Sports

Orangeville Hawks basketball returns to the courts, looking for players

August 25, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic and restrictions on the use of local gyms, Orangeville Hawks Basketball will be back on the courts this season and they are looking for players and coaches.

The Club provides both rep teams and local house league opportunities for youth in Orangeville and the surrounding area.

After being out of commission, the Club is hoping to attract more coaches as several moved on during the pandemic and have not yet been replaced. They are also looking for volunteers to help with the house league program.

The Club did have some activity in the spring but due to existing restrictions there were limits on the number of kids who could be in the gym and parents were not allowed to stay as spectators.

The hiatus hit the club hard in terms of numbers.

“We went from a house league of almost 300 kids down to zero,” said Hawks president, Greg Verner. “We’re coming back and we have some coaches committed to handling some rep teams. We’re going to be holding try-outs at the Alliston Christian School. Hopefully we will get some more people who are interested in coaching. Our house league is going to require a lot of help. Some of the people who were helping us before are gone. We can only provide what we have personnel to handle.”

The Club is hoping to start things up during the first weekend of October.

They did have some limited play at out-of-town venues over the past year.

“Two of our teams last year got silver medals,” Greg explained. “One team lost by two points, the other team lost by one point. We didn’t play any games in town.”

School gyms are the only local facilities with basketball courts and with the gyms closed to public rentals, there was no real place for the Hawks to play. Restrictions have been eased and will allow public use at the end of September.

Once the club is back in the gym, they will still limit the number of kids to be on the safe side.

Basketball is a popular and growing sport in the province and across the country, so once word gets out that the sport will again be available at a local level, it is expected many kids will want to return to the court and others will develop an interest in playing.

“We are looking for coaches so anyone who’s interested can contact me,” Greg said.

To find out more about the Orangeville Hawks and registration dates, you can visit the website at: www.orangevillehawks.ca.

Or if you are interested in becoming a coach, you can contact Greg Verner via email at gverner47@outlook.com, or by phone at 519-943-4197.

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