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pick-up basketball

    REC ROUNDUP

    Outer Cape Recreation Outlook for Winter and Spring

    Basketball, pickleball, and Brazilian jujitsu are offered

    By

    Outer Cape recreation departments offer a slew of programs throughout the winter and spring. Here is a sampling.

    Provincetown

    Youth basketball is offered for boys and girls in grades K-6 through March. Spring programs include T-ball, softball, and tennis, assistant recreation director Caroline Thompson said.

    The department offers teen night and movie night at the Veterans Memorial Community Center (VMCC) for Provincetown Schools students and residents. Both programs are free. Teen night, with games and pizza, is for grades 6 to 8 on Feb. 14 and 28, March 13 and 27, and April 10. Movie night, for children age five and up (signed in by a parent or guardian), offers a double feature every other Friday at 5:30 p.m.; the next is Feb. 7. Find the schedule of films at provincetown-ma.gov/86/Programs-for-Children.

    Thompson said the department began a co-ed adult sports night every Tuesday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the VMCC, with a different sport offered each week. Coming up are floor hockey and kickball.

    The department offers adult pickleball Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 to 8 p.m. and pickup basketball on Mondays and Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Provincetown Schools gym.

    Other adult programs at the community center in February include ballet classes (Tuesday and Thursday from 5:15 to 6:45 p.m.), yoga classes (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:30 a.m.), dance classes (Tuesday and Friday from 10:15 to 11:45 a.m.), and billiards night (Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m.).

    Truro

    The recreation dept. offers youth basketball in grades K-6 at Truro Central School through March.

    Zumba Fitness is offered throughout the year at the Truro Community Center on Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Friday from 8:30 to 9 a.m., and Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m.

    Adult pickleball is available on Mondays from 4 to 6 p.m. at the community center. Starting this week, it will be available on Thursdays from 2 to 4 p.m. at the community center, Fridays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the school, and Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the community center.

    Adult indoor volleyball (age 16 and older) is at the community center on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

    Youth softball for children in grades 2-6 and youth T-ball for children in grades K-1 will be offered this spring.

    Wellfleet

    A “What’s Cooking With Wellfleet” community showcase will be coming to the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT) on March 27-28 and April 3-4. Recreation director Becky Rosenberg said her department is partnering with WHAT to present a community-wide production this spring.

    The recreation dept. is seeking local artists of all ages for the live show, which may be one play or a series of plays. WHAT is offering up its facility for this, including sets, props, and costumes.

    “So far we have several acts signed up, including poets, musicians, and playwrights,” Rosenberg said.

    Rosenberg said the department wants to partner with the elementary school to offer more programs for students, staff, and community members in after-school hours, weekends, and school vacation periods. The department has sent out a flyer seeking instructors.

    Adult pickleball is at the elementary school on Tuesdays from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon. Games are held indoors until the spring.

    Youth basketball is available through March for grades K-6, and the annual Sonny Roderick Memorial Billingsgate basketball tournament will be held in mid-March. The tournament has children’s and adult levels and there a three-on-three tournament for grades 3-6. Sign up information can be found on the recreation dept. website.

    Adult pickup basketball is held at the elementary school on Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m.

    Eastham

    The recreation dept. continues its third year of hosting open gym on Sundays and Tuesdays at the elementary school. Sunday sessions are held for children in pre-K to second grade from 10 to 11:30 a.m., and for children in grades 3-6 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday sessions for adults run from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

    Youth indoor soccer, known as futsal, is just ending, with the last sessions being held on Friday, Feb. 7 and 14, at the elementary school. The department partnered with Challenger Sports, which provides experienced international soccer coaches. Sessions for ages 5-8 run from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and for ages 9-12 run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

    Youth basketball for children in grades K-6 runs until mid-March.

    The department is also offering youth programs in February and March. “Bowling, Books & Board Games” will run Tuesdays from 2 to 4 p.m. from Feb. 11 to March 24 and be held at either the Orleans Bowling Alley or Nauset Regional High School. Events include bowling (at the alley) and book readings and board games (at the high school).

