Ryan Hollingsworth of the Whitfield County Recreation Department adjusts an organizational chart on the wall in his office that shows the uniforms being used by basketball players this season. “We take pride in being organized,” he said.
photo by Mitch Talley
More than 900 kids will be dribbling, passing, and shooting on 101 teams when the Whitfield County Recreation Department opens its youth basketball regular season early next month.
That number – up by about 100 over last year and by 300 from four years ago - has kept the three full-time members of the recreation staff really hopping to make sure uniforms are ready, schedules determined, coaches trained, officials hired, and players notified – all in a short window of time.
Despite the hectic pace of the past few days, Director Brian Chastain, Athletic Coordinator Ryan Hollingsworth, and Administrative Assistant Debbie Roper say they’re excited so many local children ages 5 to 12 want to play basketball in the county recreation leagues.
One reason for the growing program, Mr. Hollingsworth believes, is the school-based philosophy used to divide teams.
“Kids want to play for their schools and our program is school-based, so if you go to Beaverdale, for example, you’re on a Beaverdale team usually,” said Mr. Hollingsworth, who directly oversees the program and fields a multitude of phone calls this time of year from coaches and parents who frequently call him for answers to their questions about their teams.
Mr. Hollingsworth also points to the county’s brand new – and very successful - fall soccer league that debuted with about 400 participants. He believes some of those 5-year-old players have made the move into basketball.
“Last year we added 5-6 basketball, and we had 12 teams,” Mr. Hollingsworth said. “We’ve got 20 teams this year. We added soccer in the fall, and we allow 4- and 5-year-olds to play in that league. I think some of them are transitioning to basketball, and that just helps them get their foot in the door with rec sports and our programs. That’s good.”
No matter the reason for the expansion, it all adds up to a whole lot of kids playing basketball in the county rec leagues.
In fact, just the night before this interview, the recreation staff had held a two-hour coaches’ meeting to go over rules, hand out rosters, and confirm uniform orders. With 101 teams this year, that means a whole lot of people packed into the county recreation gym on Gillespie Drive.
“We try to meet with coaches as much as possible,” Mr. Hollingsworth said. “That way they’re informed and we’re organized.”
“We try to be more organized than most people,” Mr. Chastain added.
In fact, that attention to detail is probably the major reason for the program’s success, he believes.
“Most recs don’t even have coaches’ meetings – they just throw them together, give them a set of rules, and send them out the door,” Mr. Chastain said. “We’ve got 101 teams this year because we run a quality program - I mean, that’s the bottom line.”
Mr. Hollingsworth said, “We take pride in being organized. Debbie will tell you our main goal is to be organized and know what’s going on.”
The basketball season officially opened last weekend with a Thanksgiving tournament that will wind up onSaturday, Nov. 28, with more than 40 teams involved. Each year, the rec takes up admission donations and uses the proceeds to buy Christmas presents for needy children. In 2014, fans gave $2,500 to help brighten the holidays.
Players will see action in at least 10 games during the regular season, which begins Dec. 4 and continues through the 19th before taking a break for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, then resumes Jan. 4 and hopefully ends by the last of January, barring any weather makeups for snow and ice. End-of-season tournaments, which guarantee at least one more game for all teams, will be held for teams with players ages 7 and up. Of course, some players will see even more action if they are chosen to compete in the Georgia Recreation & Parks Association all-star tournaments that begin in mid-February.
Players get all this action, by the way, for a $25 registration fee that includes a jersey and shorts.
Regular-season games will be held at the recreation gym, plus eight other gyms at Christian Heritage, North Whitfield Middle, Westside Middle, Valley Point Middle, Eastbrook Middle, Tunnel Hill Elementary, Varnell, and New Hope Middle.
“Our program is growing,” Mr. Chastain said. “We’re getting bigger and bigger every year. If you look at the people that we touch for the small program that the county offers, I think our recreation program funding is more than justified. We’ve got 4,000 kids that come through the program each year in all sports – plus you’ve got parents, you’ve got grandparents, you’ve got other people who come to watch, aunts, uncles. Then you’ve got the people who don’t play in the program who are walking around our parks for exercise.
“We touch a lot of people in this county for a little over 2 percent of the county’s budget,” he said, “and I think it’s a pretty good deal for taxpayers.”
Mr. Chastain said he wants local residents to realize that the county offers a quality program to children for a small fee “where they can just go out and play.”
“We want people to be proud of their Whitfield County Rec Department,” he said, “and we’re always open to suggestions that would help us do things better. It’s basketball – we just want the kids to play hard and have a good time.”
Players in the 11-12 league go through the paces during a practice session at the Whitfield County Recreation Department gym, where a new laminate floor has been installed
photo by Mitch Talley