The St. Martin de Porres CYO basketball program offers boys and girls within our community, active parishioners, inactive parishioners and non-parishioners, an opportunity to enjoy basketball at the instructional, intramural and travel team levels of competition.  We also offer many clinics, contests and events to experience basketball in a variety of settings.   It gives them a chance to develop their basketball skills, teamwork and sportsmanship, plus they are offered a chance for new friendships.  CYO empowers young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, to participate in community service and to foster their spiritual growth.  CYO also encourages parents to share in their children’s growth and to be a positive influence on our youth.  Please also check us out on Facebook at St. Martin de Porres CYO Basketball using the Facebook link on the top of our home page!  Click on photos, then click on see all to view all of our different photo albums.  

We look forward to another eventful and fun season!

Parents, on Friday, 2/4 we'll have a Vassar CYO Night when both the women's and men's teams play Bard at 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM, respectively.  At halftime of both games, the girls and boys will play a mini-game with masks.  Given Covid, we won't have high-5 lines or anthem buddies before the games as in prior years.  

For those who haven't been to a Vassar game before, their games are FREE!  For those who aspire to play basketball in college, most will play D3.  You need to be vaccinated if eligible and would be checked at the door.  

Please mark 2/4 on your calendar and as the date approaches, I'll share more information and confirm who can commit to the mini-games at halftime. 

Thanks!

Chris

Parents, dates have been set for two Marist CYO Nights this season:

Saturday, 1/15 at 7 PM:  Marist Women vs. Monmouth

Saturday, 2/12 at 7 PM:  Marist Men vs. Canisius

Kids get in free with a paying adult.  We will not have the pre-game contests (free throw, hot shot and dribble knockout) like we have in past years in the rec center, but these will resume in future years.  More details will follow as these dates approach.  Please note that masks must be worn at all times in the McCann Arena except while eating.  

Please mark these dates on your calendar and I encourage you to come out and cheer on the Red Foxes!

Thanks!

Chris

Parents, please take the time to read this very carefully, since it explains how we'll proceed with a season starting January 15, which is great news!

I’ve re-opened registration through November 15 for those who still want to register.  No registrations will be taken after November 15, after which I will supply the league directors with the final participants for their leagues, so that they can begin forming teams.

Below is a summary of the instructional and intramural leagues that we will offer this season:

• K-1 Instructional: will play on Sunday afternoons starting January 16 at St. Martin gym, ending on March 27.  K-1 is currently at 6 teams.

• 2-3 Instructional: will play on Friday evenings starting January 21 at St. Martin gym, ending on March 18, although it’s possible it could extend to March 25.  2-3 is currently at 7 teams.

• B3-4 Intramurals: will play on Saturday afternoons starting January 15 at St. Martin gym, ending on March 19, although it’s possible it could extend to March 26.  B3-4 is currently at 4 teams.

• B5-6 Intramurals: will play on Saturdays mid-day starting January 15 at St. Martin gym, ending on March 19, although it’s possible it could extend to March 26.  B5-6 is currently at 4 teams.

• B7-9 Intramurals: will play on Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM starting January 15 at Gold’s Gym, ending on March 26.  B7-9 is currently at 5 or 6 teams.

• G4-6 Intramurals: will play on Saturday mornings starting January 15 at St. Martin gym, ending on March 19, although it’s possible it could extend to March 26.  G4-6 is currently at 4 teams.

The reason for the possible extension at St. Martin is that the gym will be used by religious ed on March 25-26, although it’s possible that could change.

I’m very sorry to announce that there will be no travel leagues in Dutchess County this season at any grade level at any parish.  If you don’t want to play intramurals, then please let me know and I’ll issue a refund.  If you are OK with playing intramurals, then you need to do nothing and your son or daughter will be placed on an intramural team.  Please be aware that I did pursue our travel teams playing in the Brewster Super League, but given outside of Archdiocesan guidance, this was not approved.

I’m also very sorry to announce that there will be no B10-12 or G7-10 intramural leagues, since no other CYO programs in Dutchess County were prepared to enter teams in these two Gold’s Gym leagues at our county meeting.  But there’s good news, since I want the kids to play:

• For the 5 boys still registered for B10-12, I will let you play in B7-9 this season. If you don’t want to play in B7-9, then I will issue you a refund.  Please let me know what you would like to do.  I’m not allowing additional 10th-12th grade boys to register for B7-9, since that would dramatically alter this league.  We currently have enough players for 5 or 6 teams in B7-9.

