| Author | Message | ||
     Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 802 Registered: 9-2004 |
What am I missing? what Dave said, If federal dollars are used in a project it has to be open to the public. JTA says, Now that I think of it, does this mean out of towns kids can now go to our summer basketball camp? And what’s wrong with that? Are we now an inclusive town that doesn’t allow outsiders to join our basketball programs? Maybe these kids do not have a basketball program in their town. SO residence should have a first-come system and if there are any slots left, then outsiders are welcomed. Cmonty, Good post. I know quite a few kids who venture out of South Orange/Maplewood and play “pick-up” games in the “inner city” to improve their game. If anyone is interested, there’s a basketball court in Union on Liberty Ave. (going towards the Shoprite store) thats almost always empty. | ||
| Hoops Citizen Username: Hoops Post Number: 168 Registered: 10-2004 |
The quid pro quo? Any one can go at any time to a basketball court in Maplewood or Livingston or Newark or West Orange and play basketball. Anyone at any time that these courts are not being used for town events or permitted events. I am sure South Orange will work exactly the same way. The courts should stay open to the public on a first come first served basis. If the town or other entity wants to sponsor a basketball tournament then of course the tournament would be run and open court time would be suspended during the hours that the basketball tournament was using it. Other then that the whole idea of basketball as an activity is to invite as many players as the court can hold both active and waiting at the same time. The more participants at any one time the better. If there are 10 on the court and 15 waiting then that would be a highly successful rebuilding of the the courts. Tennis is played by at most 4 players at a time. Basketball can have 10 on one court alone. It is no where near the same thing. Why redo the basketball court at all jayjay? We can use the space for parking or even more tennis courts or how about a garden and that way no one would have to put up with the noise of a ball bouncing or noisy teenagers acting up on the walk to the courts. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 1291 Registered: 1-2004  |
Hoops- Sorry for the delay in responding to your note. My computer crashed and I had to buy a new one. I'm sorry, I don't care a rat's ash about 'basketball court etiquette.' It is down right rude to hog the courts when other, smaller children, who happen to actually LIVE IN TOWN want to play on the courts. RESIDENTS who want to use the tennis and racketball courts are limited to playing in ONE HOUR of court time blocks. The same should hold true for the basketball courts. I would think my nephews would have more of a right to play on the courts then 'kids' I know for a fact do NOT live in town. And even if some sort of 'rule' was broken, there is no reason to starting cussing at little kids. I doubt the courts would be empty if non-residents were not allowed to use them. I think a lot of kids from town would be very happy they were able to finally use the courts. When I was growing up, there were always kids from town on the courts. But, if they were empty because town kids weren't on them, so be it. I disagree with your believe "Basketball is a game where people from different communities come together." If that were the case,these non-resident 'kids' wouldn't have cussed at my nephews and would have invited them to join in. My nephew's are both 9, they are twins. One of the reasons they don't go to the South Mountain Y is that Y doesn't have a pool. My nephews also go to the Madison Y's Camp part of the Summer. They've been playing for several years and can hold thier own against the high school kids from Seton Hall Prep, who will sometimes let them play at the end of their practices. Hoop Heaven is closer to where they go to school, and my sister liked the program there much better then the Y here. I do know kids who belong to they Y in Maplewood that breath basketball, they do not act at all like the one's on the court at the Baird Center. I don't think you'll find my nephew's trying to play on the courts again in South Orange anytime soon. What's going to be next? Out of towners being able to join our baseball teams, use our pool etc?` | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 1292 Registered: 1-2004 |
County-\ I don't think you read my note correctly. My nephews have tried MORE THEN ONCE to play on the courts at the Baird Center. Each time they were met with rude obnoxious responses. My sister wondered why I even wasted my time trying. I've now given in and will drive them to Hoop Heaven, the Madison Y, up by my brother's in West Orange where they sometimes get to play with some of the Seton Hall Prep kids. And there is a BIG difference between going into a store asking to use the restroom, or going to the reservation, and refusing to let little kids play on the tennis court in their own town. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 1293 Registered: 1-2004 |
