Youth Programs
ELITE SPRING TEAMS
These performance based teams are like age group All-Star Teams for the Bow Valley. The season runs from Mid-March to Mid-June. This select team is hand picked from the best players in the region at each age group and will compete against the top teams in the province in tournament and exhibition play. All players will get to play in every game however a variance in playing time is to be expected. The program is designed to deliver top level coaching targeted at boosting individual skill development, executing advanced game tactics and strategies in a fun and competitive team environment while preparing for the next level of basketball.
ELITE Club teams will get an opportunity to compete in 5 tournaments, receive 40+ hours of practice time, experience world class dry-land training sessions and receive personalized skill development plans.
Athletes will receive a special edition, Nike “Bow Valley Bears” Reversible Practice Jersey and Team T-Shirt once the season gets under way and the gear arrives. Team Hoodies, Long Sleeve Shirts and Shorts will also be available at an extra cost.
Expectations for ELITE team athletes is that they will attend all practices, dryland sessions and games. Exceptions of course will occur due to illness, family emergency, travel etc however every effort should be made to attend all team activities.
FALL COMPETITIVE TEAMS
The Bow Valley Basketball Development Program provides top level coaching for youth athletes 8 to18. The Fall Program runs from September to December. The program features high level, age and ability specific coaching in a fun curriculum of training that is designed to progress athletes through the skills of the game.
This curriculum is designed to offer progressive development through the age groups so that skills and tactics learned at earlier ages are built upon and advanced toward the university level and beyond as players approach the High School Senior level.
The emphasis of the Bow Valley Basketball Fall / Winter Program is on fun and development. A Rep Team is selected from the Development Program. Team rosters are limited to no more than 10 players
Players will experience comprehensive development across all of the domains of the game.
Athletes will receive custom designed and reversible “Bow Valley Bears” practice jerseys which will be used in practices over the course of the program as well as Team Shorts and a Team Warm Up T-Shirt.
Practices are generally organized to include 3 primary components:
Individual Skill Development where the focus is on each player’s personal growth within the game both on and off the ball. While the basics of passing, shooting, ball handling, etc will always be emphasized, we will continually strive to perform these fundamentals under progressively more advanced conditions. As we learn and apply new individual moves and counters to displace the defence and create space and other opportunities we will practice these base skills in ever more challenging situations. In addition to this we will also learn other team based tactics such as various screening scenarios and teammate interplay that will enable players to excel at the game!
*This is the primary emphasis of the program!
Strategies and Tactics where the emphasis is on the team elements of game. In this component athletes will learn team offensive and defensive systems such as motion and zone offences, team defence, press break, fast break elements and more that will be applied in their weekly games.
Controlled game play where the skills learned in the previous sections of practice can be applied in a real game setting. These games will consist of 3 on 3 all the way up to full 5 on 5 scrimmages.