For majority of young, female basketball players in Guthrie their season is over as soon little league basketball comes to an end, but newly hired head girls basketball coach Pete Papahronis is looking to change that.
“The YMCA is a fabulous way to introduce the game of basketball to our kids and they do a wonderful job in their program, but we need to try to take it to the next level once our kids are ready for a league more competitive,” Papahronis said.
The coach, who helped lead the boy’s high school basketball team to two state championships, is suggesting finding six teams in the Guthrie area to compete each year to teach the fundamentals of basketball and help the athletes become the best they can be.
“Once we get this started, it can grow to more than 1 team per grade,” Papahronis said. “I realize this is not something that can be done overnight, but we need to take small steps to get it going.”
Papahronis has set some goals beginning right now of getting one team (eight to 10 girls) for each of the six grades (third thru eighth).
The first step starts July 1 by entering a Guthrie team in the Northwest Basketball association. The season starts in September and finishes in November. More information can be found at http://www.satellitegym.com/nba/.
Along with needing players, Papahronis is searching for coaches.
“I would like to get a somewhat basketball knowledgeable parent of a girl in each grade to get their daughter and seven to nine others in her grade and coach them each year until they reach the high school level.”
There are other leagues that begin in November and December.
“I know we have some girls that are playing competitive ball with teams around the city, or there are some of you that have a team of girls from Guthrie, but it would be nice to get teams from all grade levels, with all Guthrie girls. Deer Creek, Edmond, Piedmont, for example, have huge girls little league participation and it shows in their High School Programs. I would love to see this happen in Guthrie,” Papahronis explained.
If you have a daughter wanting to play, interested in coaching one of the six teams, or have any questions contact Pete Papahronis at the high school (405-282-5906) and ask for the Girls Basketball Office, or you can email the coach at [email protected].
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