Travel Guidelines & Rules

NYAA Travel Basketball Guidelines and Rules

Who is making these Rules?

Our NYAA teams play in 3 different leagues each winter season.  The Lehigh Valley KneeHi Basketball League (LVKBL), the Valley Youth Basketball League (formerly JV League) and the Parkland Recreational League.  There are rules and bylaws specific to each league, which can be found on their website, but we also have rules at NYAA that players must abide by.  The travel leagues mentioned above and NYAA, enforce their rules and non compliance can result in fines, potential forfeiture, disruption for a team mid season, as well as that player being expelled from NYAA.  LVKBL Bylaws. Youth Valley League Rules.

Which league might my child be playing in?

The LVKBL is the highest level of travel play for the boys.  The LVKBL offers the following divisions: 3rd/4th Biddy, a 5th grade only, 5th/6th Jr. Cadet, 7th grade Cadet, and an 8th grade Knee-Hi. In the Jr. Cadet, Cadet and Knee-Hi age groups, there is a Horn bracket and Lane bracket, with the Lane being the more competitive of the two.   The Valley Youth Basketball League will have girls and boys travel teams in grades 3rd/4th all the way up through 9th/10th grades. In most age divisions, there is an “A” bracket and a “B” bracket. How many teams we have will be determined by the skill level and number of travel level players in an age group. Skill level will determine placement of a team.

How will the Leagues and NYAA be enforcing these rules this upcoming season?

NYAA is requiring that all players and parents sign off on these rules at tryouts.   At the most recent league meeting, the leagues shared their plan to compare rosters and upload rosters to the website so that league directors and coaches can cross check for discrepancies.

What are the Rules and how might they apply to my child?

  1.  No player is permitted to play for and/or be rostered for multiple organizations. All travel leagues in the valley hold this rule and both the LVKBL and Youth Valley League, of which we are members, will be strictly enforcing it this winter. This is also an NYAA rule. This was established by the leagues to keep scholastic players from also participating on lower level  travel or rec teams and taking time away from players that did not make their Middle School teams or the higher level of competition. It also prevents teams from “borrowing” good players from other leagues, helping to keep the competition fair and organizations able to grow their own programs, while remaining competitive.  Whether or not you feel your situation is unique to the intent behind this rule, you are still responsible to abide by it.  The leagues have stated that disregard of this rule, by the player or an organization, will likely result in forfeiture of played games with players who are double rostered and will make teams ineligible for playoffs.  This means that while you are participating in NYAA winter basketball, you are NOT permitted to play for another competing basketball organization (i.e. Whitehall, Emmaus, Parkland, ITZ, AFC, etc) unless your child has met EACH of the following criteria: 1) the second organization is treated as a secondary to their Northwestern team for conflicting practices/games 2) your child is playing UP/DOWN in a different age division in that secondary organization 3) your child tried out for the NW team in secondary division and was not offered a roster spot OR the roster was full 4) received written approval by participating leagues and NBLT.
  2.  Double rostering for two NYAA teams is only allowed under the conditions outlined below.  There are occasions where there are not enough travel level players to roster a full NYAA travel team.  A player may be rostered for two NYAA teams, only if they are playing up in a higher division.  The LVKBL is very strict on this. For example, a LVKBL Cadet player (7th grade), may NOT also play for a 7th/8th Youth Valley League “A” team. The Youth Valley League is considered a lateral or lower level division. If you are capable of playing in the LVKBL, you are not allowed to play in the JV League at the same grade level.  That Cadet player would be allowed to play up on a 9/10 Youth Valley League team or on a KneeHi (8th grade) team. In the Valley Youth League (JV League), they will occasionally allow players to double roster on two NYAA teams, if there are not enough players or coaches to enter two teams.  For example, if there were only 14 travel level players, and not enough to make two complete teams, a player or two may double roster in the same age bracket, but it must be in a higher division (Youth Valley “A” and Youth Valley “B”). The NYAA Director and Coordinators will work with the Coaches and Valley Youth League Director to decide whether a situation permits a double roster scenario. We want as many travel level players playing for NYAA as possible, but we also don’t want to put rec level players on a team where they will not be successful.
  3.  A player residing outside of Northwestern Lehigh SD may not play on any NYAA travel basketball teams. NYAA does not have any residency restrictions for our recreational programs.  However, our travel teams are only open to players who are currently residing in Northwestern Lehigh School district.
  4. No player can participate in organizations that are not where the player attends school.  This is a Lehigh Valley KneeHi League rule.  The LVKBL has residency restrictions and if you wish to tryout for a LVKBL team (Jr. Cadet, Cadet, Knee Hi, etc.), you must try out in the school district of where you are a resident.  The Youth Valley League does not yet have residency restrictions, although they are working on this to enforce next year. So for now, you are welcome to take your player to another organization and have them tryout and make a travel team for the Youth Valley League. However, NYAA will not allow a player from outside the district to play on one of our travel teams.
  5. A player IS permitted to play in tournaments during the winter season for another organization, that does NOT have a set winter game schedule.   Your child is permitted to play for another organization that does not have a set winter game schedule, as long as it does not conflict with their primary NYAA winter season.  Exceptions to this rule can be found under Rule #1.
  6. A player may NOT be pulled/rostered laterally from another NYAA team of the same age group in the LVKBL.  We need to plan ahead and encourage coaches to roster enough players on their team so as to avoid pulling laterally from different teams.  Last season, we learned that the LVKBL does not make ANY exception to this rule, even in the event of extraordinary circumstances. An LVKBL Coach may pull a player from a lower LVKBL team within their organization.  For example, if a Knee Hi NYAA team is short 3 players due to illness, they can bring up a Cadet player to help them out for those games.  That player MUST be pulled up from a lower age group (i,e. Jr. Cadet to Cadet), it may NOT be someone from the same age group (i.e. Cadet Horn to Cadet Lane).

Director

Steve George

Basketball.NYAATigers@gmail.com

Concussion Information

To help ensure the health and safety of young athletes, CDC developed the Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports initiative to offer information about concussions to coaches, parents, and athletes involved in youth sports.