Lakeville South Boys Basketball Association

The position of VP of In House is available.  Tim Harris will be leaving the board this coming May.  He will however help transition the new person into the position next fall.  A job description is avaiable below.  If interested, please contact Bernie Sanborn @ bsanborn@augeomarketing.com.

Editor's Note: Video from Cody's experience at Target Center and in Oklahoma City is coming soon to Timberwolves.com. Also, take a look at Cody's experience in pictures with Timberwolves.com's photo gallery.

Five years ago, Cody Metz had a brain tumor in his spinal column near the base of his brain that required surgery. For more than a month during his recovery in the hospital, one of his doctors stopped by each morning and chatted for about 15 minutes rehashing what the Wolves did the night before—contemplating coaching decisions, rehashing key moments and marveling over top players.

It was during that period in his life that solidified him as a Timberwolves fan.

“It kept him going—for a year he was in a wheelchair, he was gradually learning to walk again, gradually learning to run again,” said Rob Metz, Cody’s father. “Worked out every single day. And through that long stretch when his friends were off playing, this kind of stuff kept him going.”

This week, Cody got the thrill of a lifetime hanging out with his favorite NBA team. Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Timberwolves, Cody, 16, and his parents spent Tuesday and Wednesday with the Wolves both during their home game against Atlanta and their road game at Oklahoma City.

The Metz family spent Tuesday at Target Center taking in pregame warm-ups from the Wolves’ bench, followed by watching the Wolves beat the Hawks from a suite with 15 of Cody’s closest friends. The Timberwolves Dancers stopped by, as did Kevin Love during the second quarter. Following the game, the Metz’s joined the Wolves on the team plane, flew with them to Oklahoma City and spent the whole day Wednesday with the team.

In OKC, Cody was present during the team brunch at the hotel, sat court side during pregame warm-ups and got to sit right behind the Wolves bench during the game. Not only did he meet all the Wolves players, but he also was greeted with the Thunder Dancers pregame and met All-Star Kevin Durant postgame.

“It’s great,” Cody said. “It’s an opportunity that most people don’t have, and I’m fortunate to have this opportunity with Make-A-Wish.”

It was a whirlwind two-day stretch for the Metz family, not only getting to see behind the scenes what it’s like to travel with the team but also getting to know members of the Timberwolves organization. Cody in particular said he was impressed with how approachable the players are. When the group checked into the hotel in Oklahoma City, guard Ricky Rubio stopped to ask how Cody’s experience on the flight was and to see how he’s doing.

“I guess I was impressed that the players are just kids, too,” Metz said. “I was surprised how well they handle the schedule, and they’re just young kids not unlike us.”

Rob and his wife, Carol, said they were grateful for the opportunity and were impressed with how much time the players and members of the organization took just to talk with the family about how they’re doing and making sure their experience was memorable.

Between the Timberwolves, Make-A-Wish and the Metz family, everyone took something away from the experience.

“Watching that happen was like it’s a marriage made in heaven,” Rob said. “Make-A-Wish does fantastic things like this, and they want to get involved with the Timberwolves to do this for more people, and the Timberwolves are perfect. I mean I can’t imagine a better group of people to connect with Make-A-Wish, so I can see it’s a win-win for the Timberwolves, it’s a win for us, for Cody, and it’s a win for Make-A-Wish. It’s a perfect marriage.”

The Boys InHouse and Traveling programs took part in a Food Drive earlier this month for the Lakeville Resource Center.  Their donations totaled 675 pounds.  The Resouce Center was overwhelmed with the contributions made and wanted to extended their gratitude to all the Boys Basketball Families for their donations.  

A special "Thank You" to Marissa Conrad for coordinating the drop off and delivery of the donations.  

On this website you will find all the information you need on our In-house, Traveling, and High School Basketball teams. We will have over 300 boys participating in our programs. The 2012-2013 season promises to be very exciting.  Check out the In-house Grade and Traveling Team pages for registration and key fall dates.

With the ever-changing environment we now live in, the Lakeville South Boys Basketball Association continues to take important steps to ensure the highest level of safety within our programs and our community. One of these steps is the implementation of a standardized approach to background screening for our coaches and/or volunteers.

LSBBA is pleased to announce our partnership with the National Center for Safety Initiatives, through which we will engage in a comprehensive background screening program. By using NCSI’s Full Service product, a simple “Red Light/Green Light clearance report will be issued in accordance with the criteria chosen by the Lakeville South Boys Basketball Association.

This means that we will not receive detailed information on any applicant. We simply recieve notification of a Red Light/Green Light or pass/fail screening results. All other information is held in strictest confidence by NCSI.

Once the coaching selection process has been completed, all coaches will be asked to complete the screening registration. This is MANDATORY for all coaches and some volunteers.

Please click the Background Screening to the left for more information.

Thank you for your continued participation and your cooperation in this important process. Any questions regarding specific screening results should be directed to NCSI. 

