Club Information
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Wauwatosa East Jr Raiders Girls Basketball Club is a program designed and organized to teach, develop and train athletes to play basketball. Our goal is to teach life lessons and solid, fundamental basketball skills by giving athletes the opportunity to develop and advance so they may have the opportunity to play at the High School level.
PROGRAM INFORMATION
The Wauwatosa East Junior Raiders Girls Basketball Club (Wauwatosa Basketball Club) program has been in existence for 15 years. The program is designed to provide an outstanding basketball experience for girls in grades 3rd through 8th who will attend Wauwatosa East High School. We welcome girls Grades 3 - 8 that live in Wauwatosa or go to a Wauwatosa public or parochial school to try out for the Jr. Raiders program.
Teams
Team Sizes are 10 – 11 players. Team size and number of teams will be determined by how many girls sign up and evaluations at tryouts. Summer leagues and tournaments are run by grade level – 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th. Every player will have the opportunity to play; however, equal playing time is not guaranteed. Generally speaking, at the lower grade levels, playing time is more balanced, while at the higher levels, it becomes more concentrated in anticipation of high school play. Coaches can alter these general guidelines depending on factors such as match-ups, game situation, skill and commitment to practice.
Practices
Teams practice two times per week at Wauwatosa East High School or a Wauwatosa Middle School or Grade School. Practice times vary; they can start as early as 4:30 p.m., and finish as late as 9 p.m. (we try to schedule the younger girls as early as possible). Practices are usually 75 minutes but sometimes 90 minutes. Some coaches may schedule other practice times or scrimmages as needed and at certain times of the year, we may only have practice once/week due to gym availability. Also, there are no practices once school is out. There are still summer league games and optional skill sessions available during summer, however.
Coaches/Managers
Teams are coached by predominantly parent coaches. The coaches spend hundreds of hours each season to work toward our overall program mission. These are volunteer positions and without these dedicated individuals we would not be able to provide such a positive experience for our athletes. We will work with the Varsity coaching staff and other coaching professionals to provide workshops and guidance for the coaches.
Please contact Josh Blakely and Tom Oleniczak if you are interested in becoming a head coach or assistant coach.
Summer League
All 4th-8th grade teams will compete in the One-On-One Summer League. 4th and 5th grade generally play at St. Dominic’s in Brookfield with some 5th grade games a Pius High School. 6th - 8th grade teams play their summer games at Pius High School. The summer season consists of 12 league games. Summer league runs from June to end of July. Practice for 4th graders and skill sessions for 5th-8th graders will begin weekly in May and end when the Summer league games begin in June. Winter league consists of 16 games starting in November and ending in February.
Winter League
All 4th-8th grade teams play in the 1on1 Winter League unless coaches want something else (such as playing more tournaments instead). This is similar to the Summer League but last 16 games, running from November through February. Practices for winter session begin in October and run until the final league or tournament game is played. Practices in October are usually once/week because of low gym availability and then twice/week until the end of the season (usually early to mid March).
Tournaments
All teams will compete in 3-5 weekend (Saturday or Sunday) tournaments in the Winter session. Older grades sometimes compete in more tournaments. The Winter tournament schedules are available in mid-October. The Winter Tournaments usually begin in early November and finish in early March. All of the tournaments are close enough to drive to and home from on the same day. We usually schedule an "away" tournament for the older grades in Appleton or Wisconsin Dells. Parents and players often agree to stay over for these tournaments. We have found these "away" tournaments to be great bonding opportunities for players and parents.
Program Note
This program is run for the benefit of Wauwatosa East High School, but it is not run by the school coaches or staff. We do receive assistance, gym time and guidance from the Wauwatosa Recreation Department, the Wauwatosa School District and Varsity Girls’ Basketball coach. The coach, the school district and the athletic director are not responsible for this program. All questions/suggestions should be directed to the program Director.
