Parents, I hope all is well! Please carefully read the email below about the upcoming season. I will be in Poland visiting my wife’s family the first three weeks of July, so if you have any questions, then please contact me in June. Please note that the website is fully updated to answer most, if not all, questions.
St. Martin de Porres CYO registration for the 2022-2023 season will be online starting 8/1/22. $30 late fee applied starting 9/15/22 and late registration closes on 9/30/22.
Programs include boys’ and girls’ divisions for instructional (K-1st, 2nd-3rd grades), intramural (boys 3rd-4th, 5th-6th, 7th-9th, 10-12th grades and girls 4th-6th, 7th-10th grades) and travel (boys 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th grades and girl’s 5th-6th, 7th-8th grades). Travel-tryouts will be on 9/17 and 9/18. Intramural evaluations will be on 9/25. Boys high school league (10th-12th grades) will start on 9/24 at Gold's Gym.
Given two seasons of no CYO basketball, we have much planned to get the kids back into basketball! Starting after Labor Day and concluding once formal practices start in mid-Oct, we plan to have evening clinics on Mondays (K-1, 2-3 instructional), Thursdays (G4-6 intramural) and Fridays (B3-4, B5-6 intramurals). B7-9 intramurals will have pick-up games on Saturday mornings at Gold's Gym in Sept and Oct to get them back into basketball. The travel teams will be able to use St. Martin gym on the weekends in Sept and Oct to start practicing and hosting scrimmages. Once the rectory confirms which days the parish, school or religious ed aren't using the gym, I'll create a 6-week clinic schedule and you can email me if you'd like to participate. You must be registered to participate in all clinics, so please register early. Clinics will be limited to 50 kids. Clinics are free of charge. At two of the clinics, the Marist men's and Vassar men's teams will also participate as in pre-Covid years.
These clinics will not only be run by league directors, but we'll also have Marist men's (John Dunne) and women's (Erin Doughty) coaches, Vassar men's (Ryan Mee) and women's (Anthony Mason) coaches, LMC Athletics (Tyler Lydon - Syracuse, Denver Nuggets and Justin Cooper), Matt Hoyt (Spackenkill Coach) and others contributing at times over this six-week period. We know how much the kids missed CYO basketball the last two years, so we hope 6 weeks of clinics at least partially make-up for lost time.
Once the season is underway, we'll have the following contests and events:
- CYO Mass: Nov 6, 2022 at 9:30 AM
- 3-Point Contest: Nov 12, 2022
- K of C Free Throw Contest: Jan 16, 2023
- Coach’s Retreat: date and format TBD in Nov 2022, combination of guest speakers and a DVD teaching from ChristLife or TMIY (That Man Is You!) along with a nice dinner from Cosimo’s.
- Hot Shot Contest Finals: Feb 12,2023 (top two from team contests in Jan advance)
- Instructional Hot Shot Contest Finals: Mar 5, 2023 (top two from team contests in Feb advance)
- Brooklyn Nets Event at the Barclays Center: includes two hours of court-time, high-5 lines, anthem buddies and the game, date TBD, typically in Nov
- New York Knicks and college games at Madison Square Garden: dates TBD
- UConn Men's and Women's games: dates TBD, women's game will be versus Villanova and Big East Player of the Year Maddy Siegrist, a St. Martin CYO graduate! For games at Storrs in Gampel Pavilion, I’ll also arrange a tour of the Champions Center earlier in the day.
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: It's been 10 years since we last visited the Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. I’ll gauge interest as we get into the season.
- Marist and Vassar CYO Nights: dates TBD
- CYO Picture Night: Jan 20, 2023
- Open Gyms / Pizza Parties: 2 in Dec and 2 in Feb
- Season-end BBQ: Apr 28, 2023
As for the 13th Annual St. Martin CYO Basketball Tournament, which wasn't played the last two years, I'm working on dates with Marist, Vassar and the Culinary Institute of America. Stay tuned for more information once I know more. The 12th annual tournament two years ago had 84 travel teams from across the Archdiocese and 147 games. Tournament proceeds will benefit St. Martin de Porres parish, Hudson Valley Knights of Columbus food pantries, St. Martin CYO kids to attend Camp Veritas and other local charities.
Regarding the Boys 10th-12th and Girl’s 7th-10th Grade Leagues, the expectation is that the boys high school league will have teams from St. Mary’s Wappingers, Holy Trinity and Our Lady of Lourdes High School. The expectation is that the G7-10 league will have teams from the Regina Coeli, Holy Trinity and hopefully other Dutchess parishes. Both leagues are played at Gold’s Gym.
Registration fees will increase $20 per child given inflation. Please see Registration Info & Fees for details. Please note that family limit fee is $275 for active parishioners and $325 for inactive or non-parishioners. Since only one family limit fee of $325 can be input to the system, a reconciliation will be done after registration closes to process credits as needed. Please note that we have cost increases across the board for gyms, storage, t-shirts and equipment.
If you are uncertain if you have active parishioner status, then please click on the email link to ask Chris Fields, who will confirm your parishioner status. All registrations will be reviewed for accuracy and registering with the incorrect parishioner status will result in an additional $25 fee per player. Please note that attending religious education at St. Martin has nothing to do with parishioner status, i.e., this does NOT make you an active parishioner. You must attend church and make a contribution.
Given no CYO basketball the last two years, there will be no 4th grade travel team and 2nd grade boys and 3rd grade girls will not have the option of playing up from instructional to intramurals.
As you can see, we are well prepared to welcome the kids back to St. Martin CYO Basketball! Please share this email with your friends, which will also be posted to our website at www.stmartindeporres-cyo.org.
I can't wait to see everyone again this fall!
Chris
