A new league is in place for youth in the Homewood community who want to step up their basketball careers. The Homewood High School basketball coaches have established “Hoopswood” to help students build their love for the game.
Hoopswood, a nonprofit organization, is a competitive basketball program for local players. To start, kids in different age groups do $30 skill sessions and practices on Fridays in September and October. Individual skill sessions are also available. From there, coaches will draft teams and hold official practice in November and then games will take place from mid-December to the end of February. Teams from the program will then have the option to join outside leagues such as Over The Mountain, Vulcan League and AAU.
“We’ll play teams such as Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Spain Park, Trussville, Gardendale, and Oak Mountain,” varsity girls basketball coach Gavin King said.
HHS boys varsity basketball coach Elijah Garrison described the format of the games played in Hoopswood. Younger kids will start out playing 3-on-3 and will progress to 5-on-5 as they get older.
Over the summer, Garrison went to HHS Athletic Director Rick Baguley and Superintendent of Homewood City Schools Justin Hefner to make Hoopswood a reality. Garrison admitted that it was an extensive process, but that they were very supportive of the idea, especially considering Hefner has kids around that age who play basketball.
“They just told me if I wanted to start it, that I needed to do my homework and just test it out to see what it would look like,” Garrison said.
The coaches started Hoopswood to ensure that every child wanting to play basketball can grow and develop in the sport and also to create a competitive environment for the players to experience.
HHS Spanish teacher Rebecca Phillips has a 4th-grade son who is going to participate in the program. She is confident that her son, Micah, will learn valuable life lessons through this new program.
“I feel like Hoopswood can teach players to have perseverance, respect for coaches and just doing something even if you don’t want to do it,” Phillips said. “Those skills can not only help you succeed in basketball, but beyond that.”
King and Garrison are both confident this new program will increase the number of kids playing basketball in elementary and middle school, which will ultimately lead to an increase in the number of people wanting to play in high school.
