Stampede Basketball

Stampede families and players,

Congratulations to the new members of our team. I have contacted everyone who tried out for the program, and I'm pleased we were able to invite more new players than I originally planned.

Our next workout is Wednesday evening, October 8, from 7-8:30 p.m. in Park's Old Gym. I will confirm the availability of the gym for the rest of the month and post the practice schedule before the end of the week.

Player fees for the entire season (all-inclusive) are $230.00. I would like to collect half of the amount ($115) from each player by October 15, and the remaining balance of $115 by November 5. I understand that these dates are fairly close together, and I certainly don't want anyone to feel unduly put out by the expenses. If you have any concerns about timing of these requests for fee payments, please let me know. Uniform orders and league fees are due before the end of October, and I've scheduled these requests to meet that need. The fees include league costs, one tournament, a uniform top and bottom, a Stampede t-shirt, and facility rental for practices. If you want to order Stampede t-shirts (a design similar to last year's, but we'll probably use green on gray, rather than blue on gray), the cost is $9.00 each for sizes up to 2XL. Please plan to order them at Wednesday's practice session if you have not completed the online questionnaire before then.

Please take a few minutes to complete this preseason questionnaire. It will help me stay organized with information about uniform sizes. I will have also have a sign up sheet for uniform requests--numbers and sizes--at Wednesday's practice. I want to order uniforms as soon as possible to ensure we have them before the first contests of the season.

While roster assignments (to the blue and green teams) are not final yet, I have a tentative plan and will be sharing that in due time. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Best regards,

Derek

Oh! And two more notes. 1.) New players: please bring a copy of a birth certificate within the next week or so. 2.) Everyone should bring comfortable running shoes to our Saturday morning sessions in October. We will, following some of our Saturday AM sessions, end practice with a run at the track or on the stadium stairs (or both!)--especially when the weather is nice. -DM

ANNOUNCEMENTS (Updated 2/25/03)

The schedule is updated with Saturday's tournament times. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Because the games are at almost the same time, Gabe, Phillip and Blake will leave the rec game (6:00 p.m.) at halftime to join the competitive team (6:30 p.m.). The gyms are in the same campus of buildings at the corner of Congress Road and Barry Road. -DM

Next practice: Sunday, Mar. 2, 3:30-5 p.m. @ Park

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Stampede Web Site

The schedule for much of the winter is posted. Please let me know if you have any questions I can help with. The competitive team will play in the Smithville Primary Basketball Tournament on January 3-5. We have a three game guarantee. I've been assured that we'll play one game on Friday night and two games on Saturday--more specific details will be posted when I have them.

Merchandise: Because there has been some interest in the Stampede Basketball Russell pullovers, here is the best way to get one. From the Bassco web site (http://www.bassco.com/fbcoach.html), you can order a Russell pullover in the size and color you want. They have the best price I've found on such items--$38.25. The item ships directly from Russell. Once you receive it, take it to Hat Zone (816-468-1149) in Metro North Mall. They have our embroidery stitch-pattern on file and can apply it to almost any item for about $7.00. As for sweatshirts or other items, I ordered the t-shirts from Ron Miser at Miser's Locker Room Sports (816-842-8641) in Northtowne. They can turn around screen printed orders in about ten days.

From Kangaroo Update
Kangaroos to host New Year's Eve Clinic for Kids

Have your son or daughter spend New Year's Eve bouncing in the new year with head coach Rich Zvosec and the UMKC Kangaroos men's basketball team. The special New Year's Eve Clinic is for boys and girls in second through eighth grades and will be held in Swinney Recreation Center on the UMKC campus.

Check in begins at 6 p.m., December 31, while check out is at 10 a.m. on January 1. The cost is $50.00 per child. Parents will be required to sign an insurance waiver upon arrival. Each camper should bring a sleeping bag, blanket, pillow, towel, toiletries, sneakers and basketball gear. The night's activities will include fundamental instruction, full court games, contests and films, a pizza party and breakfast.

To enroll, contact Jay Byland in the UMKC basketball office at (816) 235-1053 or by e-mail at bylandj@umkc.edu.

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I've set up a scrimmage game for this Sunday, Dec. 22, at 4 PM in Park's old gym. We'll be hosting Bob Summers' team. I don't know much about them, except that they're a sixth grade competitive team who enrolled too late and so was placed in the seventh grade rec division in the SPCAA. We'll be missing a few players, so I'll use the full team in the scrimmage. I'm hoping for three-twenty minute halves. We should be done by 5:30 PM.

The practice schedule is updated for the break. I have built in a couple of optional practices. These will be informal or semiformal chances to get in the gym. Don't feel any undue pressure to attend if other holiday plans interfere. I will let you know once I have a time set for the clinic with Park's team on December 29 (or on Sat., Dec. 28). Parents are welcome to attend. The 4th grade Magic team will also be with us that day.

I've included information about a New Year's Eve overnight clinic at UMKC. This is, of course, optional. We haven't decided yet whether Phillip will attend, but let me know if you are interested. I am getting more information on it regarding the number of players involved and other details.

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Stampede families and players,

A raucous crowd cheered Stampede Green to its second win last night in Riverside. It was a hard-fought match against Dan Holmgren's Lakers. Of course, most of the noise was coming from the Stampede bench and, though I'm not quick to realize it, from my own lungs. As we move along in the competitive season, I sincerely beg your pardon for any "moments of ugliness" exhibited by Stampede coaches. We do our best to keep such moments to a minimum. We're stuck in this complicated balancing act among getting the best from our players, correcting our play and positioning during the game, enlisting the referee's ear for clarification(s), and, well, being a gritty, classy competitive basketball team. Of course, maybe it's simpler than that. We just want the boys to play hard, have fun, and have a shot at winning the game.

