Burnsville Girls Traveling Basketball
The Burnsville GTBB program is based on promoting skill development for players and as a team. We develop competitive basketball players by providing quality instruction, practice time, and tournament play. We stress the importance of good sportsmanship, teamwork, and encourage team spirit. Our program encourages player participation for the full length of a player's youth sports career while also creating a fun atmosphere and positive environment for all players to build friendships.
What is “traveling” basketball?
Traveling basketball is offered for those individuals who are interested in competing at a higher level. It requires a greater commitment ‐ each participant is expected to attend all practices and weekend tournaments. Traveling basketball is offered to girls in grades 4 through 8. Our program will bring more focus on competition and developing skills. Traveling teams are formed of our best players to compete with the best players from other communities in the metro area.
- Our teams play in weekend tournaments throughout the Twin Cities metro area
- More competitive level of play
- Typically have two practices per week
- Play in 27 or more games during the season
Tryouts
- They are mandatory.
- Tryouts are held in late September.
- Independent evaluators use a standard set of criteria to measure each player’s skill set.
- See our Tryouts and Team Formation Policy on our website.
Season Length
- The season starts at the end of September, with tryouts.
- First practice typically start the week after MEA.
- First tournament is in early November.
- The season ends with the state tournament in early March.
Tournaments
- Are played on the weekends, typically Saturday and Sunday. Occasionally may include a Friday night game.
- Generally, each tournament consists of three or more games; each tournament normally guarantees a 3 game minimum.
- There are no weekday league games.
- A total of nine tournaments are played
- This includes our own Burnsville Girls Traveling Basketball tournament (December) and a state tournament (March).
- Some teams may choose to play in additional tournaments but the costs for any additional tournaments are paid for by the individual team members and are not included in our program’s registration fees.
- Nearly all tournaments are located in the southwest metro and do not require overnight stays. Some examples of tournaments: Lakeville, Prior Lake, Farmington, Edina, Wayzata, New Prague, Brooklyn Park.
- 5th-8th grades normally plan one traveling tournament with a hotel stay. (This is the highlight of the season for many girls!)
Guidelines or policies about the amount of playing time
Performance is used to determine playing time, which is earned by four main criteria:
- Attendance
- Effort and focus
- Positive attitude and attentiveness to coaches
- Execution of individual and teamwork skills
If these four criteria are met by a player, then that player should receive at least 50% of playing time during the course of the first three quarters of each game. The last quarter, (officially the 4th quarter or the final portion of the 2nd half – typically seven minutes of game time), is left to the discretion of the coaches. There are potentially some scenarios where some teams might change from this, but those are communicated before the season to all parents and players with the knowledge/agreement from the GTBB board.
Do parents work at the Burnsville GTBB Tournament
Yes. All parents are required to work at our annual tournament. Each parent is required to work a minimum of four hours during the weekend. Our annual tournament is currently held in mid‐December. This is our major fundraiser for the season. Funds earned go toward maintaining reasonable registration fees, purchasing needed equipment and providing our players and coaches with professional skills development training.
Practices
- Typically two (2) practices are held each week, on any two (2) of the following evenings: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and/or Friday.
- Practices are not scheduled on Wednesday nights and we try to limit the Friday practices as much as we can.
- Players are expected to attend all practices during the season. We feel that when it is basketball season basketball comes first over other out of season sports.
- Practices are held in all of the schools in District #191.
- All teams practice at different schools each week.
- Practices are usually 1 1/2 to 2 hours in length.
Schedule
- Practice Schedule: A monthly practice schedule for all teams is posted on our web site 10‐14 days prior to the upcoming month, for the months of November through the first week in March. The October practice schedule is posted after the teams are formed.
- Season Schedule: The season schedule lists all of the tournaments our teams will be playing in during the season, with dates and locations.
- Tournament Games Schedule: The tournament games schedule, listing the upcoming weekend’s game times for each team becomes available 7 to 10 days before each tournament.
What is included for the cost of the season registration
The following is included in the season registration cost:
- Nine (9) tournaments are played.
- Twenty‐seven or more games are played during the season.
- All scheduled practices. Court times are rented by the hour, through District#191.
- Uniforms, which include one reversible home/away jersey and one pair of shorts. Uniforms must be returned at the end of the season.
- Practice jerseys, to be returned at the end of the season.
- One ladies size basketball, which must be returned at the end of theseason.
- BAC Night during Burnsville Girls Varsity Basketball game organized by the high school booster club
- Year-end banquet
Out‐of‐pocket costs
Yes. Each player is required to wear basketball court shoes, and bring their own water bottles to all practices and games. Other optional out‐of‐pocket costs may include:
- Purchasing player apparel with logo and player number, (e.g. sweatshirts, pants, t‐shirts, and related clothing items)
- Buying concession items at tournaments
- Contributing to volunteer coaches’ appreciation gifts at the end of the season.
- Admission to tournaments: The average amount each day for adults is $6. Children, (and sometimes seniors), are admitted for less, $4‐5 on average. Girls playing in the tournaments are admitted without charge.
- All girls must participate in a fundraising event. Normally there is an opportunity for families to pay an opt-out fee if they do not want to participate. Information will be given at the parent meeting prior to the season starting.
State Tournament
The state tournament our teams participate in is organized by Minnesota Youth Athletic Services (MYAS). In order for the state tournament to be competitive and fair for all teams, the teams in all of the various traveling programs are compared by their season win/loss records by grade. There are multiple divisions to help level the playing field for teams. Coaches attend seeding meetings in late January or very early in February, and work very hard to represent their respective teams, in order to place their teams in the correct division.
Who runs the Burnsville Girls Traveling Basketball Program
All aspects of our program are managed, executed, and sustained entirely by volunteers. Our volunteers include a board of directors, coaches, coordinators and committee members.
What are Parent Expectations?
- Enjoy watching your daughter have fun playing basketball. Basketball teaches teamwork, time management, the thrill of victory & pain of defeat plus so much more. Use the experiences as a means to equip with life lessons they will need as an adult.
- Have your daughter to practice and games on time.
- Encourage and support your daughter at all times.
- Be an example of good sportsmanship. Referees, coaches, opponents and players do make mistakes. You make mistakes too. No one is perfect.
- Your daughter has a coach. Keep sideline coaching insights to a minimum.
- Please visit our Code of Conduct policy on our site for more information.
How are coaches determined
The success of our program depends on committed volunteers who want to see kids develop and have fun. Our coaches typically have coaching experience and will have the opportunity to attend a coaching clinic to enhance their skills and knowledge. Head coach candidates will be asked to complete a Coach Application, and participate in an interview conducted by the High School Coach. Interviews will be completed prior to tryouts.
Selection Criteria includes at a minimum the following items:
- Previous youth coaching experience, including feedback from prior seasons.
- Knowledge of the game of basketball.
- Ability to teach players of all skill levels.
- Attendance and active participation in coaching and player clinics.
- The ability to represent Burnsville GTBB with the utmost respect and sportsmanship.
- The ability to provide positive reinforcement to players in both practices and game situations.
- Commitment to Burnsville GTBB program values and objectives.
