Parents looking to get their youngsters involved in the sport of basketball at an early age might want to take a look into the Little Ballers program starting up in Moose Jaw next month.
A series of awareness sessions scheduled for Saturday, Apr. 13 have filled up and have waiting lists, but Little Ballers owner and former University of Regina standout Chad Declaire is confident what folks see there will lead to a huge amount of interest when the main program tentatively starts up on May 4.
“Just through word of mouth and (social media) we already have 100 kids who are signed up for the free awareness classes, so we’re pretty happy about that,” Declaire said during a recent chat about the program and what they have to offer. “We’re hoping the parents will see the quality of the program and more and more want to sign up. So that’s what we’ve done in Moose Jaw and have had a really good response.”
Little Ballers holds a focus on teaching kids the most basic of fundamentals at young ages. The program features Baby Ballers (10 months to 2 ⅓ years old), Little Ballers (2 ½ to 3 ⅓ years old), Mini Ballers (3 ½ to 5 years old) and Big Ballers (5 to 8 years old).
Skills development begins with the most basic of motions at the youngest ages, with the curriculum growing and expanding as players are older and more capable.
The program launched in September of 2022 in Winnipeg and has quickly seen the little ones develop and improve in dramatic fashion.
“Now we’re seeing kids who have been in the program through three semesters, and even the progress they’ve shown from the start, there has been a huge jump in their abilities,” Celaire said. “Then when we get to where they’re playing against each other, you can really see it. So we know they’re having fun and learning and that’s the biggest thing.”
Part of the awareness classes includes a quest for coaches who will learn from the experienced Little Ballers coaches, with the Moose Jaw classes in April featuring former Cougars standout Bree Burgess and Jodi Sobool.
“Our experienced coaches help run the classes and also train the new coaches who are going to run it in that city,” Declaire explained. “Then our coaches follow our curriculum and even though there are a lot of moving parts, and it’s a lot of fun.”
Class sizes are kept manageable at 15 players, with the Sask Polytechnic sessions beginning in May expected to have up to four classes a day and also feature Sunday classes should there be enough interest.
The Moose Jaw awareness classes on Apr. 13 run from 9:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. (Baby Ballers), 10:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. (Little Ballers), 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. (Mini Ballers) and 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. (Big Ballers).
Folks are encouraged to sign up for the waitlist as Little Ballers has opened up further classes closer to the date in the past.
For more information on the program and what they have to offer and to register, check out www.littleballersbasketball.com.