Click on the "Tournaments Page" for all your tournament information. 

4th thru 8th Grade Available!

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^• When moms and dads intercede in teams’ coaching, it creates more problems than it solves, kids and experts say.

By JASON GONZALEZ jason.gonzalez@startribune.com

The rumors spreading through Roseville Area High School this spring were that parent complaints pushed the boys’ hockey coach to quit and the activities director to take a leave of absence. 

Ally McElroy, a Roseville student who played volleyball and golf, was fed up. She delivered a five-minute statement at a school board meeting May 22, saying that AD Scott Allen “helped us grow into the young adults we are. No one deserves this treatment.’’ An overflowing crowd applauded.
 

Steve Perdue, author of the book “Parental Ego and the High School and Youth Athlete,” worries that intrusion by parents is an epidemic that is ruining the experience for kids.
 

“My fear is that this will run some kids off,” said Perdue, a parent of two athletes and former coach of 30 years who is pursuing a master’s in sports psychology. “Not because of their own personal experience, but because their parents’ behavior is out of control.

“Parents need … to really look at what is best for the kids. Some actions are not helping kids, it’s quite the opposite.”

Parents on the sidelines often react to their children’s high school achievements and setbacks as their own

In one instance last month, the Eastview High School’s boys’ lacrosse team celebrated on the field with the state championship trophy they had just won, and some Apple Valley parents in the crowd held nothing back.

“We did it, we did it,’’ one mother said. “Six years of my life, finally worth it!”

Taking responsibility

Patiently waiting for their softball coach to wrap up his postgame duties late in the season, two Maple Grove seniors gathered their thoughts. The two, who were not on the starting lineup, were acutely aware that the next game would be played on senior day and each hoped it meant they would see their names in the lineup. Instead of their parents stepping in, they approached coach Jim Koltes on their own. 

Koltes, who told the players that they would get their shot, says he’s worked hard to achieve such order in his program. It wasn’t always easy, he said. But with more of his players taking responsibility for addressing discontent, the environment has improved. Parent opinions remain mostly at home, he said.

“Everyone thinks their kid is the best,” Maple Grove softball player Mandi Mauch said. “Sometimes you hear those parents screaming on the sidelines, not just at the coach, but at their kids. How can you even go home with them when they’re screaming at you 24/7?”
 

“Part of learning is when something is not going the way you want it to, take it upon yourself to have a conversation,” Anderson said. “As adults, the toughest thing to do is confront or bring a concern to people that have control over a situation.”

When a parent steps in, it can create a divide. Totino-Grace baseball players Derek Lordermeier, Sam Opat and Ben Peterson described the effects of when a teammate’s parent complained to a coach about their son’s playing time.

The team tried to ignore it, but the problem didn’t go away. One risk is that athletes become embarrassed.

“They get down on themselves and sometimes they affect the team,” Opat said.

The trio admitted there is only so much encouragement teammates can provide, and then team chemistry is tested.

“I think if [the player] has a problem with playing time, he should go to the coach himself... instead of the parent,” Peter-son said.

Lordermeier, who also is a varsity hockey player, said winning sometimes requires sacrifices.

"Varsity sports is a higher level,” he said. “It’s not about fair playing time. You’re there to win.”

In Roseville, five of Pauletti’s former hockey players agreed that talent expectations for varsity sports sometimes precludes complete fairness. Many student-athletes say it’s difficult for parents to understand the inner workings of a team. 

“All of us here did play at the A-level. … We played at the varsity level,” said Jim Betz a 2009 Roseville graduate. “And if we weren’t looking to get pushed and have that competitiveness, we would have played somewhere else where we could have fair play and joke around on the ice.”

Memories can linger

Parental involvement continues to haunt Phil Weldele.

As a 15-year-old sophomore at Osakis High School, he told his mother that he had lost his desire to play basketball and would not be going out for the team next season. 

Then she revealed a secret to her son. During the season, Weldele’s father had questioned the coach about his son dressing for varsity games. It was a short exchange and solved nothing. The coach retaliated by keeping Weldele on junior varsity. It cost Weldele his love for the sport.

Thirty years later, Weldele still speaks of this incident with remorse.

“I was partially a little stunned,” Weldele said. “I didn’t think my parents would do something like that. It does [stick with you].”

Weldele overcame the letdown to eventually become a high school coach. It didn’t take long until he, too, was questioned in the same way that his dad had questioned his coach. More than once, he said, parents tried to get what they wanted and all it did was take away from the player’s experience.

NEW: MN Concussion Law and Required Training

The Minnesota Legislature recently passed a "Concussion Law" which requires any municipality, business, school district or nonprofit organization that organizes a youth athletic activity and charges a fee to follow the statute's requirements, including implementing concussion training and education to improve player safety and establish safe return-to-play policies for athletes who sustain a concussion.

See the Concussion Training page at left for more information.