YMCA's Youth Basketball League kicks off 34th season

The Tri-Cities Family YMCA kicked off its 34th year of youth basketball this past Saturday with the opener of its popular Youth Basketball League (YBL).

More than 400 boys and girls are competing on 46 YBL teams this winter. Four divisions cover age groups from 5 up to 12.

“We want every child in our community to have a chance to learn the importance of teamwork, learn a new sport, develop new skills, have the opportunity to make new friends, and most importantly, have fun while being competitive,” said YBL director Brett Carter.

“You don’t have to be an athlete to learn and enjoy the game of basketball in our program.”

A total of 71 volunteer coaches are donating their time to the league, and high school students — most of them former YBL players — serve as referees.

The local Chemical Bank branch is the title sponsor for the YBL this winter. Chemical Bank provided a $10,000 gift to the YMCA, which allow ed for a new gym curtain divider, which splits the main gym in two and doubles the number of games that can be played at one time.

“It’s so wonderful to see even kindergartners learn the value of working as a team,” said Barb Skeels, branch manager at Chemical Bank. “We are thrilled to support the YMCA and the YBL programs.”

A total of 33 local businesses sponsor YBL teams.