SARATOGA SPRINGS — Registration for the Saratoga Regional YMCA fall basketball league will be in full swing on Monday, September 10.
“We’re hoping to add two more teams to the fall league and that’s like what the growth has been, two teams each year, which is what we’re looking for this year,” explained league coordinator Mike Laudicina.
The decision to start early was based on the success of the summer league, which went from having six teams and 46 kids the year before and 72 kids and a two-team expansion this summer.
“I’d like to finish a little bit earlier because last year near the end, baseball was starting so we were losing a lot of players. It’s not fair to the team if somebody is a good athlete and they make the football team and they leave and all of a sudden you go from a team that depended on one person,” he explained.
A lot of the same kids who played in the summer also play in fall as well.
Other than starting early, “everything is going to be about the same as last year. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” Laudicina laughed.
The coaching staff is full, with new coaches from the summer league also carrying over into the fall. However, the fall league is still looking for two team sponsors. The fall league will carry on its’ tradition of their end of season banquet courtesy of Saratoga Honda.
“I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to do the banquet again like we did last year but by getting that donation from Saratoga Honda, that money will go and pay for the banquet. Last year, I budgeted $2,200 because that would always cover it, and last year we doubled in size so all of a sudden I had a $5,000 bill and I didn’t have the budget to cover it,” he said.
Saratoga Honda has that covered this year.
“In the summer league we ended up with a lot more girls, which is good, because that means that they’ll sign up for the fall. We had a young lady who played in the league two years ago, who was so timid, and quiet and would run back and forth with her hands down, she didn’t want the ball, but she wanted to play basketball. She didn’t want to make a mistake, but this year, she was a terror,” he laughed.
Laudicina’s goal for the basketball leagues is always healthy competition. He never wants one team to dominate over the others the entire season.
“You want everybody to be competitive. Everybody won games, and everybody lost games,” he said.
As always, scholarships are available to those in need. To sponsor a team or sign up your child, contact Mike Laudicina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 518-583-9622 ext. 145.
