The McLean Select “season” consists of 3 parts:
· Pre-Season. The "Pre-Season" includes practices (2-3 per week) and scrimmages through the end of the Fall sports season (approximately October 15th to November 15th) – attendance requirements vary by team
· Regular season. The Regular Season includes 2 weekly practices, FCYBL games (that start the first week of December) and a Holiday tournament (Thanksgiving and/or winter break). The regular season runs from approximately November 15th to February 21st)
· Post-season. The Post-Season (for teams that qualify) is a single elimination FCYBL tournament that starts the final week in February and concludes with Championship Saturday on the first weekend in March
Overview of FCYBL Season
McLean Select Youth Basketball teams play a 14-game regular season in the Fairfax County Youth Basketball League (“FCYBL") and the league holds a post-season tournament for the top teams in each age group after the completion of the regular season.
The 10u teams (generally) start their season on December 1st with 3 “play-in” games to determine the appropriate division for each team, and these games are completed before the winter break for schools in Fairfax County. The other age groups start their regular season the first week in December, with most games starting the first weekend in December.
Once the regular season begins, teams play 1-2 games per week with the vast majority of games occurring on the weekend at a school gym in Fairfax County. 10u and 11u teams only play weekend games, but the older teams may have 2-4 weekday games during the regular season. [See www.fcybl.org web site]
Non-FCYBL Tournaments
As part of registering for McLean Select, each team will participate in either a 4-game tournament over the Thanksgiving holiday (Saturday/Sunday only) or a 4-game tournament over the winter break (generally two days after Christmas) as determined by the coach and team. At an additional cost to the team, some teams can elect to participate in both tournaments, and some coaches may ask the team to participate in other leagues, tournaments and scrimmages before, during, or after the season which will depend on the level of team participation as determined by the players and parents.
Our McLean Select experience suggests that “A” team coaches (and parents) have higher attendance expectations for the members of their team.
McLean Select Practices
In general, McLean Select teams will begin practices as soon as practical after the teams are selected (October 15th). During the period from team selection until the McLean “house” league starts in mid-November, teams will schedule two to three practices each week after school and weekends. With many fall sport conflicts, the coaches will endeavor to arrange practices so that each player can make two practices per week (and players are required to make one practice each week).
After the House season starts in mid-November until the end of the season, McLean Select teams will have two 90-minute practices each week. Unless the coaches were notified prior to the season, players are expected to make all practice sessions.
McLean Select is very fortunate to have reasonable access to our local school gyms although we often share the challenges of competing school events, weather and construction at these schools.
Except in very rare circumstances, McLean Select teams do not share the gym with other teams during its practices.
Minimum Playing Time Guidelines for Players
There is no minimum playing time requirement in the FCYBL, and each member organization has different policies for their teams – very few have minimum playing time requirements.
In McLean Select, our guidelines vary by the level of competition faced by each team and are different for teams playing in D1 and D2.Our guideline for D1 teams is that each player sees action in each half of each game, and our guideline for D2 teams is that each player has the opportunity to play approximately one-quarter of each game.
Coaches occasionally lose track of playing time during games, and parents can ask the coach the day after the game if their player fell short of our recommended McLean Select guidelines. While on many occasions this occurrence is simply unintentional, parents should also remember that coaches are not “required” to follow the guidelines in every game, and the coach may simply have felt that the player was not ready to play that day and was not responding properly to the competition and game situation..
As a further consideration of our playing time guidelines, coaches may determine that a player did not “earn” playing time because of issues with attendance, attitude, or effort during the prior game or preceding week’s practices. Coaches should attempt to inform parents in advance of games if that is the case.
Last Updated: September 15, 2010.
