It wasn’t that long ago when a player would get cut from his high school basketball team that it would mark the end of his competitive playing days. And while several high schools offer intramural programs for those players, none offer what MYAS is now doing with its brand new Rising Stars High School League.
Along with a 10-game regular season, playoffs and an end of season weekend tournament, the Rising Stars program gave players who may have been cut from their high school teams an opportunity to develop their skills with weekly practice sessions and instruction from experienced coaches. MYAS offered both individual players and already-established community teams to sign up for the newly formed league.
Enter longtime Fridley boys varsity coach Jim McDonald. After 33 years of coaching at Fridley, McDonald was excited to accept a new challenge by working with retired high school coaches who would then mentor volunteer coaches and help them set up practices and drills.
“When Dawson(Blanck/MYAS executive director) and Jeff (Schultz/Rising Stars League director) called me about this, I said, this is fantastic” said McDonald. “And I said, what I would like to add is let’s keep the same expectations that a high school team has. Kids have to attend practice, and let’s make sure academically they’re doing the right thing.”
“But my big thing was to make this an experience where either next year we keep track of how many of these kids make their high school team, or next year how many kids say, this is the league I want to be in…and that’s what I like about it”
Nobody knows better than McDonald on how difficult it is to have to cut players from a high school team. Some years at Fridley, which is a relatively small school in the metro area, he’d get 90 players at tryouts, meaning that his coaching staff would end up having to cut about 45 players.
“I wish that something like this (the Rising Stars League) would have been around when I was coaching. That’s why I was so excited to be part of this”
For Robbinsdale Robins 11th/12th grade coach Mike Jaeb the newly formed Rising Stars league was a godsend. In past years the Robins who were established back in 2009, would enter several one-day weekend tournaments throughout the winter and routinely end up playing against the same teams week after week. Now with a 13-team league at both the Upperclassmen and Freshman divisions, the Robins would see a different opponent each week throughout the season on a set Sunday of doubleheader games.
“Knowing when and where the games were going to be helps with inviting people (parents and grandparents) to the game” said Jaeb. “The league tournament at the end of the season was a lot of fun (and) recognizing the three All-Star teams was a nice touch.”
After a 7-and-3 regular season, Jaeb’s Robins went the distance in the league playoffs before losing the championship game to MDB White 49-45. And while winning for the Robins was fun, Jaeb enjoyed the overall experience of what the Rising Stars League presented.
“I enjoy coaching players that might not have the size and athleticism to play at the varsity level but still have the passion to play competitive basketball.”
Exactly the goal of the Rising Stars League.
Minnesota Score Magazine and Radio 