Basketball Program

Eligibility

All children ages 4-15 are eligible to participate in the program. However, there are very few teams in the city for age 13 and beyond. The age is by September 1st of the same school year. Absolutely no children will be accepted under 4 years of age. Players are required to play with their age group, but in extreme circumstances, the Commissioner may decide to push the child up in order to make teams. Parents will be notified if this situation is necessary.

Season

The season starts in late November and runs through February, and playoffs immediately follow for all age groups over age 5. Each team will play a 10-12 game schedule against opponents from our Zone. In special situations, the teams will need to play teams from around the city if teams are scarce. This typically happens at the oldest age groups, and the coaches will be notified.

Facilities

Games will either be played at a NEISD gym or a parish gym. As of Fall 2008, the following parishes have their own gyms: Blessed Sacrament, Holy Spirit, Mount Sacred Heart, OLG/St. Anthony, St. Peters, St. Pius X, and Sts. Peter and Paul in addition to our own gym, which is on the church grounds, not the complex on Bulverde Road. When games cannot be scheduled at St. Marks, home games will be scheduled at Bradley Middle School, located at the intersection of Brookhollow and Heimer Roads. Other gyms in the past have included: Driscoll MS, Eisenhower MS, Nimitz MS, White MS, and Wood MS. Directions to those facilites can be found on Google Maps using the addresses listed on this NEISD page.

Practices, however, will always be at the gym. In the past, when availability was extremely scarce and there were too many teams, practice slots were given out at NEISD elementary and middle schools. Coaches may schedule practice on their own time at their own venue. Many coaches will hold a holiday practice during the break outside at a middle school due to gym closures.

General Play

All teams and age groups play four eight-minute periods. The coach is allotted three timeouts per half, however, those do not carry over. In the last two minutes of the game, the clock is stopped on every whistle, and while teams are bringing the ball out of the backcourt (in divisions where backcourt defense is illegal). During the rest of the game, however, the clock is a running clock, stopping only for time-outs and penalty foul shots. Overtime is as many four minute overtimes (running clock for its entirety) as are needed. Tot and Tiny age groups only play one overtime. Each player is limited to five fouls, and team one-and-ones begin at the seventh team foul. At the tenth team foul, the double bonus penalty is in effect.

Each player must play a minimum of two full, uninterrupted quarters. The only exception is if a team has more than ten players, a player is injured, or a player fouls out. No player may appear in all four quarters unless fouls or injuries force him into the game.

Tots play on a specially modified rim, which is at eight feet. Court dimensions are the same, however, no defense is allowed outside the three point line. In addition, many traveling and double dribble violations are not called during the majority of the season.

Backcourt press is not allowed for Tiny and Peewee age divisions. Mite 1 girls are also restricted to frontcourt press only. This means that defense is only permitted on the half of the court that the teams’ basket is on. Offensive players cannot be blocked from dribbiling the ball over the timeline, a three foot cushion is mandatory. Players have ten seconds to get it up to the frontcourt.