one another on both ends for the first 20 minutes and 5v5 for the second 20 minutes.  The winning team on each end for the 3v3 game will receive a point towards tournament seeding. 
  • The 5v5 20-minute game will also count towards tournament seeding.
  • For the last regular season game, teams will play a full 40-minute game of 5v5 to get ready for the tournament the following weekend. 
• Competitive Scheduling:  We do our best to do competitive scheduling while offering a variety of teams for your team to play...meaning we try to set up match-ups where the teams are evenly matched as best as possible.  For example, if we have 8 teams in a division, we will not schedule the best team against the 8th best team if there is a large gap between them as this wouldn't benefit or be fun for either team.
• For both K/1st and 2nd/3rd, rules will be modified based on the ability level of the players to help the flow of the game while still emphasizing and teaching the fundamentals of basketball.  A copy of league rules will be emailed out before the first game.  Modifications will also be made to the ball size and height of the goal to all players in some divisions to give players a better opportunity to develop good shooting and finishing habits.

TEAM PLACEMENT: 

•  Players will be placed on teams based on requests, school, and roster availability. 
• There will be 10 players per team. 
• We will make every effort to accommodate requests to play with a friend or group of friends or a certain coach based on available spots. 
• If you have a large group of friends/team (7+ players) that want to play together, email [email protected] asap to hold spots for you before your particular division is full (spots will be held for a week to give all team members a chance to sign up).  Remember everyone must sign up individually before that division is full in order to ensure their spot.

While we want players to play with their friends, we strongly discourage purposely “stacking” a team up for our Player Development Program as this will not benefit anyone in the league, including the players on the “stacked” team.  We want teams to be balanced to make for a fun, competitive program ("league"). 


Dates:

Dates/times are weather permitting.  Make-up games may be during the week or two games may be played on a weekend depending on the number of cancellations and gym availability.


COACHES:  
We will need a head coach and at least one assistant for each team (max of 2 assistants).

• Coaches will be required to complete a volunteer background check before coaching with a team or submit an up-to-date AAU coach's membership card.
• Background checks are completed all online and good for two years.
• The cost of the background check is $20.50. Each head coach will receive a $25 credit each season they coach. A team's assistant coach will also receive a $25 credit each season (or $12.50 each if a team has two assistants - maximum of two assistants per team). These credits will be issued upon the completion of the season.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to email David at [email protected].