Travel Program - FAQ
- What is Travel basketball?Travel basketball is a program run by the Norwood Basketball Association which includes teams for girls and boys, selected through a tryout process. These teams are entered in the highly-competitive Metrowest Basketball League and are placed in divisions by skill level. These teams compete against teams from other towns on a weekly basis with playoffs held at the end of the year.
- My child was on a team last year, do they have to tryout this year?Yes, every player wishing to play travel basketball must register prior to tryouts and attend both tryouts. After evaluations are complete, teams will be decided. There is no guarantee a player will make a team or the team they were on the year before.
- How many players make a team and how many teams are there per grade?Ten to 12 players make a team and this depends on the number of players who tryout and the talent level. It is the goal of NBA to have two teams for every grade and gender.
- What is the cost of Travel Basketball?Travel basketball costs $200 per player. This includes 2 practices a week, an intramural game a week, a travel game a week, a uniform and as many as 3 tournaments for each team. If you have 2 players, the fee for the second child is $150, the third child is $100 and the family cap is $450.
- How many times a week do you practice?All teams practice twice a week for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Two hours are normally for the older players.
- What days and times do teams practice?Because of the high school construction, and gym space at a premium, practices vary week to week but we attempt to try and keep the same schedule as much as possible. All 3rd, 4th and 5th graders practices will end no later than 8 p.m. However we try and end most of them at 7 or 7:30. The 6th graders have one early practice and one late practice that will end at 8:30 p.m. All 7th and 8th graders will have the later time slots which end at 8:30 and 9 p.m.
- Where do the teams practice?We use the Coakley Middle School, the Savage Center and many of the grade school gyms to conduct our practices.
- If my child plays travel does he/she have to play intramural basketball on Saturday?Yes – NBA requires all travel players to also play intramurals. Attendance is taken each week and travel players are allowed to miss only 3 intramural games for the year. After three misses it is possible that he/she will miss game time for travel games.
- When and where are travel games played? All home travel games are at the Savage Center and are on Sunday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. On occasion teams may play on Saturday night at 5:30 or 7 p.m., also at the Savage Center. All away games are listed on the Metrowest Web site – www.metrowestbball.com. Exact game times will not be available until the Metrowest schedule is released on Nov. 17.
- Is there a playing time requirement for each player?NBA does not have a playing time requirement. At all levels we make an effort to get each player eight minutes of playing time a game. Most playing time decisions will be based on the team’s grade level and the player’s attendance at practice. As players move into the higher grades, playing time will be based more upon ability to earn playing time.
- How long is the travel season?Regular season travel games start on Sunday, Dec. 5 and finish on Sunday, Feb. 27. Playoffs begin March 1 and end on March 13. The only Sunday when there is not a game is Dec. 26, but we do play games on Sunday Jan. 2.
- Do any of the travel teams play in tournaments?The NBA holds its own Jamboree tournament in November and the NBA sets aside funds for every team to play in two additional tournaments during the year.
- I noticed tryouts for 3rd graders – will they be playing travel basketball this year?NBA is going to offer a tryout for third graders. If the tryout numbers and talent allow, NBA will put together 3rd grade teams. The hope is to have one practice a week and enter the teams into tournaments when they are ready.
