Summer County League
VYI is not directly involved in the summer program except to encourage any County, and interested House league players, to participate to improve their basketball skills. To assist in this endeavor, VYI has its County coaches administer the summer program by coaching themselves or helping to find a coach for their age group, and forming teams from VYI County players and House League All Stars from the previous year. Any parent interested in summer play should contact the VYI Division I coach or House League commissioner of their respective child's age group not later than May 1 to determine eligibility and availability of teams and coaches.
COACHES
Summer basketball is operated by the Fairfax Stars AAU program for County level players who wish to continue to develop their skills in what is typically considered the "off-season" for County basketball. Normally, play is supported for age levels from 10 to 14 years old and Division play will be supported based on the teams that apply for summer play .(Team sign-ups ONLY through Donna Troup, 703-455-5068,
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Summer basketball is intended for County level players who wish to play year round to hone their skills for high school basketball. It is not a recreational league for all of VYI because gyms are unavailable, and the league is not set up to compete with AAU and other summer programs.
Organization
Typically, the VYI County Commissioner oversees the summer program for VYI. The Division I County coach who is selected in the Spring of each year, organizes the summer program for projected Division I, Division II, and All Star House players for the coming Fall season. It is in the best interests of the Division I coach to be able to view the skills of all available players in a game environment so that impressions of players skills are formed before tryouts in October.
No Division I coach will form his winter team solely on the basis of the Summer league activity. Each player who tries out in October is provided a fair and completely unbiased evaluation based on their performance relative to others at the four scheduled October tryouts.
Who can participate?
Any player who meets the age requirements may participate, but the player should possess the playing skills to make a County level basketball team.
4th graders may participate in the summer before their 5th grade year. The 4th grade commissioner provides an All Star roster to the Division I coach of the 10 year old teams. Then the summer coach should contact each person on that roster before May 15 to determine their interest in the summer program. If more than 15 players (VYI recommends a team size of 15 players for summer ball) are interested the summer coach must recruit a parent or another adult to handle the second team. It then becomes that coaches responsibility to fill out his team, pay the appropriate fees and obtain uniforms.
VYI discourages the participation of rising 4th graders in the summer program unless they are required to fill out a team. VYI recognizes that AAU clubs are forming teams for summer play from some rising 4th graders, but VYI wants their age appropriate members to get as much play as possible.
Any parent may form a team and join the league simply by contacting the Fairfax Stars, normally by June 1, and paying the league fee. Anyone who is unknown to VYI league officials and asks to use VYI rosters to create a team will be required to submit a coaching application to VYI. The summer league is sigificantly more competitive then the VYI House League. There is no participation rule and full court pressing and zone defenses are common.
Who will coach?
In the past, the Division I coach, parents of aspiring players, a colleague of the Division I coach or an assistant coach will volunteer to handle the team during the summer. If more than one team is entered in an age division, a parent normally steps forward in May to volunteer to the Division I coach to handle the second team made up of the players not selected to play on the team managed by the Division I coach.
Summer League Coaches
Fees
In years past the fee for summer play has been approximately $50 per player and is at the discretion of the coach. This normally covers the league fee of $500 per team as well as paying for team jerseys, shorts, or other items.
Fees are collected by the coach and submitted directly to the Fairfax Stars without the involvement of VYI.
