There’s an old saying about the best-laid plans and how they sometimes aren’t as successful as hoped.
That’s how Humber Valley Basketball Club co-founder Jonathan Snow feels about the current situation for young enthusiasts of the sport in the city.
Corner Brook Intermediate dropped its teams per grade from two to one, for both boys and girls, this year, which leaves those who didn’t make the cut for those 15-person rosters out of luck.
Citing challenges involving gym time and volunteers, the school is offering a multi-sport intramural program instead, but anyone hoping to focus on hoops would have to look elsewhere.
Unfortunately, the Humber Valley Basketball Club isn’t somewhere they can currently turn, as the program has its plan in place and organizers didn’t foresee this current situation occurring.
“It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen when you’re planning everything out in August,” said Snow.
The good news is, there are now options, with the Western Wolves Basketball Club forming for all interested Grade 7-aged boys, with the possibility for expansion to other ages, and the Western Hawks Basketball Club promising to be an inclusive club for boys and girls Grade 5 and up starting soon.
Snow said he’d love to see the Humber Valley club be able to accommodate hundreds of kids of all skill levels, but right now the necessary resources, particularly gym time, weren’t accounted for and aren’t available.
“It’s unfortunate,” he said of the decision by Corner Brook Intermediate, while noting he understands the issues the school faced in doing so.
“There are a lot of kids that won’t get basketball,” he said. “So, the arrival of those other clubs to fill the void, it’s great to see.”
Based mainly at Grenfell Campus and Pasadena Place, the Humber Valley Club began in 2017 as an idea between Snow and co-founder Sarah Purchase to give kids an opportunity to play basketball throughout the summer.
There were 55 participants that first summer, and 90 this past summer. That initial response was so positive, the decision to expand into two competitive U14 club teams for provincial play was made.
The summer program is open to all kids, with no tryout required, but gym time and coach availability dictate how many are able to be accepted. The four-on-four, eight-people per team summer format is run under fair play rules, which means everyone receives equal playing time, so numbers have to align with that notion.
“We did have some people on waiting lists,” Snow said, adding the hope is to expand the summer program next year.
Outside of the summer program, the Humber Valley club does focus mainly on competitive basketball, with an U14 boys team and an U14 girls team. Underneath that, there are development teams for U13 (boys and girls) and U12 (boys), which are also rostered on a tryout basis.
In that respect, the club has been successful at putting teams on the court that can compete on a provincial level, particularly versus teams on the east coast.
But after observing what’s happening this fall, with junior high-aged children unable to find a game, Snow hopes the Humber Valley club can still offer more.
To do so right now, however, would be an impossibility, with no planning having been done for this unexpected scenario.
“As a club, we’ll take a look in the spring as to what we’re going to do next year,” he said.