    Instructors from Juniko, in Hyannis, will teach the fundamentals of Brazilian jujitsu in a curated kids’ program. Grades 4-5 will be on Wednesdays from Feb. 12 to March 25, and grades 2-3 on Thursdays from Feb. 13 to March 26. Sessions are from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Council on Aging. The fee is $30 per child. Find registration forms at eastham-ma.gov/recreation-beach-department.

    Adult winter programs include indoor tennis and indoor pickleball.

    In the spring, the department will run T-ball for toddlers to first-graders, second-grade baseball, softball, jump rope, and family fishing events. Details will become available in March.

    ON THE COURT

    When the Temperature Drops Basketball Picks Up

    Elementary school gyms provide a place for informal five-on-five games

    By

    January on the Cape: the temperature cold, the days short, and the options for physical exercise limited. Getting outside is tough at this time of year and one of the few gyms that exist on the Outer Cape is closed.

    There is, however, an option that flies under the radar for many people. It’s five-on-five pick-up basketball. There’s a regular group of people who come out to the local elementary schools on weeknights to play in an informal circuit.

    Pick-up is held one night a week at the Wellfleet Elementary School, the Eastham Elementary School, and the Eddy Elementary School in Brewster. I believe there is pick-up at the Provincetown School as well, but for me (I live in Brewster) it’s a bit of a hike to make it there on a weeknight. Wellfleet is as far as I’ll go to get my fix.

    It’s surprising to learn how many people are involved in the basketball circuit. I’m part of a Facebook group with 342 members, where posts are exchanged on where and when pick-up basketball is being held on the Lower and Outer Cape alone. Some members have moved off Cape but pay attention to posts when they return home.

    There are more sessions held in other parts of the Cape as well.

    I first attended pick-up in Wellfleet in 2009 or 2010. I was a freshman in high school. A decade later it’s still in session. Some of the guys that were there when I first showed up still go. It’s a good place to make friends. The Thursday night sessions aren’t advertised much, but those who are interested find out about it.

    Every basketball court is unique. Wellfleet’s court is small, with the walls bordering the sidelines. A corner three-pointer is almost impossible to make without stepping out of bounds. But it’s a great size for pick-up. The court forces you to make do with the little space you have.

    Over the years that court hasn’t been maintained as well as it could be. I’m not sure it gets waxed each year. The floor has become so dusty it’s like you’re ice skating.

    Pick-up basketball sessions began at Eastham Elementary on Wednesday nights last year. The court is similar in size to Wellfleet’s, but with better traction.

    I recently began playing at Eddy Elementary in Brewster on Thursday nights and have discovered that it might be the best pick-up on this side of the Cape right now. Though it’s an elementary school, Eddy has a bigger court. The nets are shorter than in Eastham and Wellfleet, which is somehow especially appealing.

    The game is played differently in Brewster than in Eastham or Wellfleet. Traditional pick-up is played in games that end when one team scores at least 11 points. Shots inside the three-point line are worth one point; shots outside the three-point line are worth two. A team must win by two points for the game to end. Players match up in man-to-man defense.

    In Brewster, instead of man-to-man, players use a 2-3 zone defense. This means two players cover the area near the three-point line and three players cover the area closer to the basket. Instead of playing one-pointers and two-pointers, every shot is worth one point no matter where you hit it from.

    Games are played until a team has seven points, and you need only a one-point margin to win.

    The rules are different and sort of untraditional. But they force you to find different ways to score than if you’re playing straight up man-to-man.

    I’ve gone to Brewster instead of Wellfleet for the last two weeks and I’m adjusting to the new rules. I think the competition is better and my feet can grip the floor.

    These elementary school sessions are popular throughout the winter, and they continue right to the end of the school year. Once it gets warm enough to play outside many flock to the Mayo Beach court in Wellfleet or the Field of Dreams court in Eastham.

    I’m writing this story with some reluctance: I like the fact that pick-up isn’t too well known. That way you don’t have a flood of people showing up. My hope is that in the future there is a regular place for adults to play every night of the week. Maybe if the proposed high school renovation goes through, or if Willy’s Gym is able to be salvaged, it would provide a court available to the community. There are surely enough people who would use it.

     

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