• For the 14 girls in 7th and 8th grade still registered for G7-10, I will let you play in an expanded G4-6 league this year. We would go back to what girls intramurals was 14 years ago before I took over when we only had one girls intramural league for 4th-8th grade with younger players on the B team and the older players on the A team. Depending on which 7th and 8th graders want to do this will dictate any rule adjustments, since G4-6 normally plays at 9’ foot hoops, i.e. would the A team play at 10 feet?  If 7th and 8th grade girls aren’t interested, then I will issue you a refund.  Please let me know what you would like to do.  We currently have enough G4-6 girls for 4 teams without any older girls.

Given that we can’t start any basketball activities until January 15, there will be no intramural evaluations.  We’ll form the teams ahead of time and if need be, make adjustments after the first week.  We simply don’t have the luxury of time to form the teams in the manner that we historically have.  It’s more important to simply get the kids playing basketball again.  All teams will play every week and there will be no playoffs or championships in any league.  These modifications are for this abbreviated season only.

Practices:  Given we only have Kinry Road, Vassar Road and Oak Grove, once I know the final number of teams, I’ll work-up a practice schedule that hopefully ensures a practice at least every other week.  Right now, St. Martin gym during the week is being used as a second cafeteria, so to avoid removing tables each night and setting up the next morning, I’m not planning to use St. Martin gym during the week for practices.  This could change as we approach January 15 and I may have more practice slots.  There will be no practices before the first game, since we can’t start any basketball activities until January 15. 

Once instructional and intramural teams are formed, your coach will contact you the first week in January with the time for your first game on either January 15, 16 or 21.  All kids will still receive t-shirts, which I need to order by early December, since it will take about a month to receive given the supply chain issues.  Instructional kids will also receive their own junior size basketballs.

These are the two key protocols:

• Limited spectators: 1 parent per child, no siblings, limited exceptions

• Masks: must be worn at all times upon entering the gym and the kids must wear while playing.  This is a NYS mandate, not CYO.  High school teams laying indoors must also wear masks while competing.  Given vaccines are starting for 5-11 years old, let’s pray that the requirement to wear a mask while playing is eliminated when we start play on 1/15.

Outside of games and practices, we’ll also do the following this season:

• Brooklyn Nets Event on 11/27 vs. Phoenix Suns - We have 110 people participating at the Barclays Center in the 2-hour court-time and pre-game shootaround courtside prior to the public entering the arena.  Tickets are no longer available for this event.

• Our annual 3-point contest on a date TBD

• Intramural and instructional hot shot contests on a date TBD

• UConn women's game on Wed, 2/9 in Hartford versus Villanova and St. Martin CYO graduate, Maddy Siegrist.  Please let me know now if you are interested in going to this game.

• Hopefully a UConn men's game, but the St. John's game at MSG is at noon on Super Bowl Sunday

• Marist CYO Nights

• Vassar Tournament on 11/12 and 11/13 to see St. Martin CYO graduate Sam Peek play for Wesleyan.

While we won't do everything that we normally would, such as the pre-season clinics and our annual tournament, which will resume next season, we're at least able to have some events.  We do not have enough people interested to purchase a MSG lounge for the NY Knicks game on 11/20.  I'm also thinking of starting an annual St. Martin CYO Golf Outing so that we can connect during the off-season.

Picture Night:  Please give me some feedback about wanting individual and team pictures this season.  Sports Journal Photos has a creative, safe way to take individual pictures and merge into a team picture.  I’ll also need to discuss with Father Matthew to confirm if he’s OK with proceeding with pictures.  Picture night would most likely be a Friday night in February instead of in mid-January as in past years.

Thanks again for your patience throughout this process.  Like all of you, I wish that we could have had a normal season.  I firmly believe that it didn’t have to be this way, but at this point, it is what it is.  At least the kids will be able to play basketball for a couple of months, which is a wonderful thing.

I hope that I have preemptively answered your questions, but if not, please contact me if you have further questions.

Thanks!

Chris

St. Martin de Porres CYO registration for the 2021-2022 season will be online starting 8/1/21.  $30 late fee applied starting 9/15/21 and late registration closes on 9/30/21.  

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 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th grades and girls 5th-6th, 7th-8th grades).  Travel-try-outs will be on 9/18.  Intramural evaluatoins will be on 9/26.  Boys high school league (10th-12th grades) will start on 9/25 at Gold's Gym. 

Given the first post-Covid season, extracurricular events will be limited to 3-point, hot shot and free throw contests; Brooklyn Nets event at the Barclays Center with court-time, high--5 lines and anthem buddies; New York Knicks game in MSG lounges;  UConn men's / women's games; Marist CYO Nights; open gym / pizza parties and season-end BBQ.  There will be no pre-season clinics and we won't host our 13th annual tournament, which will return the following season.  

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. 

Please note that family limit fee is $225 for active parishioners and $275 for inactive or nonparishioners.  Since only one family limit fee of $275 can be input to the system, a reconciliation will be done after registration closes to process additional credits as needed.