Basketball

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” John Wooden – former UCLA head basketball coach and winner of ten NCAA National Championships

Here at St. Joseph Catholic School we push our basketball athletes to become the best they can possibly become so that they can experience true success. This does not come without hard work and high expectations, though.   As a direct result, our girls’ middle school team won the 2010-2011 Athens Area Middle School Championship and our boys’ team had a strong finish in a very competitive league.

The SJS basketball program has almost become a year round program.  The “official” program begins each year with preseason practice starting in September and running until the season begins in November.  All 6th-8th grade students are invited to attend these “open gym” sessions where there is a strong emphasis on the fundamentals of the game.  Our coaches are strong believers in skill development, so most preseason practice focuses on creating a strong foundation
through fundamentals.  We are also the only private school in Athens that allows 6th grade students to participate both in the “open gym” format and tryout for the team. 

Our middle school season officially begins in November and ends with the postseason tournament the last weekend in January. The Athens Area Middle School League is very competitive.  Teams include Prince Avenue Christian, Athens Academy, Athens Christian, Oglethorpe Middle, and George Walton Academy.  SJS teams also play outside of the league against Gatewood Academy, Bethlehem Christian Academy, and Westminster Christian  Academy.  SJS 6th boys and girls also play in local feeder leagues during the season so they can maximize play time. Once the season is over, the girls’ middle school team continues playing in the Northeast Georgia Feeder Spring League. This keeps our girls in the game with a minimal time commitment, while allowing them to play other school sports. This is strictly optional, but we find that most of our athletes want to continue to better themselves.  We also take both our middle school boys’ and girls’ teams to team camp each summer in Americus, GA. 

SJS also offers our Lower School athletes a competitive basketball experience.  SJS works with Athens First United Methodist Church, The Premier League, and he Northeast Georgia Feeder League to ensure that our PK-5 athletes play in an environment where they get valuable experience.  We want our athletes ready when they head into middle school and starting them young in our program gets us one step closer to achieving that goal.