December 5, 2019
Winter Team Play Email – December Schedule & Reminders
Hello Parents of all Team Players,
This email will give you all the updated info as of Dec. 5, 2019 for team players Grades 3-9.
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Attendance is mandatory on Saturday and Sunday for all team players (Boys’ Gr 3-4 is SAT only, Girls’ Gr 3-4 is SUN only), and OPTIONAL Friday night, optional Boost. Playing time is based on mandatory practice attendance. Note: we cannot forfeit games, even ones where some parents and families feel they are still on holiday time. Therefore if your child is out for practice or a game, at least 36-48 hours prior if possible, we need a) you to RSVP OUT in Sports Engine AND b) to message the coach via Sports Engine or email the coach via emails – link to all coaches’ emails here – and include the reason why your child is absent. If you would like another practice option that day, email the office and we will do our best to get back to you with a work-around for the day. If it’s an injury, keep reading on how we expect the players to handle injuries as they pertain to mandatory team time.
- Click here to download the Sports Engine app and see the most common questions about the app.
- Message the coach through the app OR
- Click here to see the blog where all of our current coaches’ emails are listed.
- Click here for long version of attendance blog.
SCHEDULE for games and winter – will be mass imported by Tuesday: Note that our 501(c)3 company’s dedication to the gothambasketball.org league means that we are able to keep your kids close to home while offering opportunities for other kids and teams who struggle financially. Our staff team of 3 has put in countless hours of work behind the scenes to put together the schedule of 80 teams over 8-10 weeks. Please know that we do the absolute best that we can with the available gym spaces and team needs to respect your time and effort while making this home-based league possible for 700 kids. *Note that if there are schedule changes, these are because it is the only option to make the schedule work for the league.*
UNIFORMS and mandatory knee pads, water bottles and mouth guards: Uniforms are behind schedule, which adds stress for us all. Temporary uniforms will be provided. Please have your child wear Motion gray shorts and/or a previous jersey and we will make what we have work until all uniforms are in. We will distribute to all gyms as soon as we can, and note that we expect kids to be in mouthguards, knee pads and with a water bottle. We don’t purchase them for kids for they all have personal preferences (you can try Modell’s and use our December coupon here). Please make sure they have them by Jan 1. If Lebron and Steph can wear them, so can we. Here is why.
BALLS, BACKPACKS, T-shirts and SWEATSHIRTS – all on the way. We are going to do our best to deliver them to all of the kids and then leave them in one or two gyms for pick up if you miss them. We hope this is done by Jan 4-5 latest.
DRESS CODE: Practice T and game shorts for practice plus backpack with sweatshirt, knee pads and mouthguard in it. You do not have to bring the ball unless we say, “BRING YOUR OWN BALL or BYOB” in the headline. Game day: Full uniform, sweatshirt, mouthguard, knee pads, water bottle. All coaches should be in Motion shirts as much as possible. Coaches work 2-6 days per week. Read more on dress code here.
COACHES: If coaches are late, it is usually because we are running from one gym to another. Our co-coaching or trio of coaches per division is backed up by one parent captain only if needed. If a coach isn’t there, sometimes it is because he or she has to coach his or her other team. We have a tight monitoring system on the coaches because we know how important their example is and how important it is for the kids to have a consistent voice or two. But we really have a hard time being everywhere with all the kids at the same time. We are doing our best. Our strongest players adapt to the coach, the team, the task at hand.
ILLNESSES & INJURIES: There are many instances where a mild injury does not warrant a skipped practice. Players can still learn, be a part of the team, and participate on limited levels. Broken fingers, squeaky knees, and sprained wrists are examples of injuries where players should be able to come to MANDATORY TEAM practice, do work-around drills that do not require contact, work their arms or legs, do ball-handling or shooting drills, get on the attendance sheet and be an example to others. If your child is seen by a physician, please get a note that explains specific limitations (i.e. a player with a broken finger can often still run, etc.). We use good judgment here, which means there are clear issues where kids cannot attend practice – illness (flu, acute state), post-surgery, severe broken bones, etc. Otherwise there is strong value in your child attending every MANDATORY practice. Read the blog here on injuries and our company concussion protocol policy.
PLAYING TIME: We make our teams small so kids get minutes, yet we have to go very lean at times and it’s stressful if your child ends up on a team of unreliable players (and we often cannot guess on this). Playing time is based on attendance, effort, attitude and team IQ, meaning you have to be on the team page, not the individual page. Read the full blog here.
SPECIAL EVENTS: In addition to our attending Columbia U men’s and women’s games, and our parent challenges in winter, we are celebrating our 10-year anniversary at the BK Nets’ own Barclay’s Center on Sunday, April 5. It will be a two-hour playing on the court event followed by some fun in Brooklyn and then a game that night. More details will be posted soon. We will add optional Columbia U and parent challenges to the schedule soon.
PLAYER Development is our priority – read more here. Sure, winning is fun, but we are by far the best program in NYC when it comes to investing in EVERY player, not just the strong ones, or the Alphas that many kids hide behind. We develop every kid who shows up, does the work, keeps showing up, keeps doing the work.
Here are a bulleted list of tips and links to blogs that you may find helpful. We also post fun and informative images on our Instagram handle @momotionnyc and on Facebook.
• Spotlight on Mo’ Motion Alum
• Mo’ Motion Curriculum (in progress)
• Parent Survey – Winter Boost Survey
• Parent Survey – Winter Team Play