23-24 McFarland Basketball's (K-3rd) Player Development Program (League)

ELIGIBILITY:  Any player in Kindergarten thru 3rd grade during 2023-24 school year.

3 Divisions:  K/1st, 2nd/3rd

*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 plan 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, etc.) to middle school and higher-level AAU basketball.  


REGISTRATION:  Registration will open on Tuesday, August 29th @ 8AM and close Monday, October 9th (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). 

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

Includes:  
- (12) 1-Hour Team Practices
- (10) 20-minute Skill Sessions Before Each Regular Season Game (over an $80 value itself...equivalent to 5 more games, but purposeful instruction!)
- (10) 40-minute Regular Season Games (20 minutes 3v3 & 20 minutes of 5v5)  
- Single-Elimination Tournament
- Team Shirt
- Medals for Division Winner & Runner-Up
- Outstanding staff of current/former college and high school coaches along with former high school/college players. 


PRICE:  2 payments of $125 per player

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

*Note:  We had to switch to this model due to increase in gym costs for both practices & games this year and not wanting the upfront cost to increase anymore than it was before.     

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 Friday, October 14th.  If signing up more than one player, do 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
- 1st Payment (during sign up):  $125 + $3 service fee + $9.57 credit card fee + $15.93 KY Sales Tax = $153.50
- 2nd Payment (Sat., October 14th):  $125 + $3 service fee = $128

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


TEAM PRACTICES:  All practices will begin the week of Monday, October 30 and will be held @ the St. Henry Athletic Complex (SHAC).  Each team will have 12 one-hour practices (weather permitting) led by each team's coach.  Practices will be on Mondays 5:30-8:30PM or Wednesdays 5:30-8:30PM based on coach's availability.  Note: The Monday practices on New Year's Day (Jan. 1) will be moved to Sunday, December 31st from 12:30-3:30PM at Next Level due to the SHAC being closed on Jan. 1st and other weekdays not available for make-up.  When signing up individually (not a full team), we cannot guarantee which night your player practices 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 practice schedule will be posted when all teams and coaches are finalized.  Please keep in mind that weather may cause practice to be rescheduled for different dates, times, and/or location.  


GAMES/SKILLS SESSIONS:   Skill training and games will be held on Saturdays @ Next Level in Wilder, KY (start time between 9AM-6:15PM).  The tournament weekend may be Saturday (9AM-7PM) and/or Sunday.  Teams will participate in 20 minutes of skills training led by David McFarland and/or his staff of former college/high school players/coaches followed by a 40-minute game.  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 10 minutes of 3v3 followed by 30 minutes of 5v5 that will count towards the tournament as well.  All players will play an equal amount of time.  

We also do our best to do competitive scheduling while offering variety in who your team plays...meaning we try to set up match-ups where the teams are evenly matched as best as possible.  For example, if we have 14 teams in a division, we will not schedule the best team against the 14th best team as this wouldn't benefit or be fun for either team. 


Dates:

Dates/times are weather/Covid-19 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 “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 one volunteer coach 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 beginning in 22-23. 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].

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, $9.57 credit card fee, & $15 processing fee.
• After the division is full or registration has closed, but before the process to order shirts has been started = A full refund minus a $3 website fee, $9.57 credit card fee, & $20 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 October 14th, 2023 = 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, $9.57 credit card fee, and $50 processing fee.