Fenton Basketball Team Helping Grow Sport In Area
February 8th, 2010
Originally found at www.mlive.com
Written By Pardeep Toor
Anyone that has paid attention to the high school basketball scene this season can see that the Fenton, Linden, Lake Fenton and Holly basketball teams have come a long way. Many variables are responsible for the turnaround in the programs over the years, but one of the staples over the last three has been the formation of area teams.
Fenton’s Tri-County Tigers team is forming for its third season and hopes to continue the success and progress made in the first two years.
“We look to improve our program in terms of competition and add more experienced coaching,” said coach Tim Olszewski. “We are committed to growing as a program.”
Differences in this year’s program include a limit of 12 players on each team, but Olszewski would like to see no more than 10 on each squad. The idea behind this rule is to maximize each player’s time on the floor and to level the playing field.
Tryouts for the team begin March 29 at Linden Middle School with the 12U and 13U players hitting the court at 1 p.m, 14U and 15U players at 3:30 p.m. and 16U and 17U players at 6 p.m. Players wishing to register should show up 45 minutes prior to their tryout time.
The program hopes to have teams finalized March 29 so practices can start the following week.
After tryouts, if a player is selected to the team, they must pay the $295 fee on or before the first practice day. The fee goes toward 15-20 competitive games (played on weekends), practices, an AAU card and a uniform. Tournament play will begin in April and wrap up in June.
Varsity coaches involved with the team are Olszewski, Paul Adas from Kearsley, Eric Senter from Swartz Creek, Steve Lapage, Steve Barlow, Jimmy Adams and former college and professional player Luke Lloyd.
“This whole thing is a great way for kids to play in an environment that will make them, and their teammates stronger,” Olszewski said. “There’s no doubt that the success that Fenton and Holly have had at the varsity level is because of the AAU programs and what they’ve done. Basketball is a great sport, and the best players are the ones who take every opportunity to play.”
Even coaches that don’t have a stake in the program see the benefits of having kids playing in it.
“I believe that kids should be doing something between summer basketball and the season,” said Holly coach Lance Baylis. “I think what coach O is doing is great and if the kids aren’t doing track or baseball, it gives them a great chance to play. The top teams have kids that play a lot of basketball and if you aspire to have a top program, you’ve got to have kids that have their hands on the basketball as much as possible.”
