Website Manager

LEDYARD YOUTH BASKETBALL LEAGUE

News Detail

12

Mar, 2019

THANKS FOR A GREAT 2018-2019 SEASON

All LYBL Families,

As the season is now complete, I wanted to reach out to each and every family and thank you so much for participating in the league this year!  We were thrilled to have over 250 players in our league this season.  I hope your sons and daughters had a positive experience.  I also hope that each and every player improved their level of basketball in some way - whether it be a Bitty player learning the game for the first time or a Senior player headed next season to try out for the high school team.  We were able to send 5 teams of boys and girls of all different age levels to compete in the Neil Hoelck Tournament in Waterford.  Five teams is the most teams we have ever sent from Ledyard for one tournament.  Great job to all of the players and coaches!

Our Board worked hard in the off season to try to make improvements to the league with its organization, communication, and coaching.  I hope, as a parent, you were informed of league events all season and that you were able to have questions answered as quickly as possible.  I know there were some bumps in the road as we made many changes.  We will be better for those experiences next season.  Please let me know if there were any issues that you experienced that we might be able to improve next year.  Please also let me know if there were any things we did this season that you liked, so we can keep doing them - such as the GameChanger application or the website. 

Our Board will be meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the season and set the ground work for next year.  Your feedback will help us make additional improvements.  We are hoping to hold some clinics and camps in the off season - stay tuned for information on those events!

Finally, I wanted to take this time to thank all of the coaches and assistant coaches who volunteered so much of their time to support the league.  We would not be able to have a program without your support!  I hope you will return next year to keep developing our Ledyard basketball players at all levels.

I also want to specifically thank my fellow Board members by name for all of their efforts year-round to operate the league:  

- Jessica Bonser did it all - she was the Commissioner of the Bitty Mixed Division, coached one of the Girls Micro Travel teams, acted as Assistant Coach for the 4th grade girls tournament team, and above all was the Treasurer of the League in our first year as a non-profit organization.  She managed our books, paid referees, ordered basketballs and Bitty uniforms, and even filed IRS forms!

- Johanna Wisniewski also was involved across the league as well as with the Girls Middle School team.  Johanna was the Juniors Mixed Division Commissioner, coached a Juniors team, was the Assistant Coach of the Girls Middle School team, coached an 8th grade girls team for the Neil Hoelck Tournament, and was our Secretary.  She took minutes of our many Board meetings and filed all of our paperwork - which was a ton this season as we set up the new non-profit organization.  Johanna's Juniors team also won the Juniors Mixed Division Championship!  Congrats to Johanna and the team!

- Kevin Almeida was our Seniors Mixed Division Commissioner, coached a Seniors team, and was the head coach of the 8th grade boys team for the tournament.  Kevin did an excellent job keeping the Seniors Division coaches informed all season.  Kevin also coaches football and baseball, so he is busy year-round.  Steve Einhellig was our Assistant Seniors Mixed Division Commissioner, and he also coached a Seniors team.  He brought his team from last place in the regular season to compete in the Seniors Division Championship.  Congrats goes out to Coach Walter Lenz and Coach Ethan Jarry and their team for winning the Seniors Mixed Division Championship!

- Justin Smith was our Instructional Mixed Division Commissioner, coached an Instructional team, and was the head coach of the 4th grade boys team for the tournament.  Justin also coaches with Ledyard football.  Bryan Quilter stepped up this season as the Assistant Instructional Mixed Division Commissioner, coached an Instructional team, and was the Assistant Coach for the 4th grade boys tournament team.  He also is very involved with the Ledyard Little League.

- Shawn Magliano acted as our Webmaster for the League website and managed our League Facebook page.  He did a great job uploading documents, correcting problems, and assisting parents with registrations.  Shawn also coached a Seniors Mixed Division team AND a Juniors Mixed Division team.

- Chris Krupansky and JoAnn Champlin took on one of the most difficult roles to get our uniforms off the ground for our first year as the Uniform Coordinators.  They did an excellent job resolving issues and going above and beyond to make sure everyone got what they needed.  They even drove around Ledyard making hand-deliveries!

Thank you ALL again for your participation in the LYBL this year!  Send on any feedback you might have.  

We are already looking forward to the 2019-2020 season!

All the best,
Gabrielle McGrath
LYBL President