Susan I don't think the South Orange Police would want to spend a lot of time trying to enforce the behavior of these obnoxious 'kids.' Take a look at all the kids riding their bikes without helmets. When the police say something to them, it's said the police are picking on them. I wouldn't care as much, don't get me wrong I still believe the town recreation facilites should be for the residents, BUT maybe I wouldn't care so much if there were time restrictions on the courts as there are on the tennis courts. Funny, the response to others wanting to use the courts, or join in a game is not the same in Summit, Madison, East Hanover or other places my nephews have tried to play. Only at the Baird Center. | ||
| Just The Aunt Supporter Username: Auntof13 Post Number: 1294 Registered: 1-2004 |
Sheena\ Was this at OLV? My mom is VERY involved with the church. | ||
| Sheena Collum SHU Citizen Username: Sheena_collum Post Number: 140 Registered: 4-2005  |
Just The Aunt, Yes! The Salesians there are soooo spectacular! I've been volunteering with them for the past 3 years (not so much this semester due to time constraints). But during the fall, things had gotten really out of control. We threw an Xmas Party for them and brought ice cream (big mistake)... it ended up all over the floor. The kids in Orange face a lot of troubles across the board and basketball, like someone else posted, does help keep them off the streets which is a positive. From my experience, they'll mouth off to anyone who tries to tell them what to do (so know that your confrontation was not isolated). P.S. Let me know next time your nephews want to go play on the courts. I'll ask some of our BBall players at Seton Hall to escort them, lol. I'm sure they'd be able to get in a pick-up game. | ||
| Sheena Collum SHU Citizen Username: Sheena_collum Post Number: 141 Registered: 4-2005 |
Hoops, Sorry I didn't catch your suggestion before. I have an email request out right now to see if we can do something about that. I'll let you know as soon as I have something substantial. | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 806 Registered: 9-2004 |
RESIDENTS who want to use the tennis and racketball courts are limited to playing in ONE HOUR of court time blocks. The same should hold true for the basketball courts. JTA The basketball courts are being funded by the feds. It's now a public basketball court for anyone outside of this town. The tennis courts and the pool (which you have to by a pass in order to use the facility) is sponsored by the town and is for the residence of SO only. Now I do agree that perhaps Seton Hall U could facilitate residence if they want to play on their courts. Provide a time for usage perhaps? If your nephews want competition, Hoop Heaven is a great place. My son places up there and the level of competition doesn't come close to M/SO. He plays on a team that have kids from different areas of NJ and they play kids from NYC, Conn. NJ and NY state. They're always sponsoring basketball tourney's at Hoop Heaven. | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 8703 Registered: 5-2001 |
My 19 year old and his similar aged basketball freak friends go to Livingston to play. There are lighted courts at the high school and apparently kids show up from quite a distance. I often wonder what the Livingston cops think of a bunch of primarily minority kids invading their town.  Several years ago when there was a brooha in Maplewood about cursing and bad behavior at the courts in Memorial Park, the same group of kids, then eight graders, hung out there a lot. They could curse wonderfully well for a bunch of 12 year olds. | ||
| Hoops Citizen Username: Hoops Post Number: 173 Registered: 10-2004 |
JTA. I know what you are going through as I have raised 2 boys who are basketball junkies. If they can hold their own when allowed to play with Seton Hall prep basketball players then they must be skilled. If they are entering 5th grade next year they should go to the South Mountain Y for tryouts for their 12U travelling team in November. As far as playing on the court I think if you reread my response you will find that I did not defend the poor manners shown by those teenagers. I think that you might want to fix something that is not broken. 9 year olds and teenagers do not play together very often and when they do it cant be serious due to the differences in development. When your nephews are 13 or 14 and if they have the love of the game, if you get your way in this they will find that the courts they 'grew up' playing on will not have the competition level they need to continue their growth in the game. What I tried to express before is that if they design the basketball courts correctly there will be more then 1 court to play on and so your nephews will not be shut out because the court is in use. That would resolve your problem while also allowing your nephews to learn by observing as well as playing. Phenix - Hoop Heaven runs a decent program but is in my opinion very expensive. What age is your son? M/SO has some extremely skilled players as many of them make up the teams of both Columbia HS and Seton Hall Prep. Last season the South Mountain 8th grade team won its tournament at Hoop Heaven and also the NJ YMCA State Championship. | ||