We're just a few days away from the holiday season, during which many of you have family and travel plans that rightly take priority over Stampede Basketball. I would like to continue practicing through the break, but I want to emphasize that these will be fun, semiformal practices that are more like free play opportunities for the boys to get out of the house and stay basketball-fit. I have been asked by a few teams for a scrimmage, and as time and scheduling allow, we'll probably hold one up at Park on Sunday, December 22. I have also talked with Claude English about our team and Coach Wilkinson's 4th Grade Magic team watching a practice and then sticking around for an hour-or-so free clinic with the University team. Park returns to practice on Dec. 27, so we will probably try to do that on Sunday, Dec. 29 or Monday, Dec. 30, depending on your availability.

Finally, for the competitive team, there is a tournament in Smithville, Mo., January 3-5, that we will play in if there is sufficient interest. I haven't committed to anything yet, and we might all agree that a break would serve us better. Please send me an email letting me know whether you are available and interested in that tournament.

As always, I appreciate your support; I hope you will let me know if you ever have any concerns or questions about our team's play, your son's role in it, or the spirit of our program.

All best,

Derek

Thanks to everyone for making the Turkey Shootout Tournament a success this weekend. The tournament ended last Sunday night at 9:00 p.m.--the Kings won the top spot in the competitive sixth grade division, defeating SkyForce 46-23, about the same margin as the one we took.

I've had a chance to talk personally with several of you about our play this weekend. For our first competitive tournament, we took our lumps, but we also strung together surprisingly solid clusters of hard-nosed defensive plays and dynamic offensive sequences. In the big scheme of things, I think our group--without exception--is making considerable strides; this was glaringly apparent in the recreational games.

We haven't done the math yet, but the tournament also served our team as a fundraiser--one through which we will have modest resources for future tournaments, practice balls, or monies to offset league fees or future uniform expenses.

Check out the schedule for the upcoming practices and games for Stampede. Note that the competitive game scheduled for Monday, December 2, in Riverside, is at 8:30 p.m., rather than 8:00 p.m. I would like to have all players at the games at least a half hour before tip-off. -DM

September 15

Here are just a few details for everyone:

1. We will begin Wednesday sessions on Wednesday, September 18, 2002, from 2:45 p.m. until 4:45 p.m. at Plaza Middle School (the 6^th grade center). Your son(s) should go to Mrs. Jacobs’ room immediately after school. She will walk them to the gym as a group. It is very important that everyone has transportation arrangements for no later than 5 p.m. If you need help with a ride, let me know in advance.

2. If you will be missing a practice, please do what you can to let me know ahead of time. It makes a difference in the kinds of activities we will do in practice.

3. Please complete the form on the clipboard for your son(s). I need to be sure that everyone is able to communicate using the web site primarily. I need the following information completed as soon as possible:

Shirt size:
Short size:
Jersey number preferred:
Web site access:

4. I will be copying/emailing information about team costs as they come up. Our practices at Park University cost $1.00 per player per day. It is easiest to keep track of them if you pay in $5 blocks. I have priced uniforms for the season ahead and I am leaning toward jerseys only that will run approximately $32.00 apiece. The cost for the basic SPCAA season will be between $70-90 per player. If we participate in tournaments (and I hope to have our team(s) in at least two or three), the cost per tournament will average out to approximately $20 per player per tournament. Team insurance was purchased in May for the whole year. I will give everyone a detailed information sheet about team-related expenses, but in total, I want to keep costs below $150 for the registrations, uniforms and everything else. I am also planning to be involved as a co-host of a pre-Thanksgiving tournament that will work as a team fundraiser. Revenues from that event will be returned to the team coffer for future use and to defray any remaining expenses. Because this is a volunteer gig for me (and I’m very pleased to be involved), it is helpful if you can make this part of the team’s general management as simple as possible.

5. Please provide me with a copy of your son(s)’ birth certificate for my tournament notebook. I will keep a copy on hand for tournaments.

That’s it! Best regards,

Derek

August 25

Greetings! We're ready to get back underway this fall. I have updated the schedule for the weeks ahead. Please look it over and contact me if you have any conflicts or concerns. I am in the process of pricing uniforms for the season ahead. As always, if you can't attend a practice session, please contact me in advance. That way, if several boys can't make it, I can make decisions about modifying our practice circuit or canceling altogether.

You will notice that we're also set to start with Wednesday sessions at the Plaza Sixth Grade Center. Sandy Jacobs (Brady's mom) has graciously led the charge with the school district to assure us gymnasium time after school on Wednesday's from 2:45 p.m. until 4:45 p.m. Please consider this as you make plans for Tuesday-Thursday intramurals. We've set this up so that it would be more convenient than evening practices, particularly during the winter months when we're in season. Let me know what you think--especially if you expect the Wednesday afternoon sessions to be a problem.

This web site is my latest experiment for efficient communication. I have posted a roster of the boys who will be playing with us this season, and I would like to put up a team photo eventually. If you have any concerns about privacy issues or about including information about your child on this web site, simply let me know. It's an obscure web site--as evidenced by the hit counter, but I also want to be sensitive to your preferences.

All best,

Derek Mueller