Director's Corner

Welcome to another exciting season of Montville Travel basketball! This year, we’re thrilled to see the program grow, with over 150 athletes registered for tryouts across grades 2nd-8th. It's especially exciting to continue the momentum from last season when we expanded to include our youngest competitors in grade 2. We’re proud to look back on last year’s successful season, with six teams making the playoffs, including our 7A, 6A, 5A, 5B, 4th, and 3rd-grade teams. Notable achievements included the 5A and 3rd-grade teams reaching the semi-finals and 5B reaching the quarter-finals of their divisions.

Our goal is to foster a love for the game while focusing on player development, teamwork, and competition. This season, grades second through eighth will feature an A team, and depending on turnout, some will also have a B team to allow more young athletes the opportunity to compete and improve.

As we prepare for the upcoming season, we’ve made several key improvements to enhance the experience for both players and families. Some of the upgrades this season include:

1. **Improving the Tryout Process**: We’re implementing third-party evaluators, with no player affiliation, and using callbacks for a second day of tryouts for those on the bubble.

2. **Revamping the B Teams**: Our focus is on developing younger players through the B teams. We’ve partnered with the AAU program, DST, to provide coaching and training without affecting A team court time.

3. **Addressing Budget Concerns**: We’re carefully analyzing the budget to explore ways to reduce per-player league fees, responding to feedback from parents. We are also adding a Venmo payment option which avoids transaction fees that Teamsnap charges.

4. **Optimizing Roster Sizes**: To improve playing time for all athletes, we’re reducing roster sizes where needed and considering double rostering some players across A and B teams.

5. **Increasing Training Sessions**: We plan to offer league-wide training with professional coaches, including sessions before the season starts and during school/holiday breaks.

6. **Keeping Players in the Program**: We’re also working on ideas to ensure that Montville players stay committed to the Broncos program, even when participating in multiple leagues.

We’re excited to see the talent on the court this season. Good luck to all players—let's make this season another great one!

Sameer Sawe
Director