| Hoops Citizen Username: Hoops Post Number: 174 Registered: 10-2004 |
BobK - I also think the Livingston courts are great. In fact if the Memorial Park courts were better maintained (new rims/backboards) then that court would be the best in the area. It still is always crowded. There is no reason we cant have an equally successful court. | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 810 Registered: 9-2004 |
Hoops, He played with the Y. We wanted to try something different outside of town. I know about the 13 year old team this year and they were great! My son has friends on that team. He will turn 13 later this year. We will see go to the tryouts this fall and see. Some of those same players (13 year olds) are moving on to High School, so they won't be playing on the team. So it'll be his choice on where he wants to tryout. He's a quick defender and usually can wear down the offense. His game has gtten better, he stil needs to work on his offense tho.  The Y is alot better than the SO town travelling team (seperate from the Y). I think they only won 2 games the whole year. Again, we did Hoop Heaven for the experience to play with kids outside of SO. | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3477 Registered: 3-2002 |
There were will be weekly basketball programs from 6-28 to 7-21 for boys and girls grade 3-8 in Memorial Park through the Maplewood Rec Department and two one-week basketball camps in conjunction with Hoop Heaven also in Memorial Park (July 25 week for girls; August 1 week for boys). Call the Maplewood Rec Department (763-4202) for details. | ||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 8705 Registered: 5-2001 |
How things change. When Little K was in middle school the Town and Village teams were the major leagues and the Y team was very much secondary. | ||
| Hoops Citizen Username: Hoops Post Number: 175 Registered: 10-2004 |
Phenix and Bob K - I have firm opinions on those subjects that are better left to myself. For right now lets just say that there are a number of players who participate in both programs. The rec department can do a whole lot better. | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3478 Registered: 3-2002 |
Bob, The Y teams benefit to some extent from their ability to have kids on the teams from outside Maplewood/South Orange...not a better pool necessarily, but a larger pool. Any program with great coaching and commitment from volunteers, parents and the kids themselves will also benefit. The Y teams have had that formula in their favor. There are certainly other athletic/recreation programs, whether its school, Rec, town, Y, etc., with that formula in our towns as well. | ||
| Hank Zona Supporter Username: Hankzona Post Number: 3479 Registered: 3-2002 |
Hoops, Id be interested in hearing your opinions privately if youd like to share them. | ||
| Pizzaz Citizen Username: Pizzaz Post Number: 1892 Registered: 11-2001  |
Hoops: I'm afraid the design of the new Baird Court will only allow the playing of one full court game. The two half court baskets will be a problem to play on by the younger kids if the bigger kids are playing. The redesign and improvements to the Baird basketball courts has been an ongoing passion of a number of people in town dating back to 1995. A gentleman, Bill Johnson, attempted to organize a summer league schedule. The courts were not playable. A certain trustee became enraged at the thought of out of towners using our facilities (he insisted cops approach soccer field users for residency  ). Since the new court will be limited, we need to find more venues to allow the kids to develop and occupy their time in positive ways. I believe there is a current effort to organize such a program similar to the successful baseball program we have in town. The bottom line is we need more facilities to expand our community based programs. | ||
| Phenixrising Citizen Username: Phenixrising Post Number: 811 Registered: 9-2004 |
Hoops, I have my opinion on the rec's travelling team, which I won't say on this thread  That's one of the reasons I looked "outside" of the community. At least the Y offers a basic skills clinic before the teams are chosen for play. A good tune-up before the season. |
