24-25 McFarland Basketball's (K-3rd) Player Development Program (League)

ELIGIBILITY:  Any player in Kindergarten thru 3rd grade during 2024-25 school year.

2 Divisions:  K/1st, 2nd/3rd (4th/5th see below)

*For experienced 4th/5th grade players and teams, you will want to check out and sign up for our Academy League here.  The Academy League is the next progression in our player development curriculum and is a competitive transitional league.  Like our Player Development Program (PDP) it is uniquely designed for players to transition from our PDP (or other entry level leagues in the area such as Little Colonels, G-League, SOAS Rec, etc.) to middle school and higher-level AAU basketball.
  

REGISTRATION:  Registration will open Thursday, August 22 and close Wednesday, October 2 (or until sold out...we will be taking a waiting list when all spots are filled to potentially add additional teams if gym space is available or if a spot comes available). 

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

12-Week Season Includes:  
- (12) Team Trainings led by David McFarland with the assistance of McFarland staff and team coaches.  2nd/3rd will be 60-minute trainings and K/1st will be 50-minute trainings.  
- (10) 40-minute Regular Season Games (20 minutes 3v3 & 20 minutes of 5v5)
- Customized, competitive scheduling
- Single-Elimination Tournament
- Team Jersey
- Medals for Division Champion & Runner-Up
- Outstanding staff of current/former college and high school coaches along with former high school/college players. 

PRICE :  
K/1st Division = 2 payments of $119.50 per player
2nd/3rd Division = 2 payments of $129.50 per player

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

General Admission:
$4 Adults
$3 Seniors & Middle/High School Students
Free = Elementary Students & Younger

The website does charge a $3 service fee per transaction and 3.4% credit card processing fee.  Save $3 by paying in full when checking out.  When choosing two payments, the first payment is due at sign up and the second payment will be on Monday, October 14th.  If signing up more than one player, register all players together in the same checkout to save on the website service fee instead of doing separate orders.  See below for a breakdown of how this will show up when checking out.

2 Payments for K/1st
- 1st Payment (during sign up):  $119.50 + $3 service fee + $9.07 credit card fee + $15.06 KY Sales Tax = $146.63
- 2nd Payment (Monday, October 14th):  $119.50 + $3 service fee = $122.50

2 Payments for 2nd/3rd
- 1st Payment (during sign up):  $129.50 + $3 service fee + $9.81 credit card fee + $16.31 KY Sales Tax = $158.62
- 2nd Payment (Monday, October 14th):  $129.50 + $3 service fee = $132.50

Again, you can save $3 by paying in full when checking out to avoid the $3 service fee on the second payment.  


TEAM TRAININGS:  All trainings will begin the week of Monday, October 28 and will be held @ the St. Henry Athletic Complex (SHAC).  Each team will have 12 trainings (60 minutes for 2nd/3rd and 50 minutes for K/1st) once a week led by David McFarland with the assistance of McFarland staff and the team coaches.  Trainings will be on Mondays or Wednesdays based on coach's availability with K/1st at 5:30PM and 2nd/3rd at 6:20PM.  Trainings will focus on both individual and team offensive & defensive fundamental skills.  The exciting part of this set up is that we will be able to work on transition (full court) aspects of the game that are typically tough to do in traditional half-court practices.  Additionally, this will take a lot off of coaches' plates as they won't need to plan their practices.  After the first week, team time will be incorporated where coaches can work on specific needs for their team (8-15 minutes) on things that we have worked on or things they would like to add.  We can assist with that aspect as well if needed.   

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:   Games will be held on Saturdays @ Next Level in Wilder, KY (start time between 8:45AM-6:15PM).  The tournament weekend may be Friday evening, Saturday (8AM-7PM), and/or Sunday.  Games will be two twenty-minute running clock halves with substitutions every five minutes.  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.  Also, the 5v5 20-minute game will 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.  All players will play an equal amount of time.  Teams will get a minimum of 2 minutes to warm-up, but typically will have 5-10 minutes for warm-up depending on when the game before finishes.  

We also 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. 


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.

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 allow players to practice correct technique:

Division           Height of Goal Basketball Size
K/1st 8’ 27.5”
2nd/3rd 8.5’              27.5” (Based on the NBA and USA Basketball Youth Basketball Guidelines) 


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").  

COACHES:  We will need at least two volunteer coaches for each team. 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 year they coach upon passing their background check and coaching the team for the entire season.  A team's assistant coach will also receive $25 credit at the end of each season they coach (or $12.50 each if a team has two assistants - maximum of two assistants per team). If you are interested in coaching a team you can sign up when registering your player or if would like more information about coaching, please contact David McFarland via email at [email protected].

We will have a mandatory Coach's Meeting for all coaches prior to the league starting. The Coach's Meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday, October 21 at 6:30PM (via Google Meet).  

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

• Before the division is full and before registration has closed = Full refund minus $3 website fee, $9.07 or $9.81 credit card fee, & $20 processing fee.
• After the division is full or registration has closed, but before the process to organize teams has started = A full refund minus a $3 website fee, $9.07 or $9.81 credit card fee, & $50 processing fee will be provided if another player from the waitlist is able to fill the spot or the player can find another player to take their spot. McFarland Basketball is not responsible for finding a replacement, but will reach out to those on the waitlist or who have reached out about possible spots.
• After rosters have been formed or October 14th, 2024 = No refunds unless the player can find another player to fill their direct spot on the team they have been assigned to. If a replacement player is found, a prorated refund minus a $3 website fee, $9.07 or $9.81 credit card fee, and $75 processing fee.