Richmond youth basketball league lays foundation for future

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) - Kandus Mayse played basketball from sixth grade until she was a freshman at Richmond High School.

She started coaching in the Richmond Youth League in 2013 and calls it one of the most rewarding things she's experienced.

It doesn't hurt that she's watching first hand as her son Jaiden Holland and stepson Javen Lewis fall in love with the game of basketball.

"I love the game," Mayse said Wednesday during a third-fourth grade basketball game at Tiernan Center. "I love to teach it. It's a better feeling to get to teach the game than it is to play the game, because I mean the most rewarding part is watching their progress."

The Richmond Youth Basketball League plays its games at Richmond High School's Tiernan Center from late November through February.

It's aimed at teaching the game of basketball to young students at an early age, and as young as they may be, they displayed their skills during a few games Wednesday night.

"It all starts with Richmond basketball tradition," Richmond varsity head coach Rick Wedlow said. "We're chasing tradition right now, and when you're chasing tradition, it starts with the feeder program. We've been fortunate enough to have great participation over the last few years."

Wedlow said that when interviewed to take over as coach before the 2015-16 school year, he emphasized taking the feeder program to another level. He has seen an increase in participation and inclusion in all of the elementary schools around Richmond.

Wedlow started coaching the current freshman class, which includes his son Rickie Wedlow, when they were in third grade.

"Those guys couldn't dribble, they couldn't make a layup, they didn't know how to play defense, and so to see that group where they are today, it makes it easy for me to visualize where these kids will one day be," coach Wedlow said. "As long as we have good parent participation and support, we continue to have our league with great numbers, keep having great volunteers and coaches and ticket takers and officials, as long as we have quality officials and so forth, and as long as our athletic administration allows us to participate here, I see continued growth at developing these skills."

Jeff Williams, a longtime varsity assistant, has taken over as director of the youth basketball league and said the numbers have grown from around 200 kids to 240 this year.

"I just enjoy seeing young kids out there playing and enjoying themselves, developing a passion for the game," Williams said. "As far as I'm concerned - and parents would agree - the younger the better. When you see little second graders out there running up and down the floor playing, the amount of improvement from the first game to that last game when they do get a good understanding of where they're supposed to be and a little bit of ball movement and that kind of thing, it's just very gratifying to know you've got a little part in that."

Mayse said growing up she played in the Girls Basketball Association, and played some AAU.

The Youth League allows the players to develop a passion for the game at an earlier age.

"I think it's awesome what they're doing," Mayse said. "Rick Wedlow, he does an awesome job. It's good to see the kids being able to start at such a young age, because when I was growing up, we didn't get to start this young, so you were kind of thrown into basketball in middle school and it was just luck if you made the team.

"I think the youth league, it's a great thing. It's keeping kids motivated to want to do something other than what is going on in Richmond right now, so it's definitely a positive reinforcement and it's good to see all the parents involved coaching and that's another great part of it."

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Source: (Richmond) Palladium-Item, http://pinews.co/2iSMsnt

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Information from: Palladium-Item, http://www.pal-item.com