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Show Lakeside Review, Wednesday, August 24, 1988 Summer is for hardwood Young cagers play year round to stay competitive BLISS FULLMER Lakeside Review correspondent Basketball was once a winter sport, played only after the footballers hung up their cleats, and before the baseballers and tracks-ter- s moved outside to do their Analysis has been spawned from these leagues. Some kids never school basketball, even play high thing. Athletes were given a week off yet are recruited to colleges across between the pig skin and the the country. College coaches, watch-thossummer round ball seasons, then came n-wide, the do and playlike the team tryouts they began leagues, . cities. the of playing in earnest a week later. big grounds In the good old days, most athClearfields Russell Larsen and letes merely changed uniforms, Jeff Painter, along with Judges and carried on the traditions of Jim Soto, warranted a visit last Old High School, month from a coach from the and they all attempted to play in University of Southern California in the Brown Ball League, which every sport available. But now we are in a period of was begun in Salt Lake this summer. specialization. With notable exIn addition to the summer basceptions, football players dont play basketball, nor do the round ketball leagues, entrepreneurs ball crew play football. Excepfrom virtually every state in the tional athletes may letter in sevcounty, have set up basketball eral sports in high school, but to camps that are proving lucrative. really excell in the likes of basketLarge and small colleges have folhe had better plan on lowed suit, and use the camps as ball, d a recruiting tool. participation. Roger Reid, former Clearfield Utah colleges have basketball mentor, and now Assistant Bascamps for young men, with fees ketball Coach at BYU, once said, ranging from almost nothing to You dont make the basketball $200, $300 and more for a week. team when they first announce None of these camps are spontryouts in November. You do it sored or sanctioned by the Utah in the all year long. High School Activities AssociaThats when you learn to play the tion, but the association doesnt game. interfere, either. California has been the leader camps lure a lot of in specialization in Western UnitUtah talent to the more prestied States. They have had gious camps in California, Colobasketball leagues for rado, Washington, Oregon, etc. years and a lot of College talent Many athletes travel to these far college-boun- d natio- You-Name- -It year-roun- tSrw League offers experience teams entered a Round Robin Lakeside Review correspondent tourney. Teams were guaranteed Local high school basketball eight games in league play and at least two games in the double some valuable players gained figame experience this summer elimination tourney. The four Hillcrest during the innaugural season of nalists, Judge (1st place) an innovative basketball league (2nd) Kearns (3rd) and Roy (4th) each played a total of 15 games. the Brown Ball League. Brown hired college age, referThe purpose of the league, acees to officiate the games, and in cording to founder Matt Brown, is to allow high school players to the finals, he used certified high like players school referees. compete d basketball is here do in many other states. Brown said. And I to an alumnus of stay, Brown, Brighton think The Brown Ball League is old stuHigh School, is a dent at the University of Utah, Utahs answer to catching up who formerly played for a small with the rest of the nation. There will still be training college in Bellevue, Washington. During summers in Bellevue, camps, such as the Jazz Camp, Brown helped his coach run a the various camps at the campuses of Utah State, Weber State, league for high school players, and Brown brought the idea back Utah and B.Y.U. and all of the smaller colleges around the state. to Utah. But the Brown Ball League is Our Utah high school teams are limited to 24 basketball kind of a melting pot for all schools to strut their wares, in games unless they pad their summer with a lot of expensive pairing off against the prestigious schools from all corners of the said. Brown camps, state. We charge the players here $60 This program benefits not only each for at least ten games; more last in win the Robin Round if they years starters from each but also these who warmschool, Next the and Tourney. year, years to come we expect to have ed the benches. It will benefit the more schools involved and also late bloomers, and those who were denied playing time by more games, he said. coaches. Brown cited summer leagues in We think, in this, our first seathe likes of Indiana, and the cities within the S.E.C. conference son, we gained a lot of respect, boundaries as examples of popularity and momentum. Most of the better schools came this d basketball. and next year we should get Those kids play as many as six year, the others. And well have an games a day, he said. Even in even better program to offer them their high school tournaments, next year, he said. they play more games than we do To start his league, Brown visitin Utah. We play a maximum of ed coaches throughout Utah and only 24 sanctioned high school picked up names of some of the basketball games each season, prominent players of each school. Brown said. He that each team Nineteen schools sent teams consistsuggested of no more than eight (some sent two teams) and an players, and the teams were not e league schedule was to be coached by any high school set up. Following league play, all coaches. BLISS FULLMER year-roun- d, Year-aroun- 22-ye- ar over-zealo- us year-roun- eight-gam- Sports briefs Clearfield sets its hunter's education The Clearfield Recreation Department will offer two sessions of Hunter Safety courses this fall. Session I begins Aug. 30 and runs on Tuesday and Thursday until Sept. 15. A second session will begin on Sept. 20 and continue until Oct. 6. Cost is $6 or $10 for nonresidents. You must be at least 'h years old to register. Classes will be held in the Steed Park building located at 300 N. 1000 W. from 6 until 9 1 1 p.m. Registration will be taken Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Clearfield Recreation Department office located at 40 S. 125 E., in Clearfield registers volleyball leagues Clearfield CLEARFIELD Parks and Recreation Department is now holding registration for its Fall Volleyball Leagues. Registration will be conducted on a first come, first served basis now through Thursday, Sept. 8. Registration will be taken at the Clearfield Parks and Recreation Office, located at 40 South 125 East in Clearfield. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call the Clearfield Parks and Recreation Department at 774-727-0. f. rfi Ifit- till H'ti ttl mi Fir nun illrunnffit Clearfield. If you have any questions, please call the Recreation Depart- ment at 774-727-0. SEASON PASS Mjsam Synthetic a Lubricants Adult 773-217- 5 Child $190 Millers Ski and Cycle Haus, Alpine Sports, and Snowbasin . tT or Kaysviiie $425, Available at Call Clearfield ADULT 37500 CHILD (11 1 under) 15000 Till Nov. 19, 1988 After Nov. 19, 1988 tV snowbasin PO OX)4 HUNTSVILLE 100m m ni f A X-1- -. UT 43 7 i All games were played at the old South High School gymnasi- um, on 17th South State in Salt Lake City. off-seas- Out-of-sta- year-arou- nd te away places as a team, and they also attend a lot of camps in Utah. As an example of the kind of summer schedules some young basketball players follow in the summer, Roy High Schools Chris Thiel gained a lot of experience without attending any camps. But he did ply in tournaments in Ogden, Logan, and Las Vegas, and Salt Lake. Thiel played in more than 60 ball games, since first donning his 8 sneakers for the High School Basketball Season. Ho was allowed to play in only 20 high school games, but picked up two games in a postseason tourney in Logan; seven in the Explorer Olympics in Roy and Ogden, four in a Las Vegas tourney and then he went to the University of Utah Basketball Camp, where he played ia 15 out-of-sta- te anc-tion- ed 87-8- games. After that, Thiel played in another dozen games in Salt Lake. Thiel also played in Basketball Congress International tourneys in Roy and Las Vegas. Players from other schools played in even more games than Thiel, with the bonus of playing all summer with their team mates. Judge High Schools team of next year played in a number of camps as a team, including one in California. They also won the Browa Ball League title. See Camps, page 4B iliiii in iiiww'mujiiuuiMii. liiliii ji i,. Lpimi ,i |