Hoops Academy brings in big numbers

So far, the numbers have been promising.

“I am very excited to have Ryan on board with this program. He has been a huge part of coaching in this community for several years, whether it is softball or basketball, so to get someone of his knowledge here, bodes well for the future. Ryan is a very good coach, he is positive, he preaches the fundamentals of the game and will bring the best out of these local girls.”

The first GGBA girls’ tryout held on Nov. 10 had 14 girls attend, with 10 on the cut down.

LeBreton said there are two fourth graders on the team, and they will practice, but not travel due to playing Parks and Recreation basketball.

The coach said he was impressed by what he saw from the girls at the tryout.

“What surprised me most about these girls was their strength and hustle. The two things any coach would be pleased to have is girls who hustle and are strong,” LeBreton said. “We, as a coaching staff, can teach the skills and fundamentals, but can’t teach strength and can’t teach hustle. I can expect hustle, but teaching it comes from the heart of each individual. We found 10 girls, plus the two fourth graders, who have the heart and passion to play basketball. These girls are also blessed with some pretty advanced skill sets in dribbling, passing, and shooting. However, we still have a long way to go.”

As the program enters its fourth year, Cummings has seen the program steadily building a foundation of success for the future of youth basketball.

CGBA has welcomed young athletes from Sherman, Dufur, The Dalles, and other surrounding areas for a more competitive brand of basketball, with an emphasis on fundamentals, execution and teamwork at the forefront, as the primary purpose of this academy is to provide area youth the court time needed to improve their hoops skills outside of the winter season.

“This is the fourth year, so I think we will start seeing the fruits of our labor right now at the high school level,” Cummings said. “We want these players to be better equipped to handle varsity sports and to know all areas of the game, not just how to dribble and shoot. The more they know, the better basketball in the gorge will be.”

Since taking over for program founder Bob Townsend, Cummings has seen the level of play jump up dramatically.

These athletes are leaving the program for high school more well-rounded players, who can contribute immediately.

LeBreton is on board with that philosophy.

“The biggest thing that I focus on is the mechanics and doing things fundamentally right, every time,” LeBreton said. “The reason I believe this is so important is because in games, when the pressure is on, and the stress is even higher, our skills will break down under pressure. However, if we are hammering in the mechanics of dribbling, passing, shooting, good defensive positioning, backside help, etc., then when these situations arise in crucial situations, my kids can do it without thinking. I don’t want stress to break down their performance, so we practice lots of skills work under pressure, game like, to prepare them.”

TD head coach Nathan Morris and TD assistants Jim Taylor and Cummings have been very involved in the program, now entering its fourth season.

Dakota Murr, a former academy member now entering his junior campaign, is happy he had the opportunity to further develop his skills against good competition across the Northwest Territories.

“It’s great to have a traveling team in the gorge, because they can go to other places and see what other competition is like,” Murr said. “The kids learn what it’s like to play at a high school level and sometimes even higher if there are great players at the tournaments.”

During the season, every CGBA group has practices and tournaments, so those coaches are around implementing the high school plays, defensive sets and expectations, so that the athletes can jump right into high school in full motion rather than having them learn all new play languages.

Now, the vision is to add more names and potential to the list, so that he and the rest of the coaches have a hand in the further development of high-profile basketball stars down the road, spanning elementary school, middle school, high school and even college.

“It has been really easy working with Greg in this transition of joining/creating a girls’ division of the CGBA,” LeBreton said. “Greg and I played travel ball together when we were in elementary school, so this is a, “goes around/comes around” deal for us. Greg spends a ton of his time volunteering in coaching just like I do, so working with him on a project like this is like putting two heads together instead of one. It has been easy, and I look forward to where this goes in the future as we try to build off this first year.”

Joining LeBreton are Stephen Stewart and Leroy Tharp, but LeBreton said that more parents are needed to coach the other divisions.

Cummings said that building this program will be exhausting, but will be well worth it, as the skills and knowledge of the game improve over the next few years.

Cummings is looking ahead to the future for this program and he has plans for making the product even more effective.

He wants more kids to come out and stay dedicated so that there are complete teams in every age division, from third-through-eighth grade.

The CG Academy outlook is to practice with each team one day a week with another practice prior to tournament weekends.

There are plans to play in tournaments scheduled every weekend in the Portland/Vancouver areas from November through June. Hermiston and Yakima will also host a handful of tournament on most weekends.

Cummings said his goal is to have each team play in one tournament a month, specifically the Sunday-only tournaments, and at least one, maybe two, local two-day tournaments in January and February with some games with adjacent communities on Sunday afternoons when possible.

“The more time these kids spend on the court, the better they will be,” Cummings said. “You can only learn so much in practice, so to be given an opportunity to put that practice time out there in game situations, the players will better know how to handle the pressure, how to execute and when to make the right passes to the right person at the right time. It is crucial for their development.”

Cummings announced that he is seeking a designer to help build the CGBA website to better announce updates on the program.

For more information, like the CGBA facebook page, email Cummings at gcummings11@gmail.com or call 541-980-5978.