1. How do I schedule practice time that works with my schedule?
Due to the league's size, it's impractical to accommodate everyone's scheduling preferences. Instead, each group of teams is assigned weeknight practice slots. During the pre-season mandatory House League Coaches Meeting, coaches select their practice times from the available slots. Grades 3-12 have one 1-hour practice per week, which can be scheduled between 5:00 PM and 9:30 PM at local elementary schools like Great Falls, Forestville, Aldrin, Colvin Run, Lake Anne, Dranesville, and others.
2. Please explain the prohibition on designating assistant coaches pre-draft in the house league.
In the House League, the goal is to create competitively balanced teams. Since basketball teams are small (7-8 players), pairing two strong players can greatly impact competitiveness. Therefore, coaches are not allowed to choose their assistant coaches, as this would effectively allow them to select the assistant coach's child before the team draft.
3. What are your youth coach requirements?
The organization aims to provide a safe, fun basketball experience while fostering leadership qualities in our youth. To support this, youth coaches are welcomed and encouraged to join our House League coaching staff. To be a head coach, a youth must have served as an assistant coach for at least one year and be in 10th grade for the season they wish to coach. Youth assistant coaches must be in 9th grade or older.
4. Can a parent coach both a House and Select team?
While the organization values and supports volunteer coaches, it acknowledges the challenges of coaching both a competitive Select team and a House team due to scheduling conflicts. Select games are scheduled independently and can be anywhere in Northern Virginia, making it difficult to avoid clashes with House League games. Therefore, it's recommended that Select team head coaches serve as assistant coaches for their child's House League team to avoid conflicts. If someone is appointed as head coach for both, they must have an assistant coach for each team to manage inevitable scheduling conflicts.
5. Are there any accommodations given to coaches of multiple House and/or Select teams?
The league appreciates parents and community members who coach multiple teams and strives to accommodate their schedules. Multi-team coaches are given first choice of practice slots before the pre-season Coach’s Meeting, and efforts are made to avoid conflicts between their regular-season games. However, if games are rescheduled, or during end-of-season tournaments, conflicts may arise, and while the league will try to avoid them, it cannot guarantee conflict-free scheduling.