Very few times in life does one have the opportunity to be surrounded by greatness. I have been blessed by this over the past three years. I am an assistant coach of the Slidell Steel, an 11-year-old Biddy All-Star basketball team.
What is Biddy Basketball?
Biddy Basketball is probably the best tool for developing our youth in the great sport of basketball. The size of the balls, the height of the goals, and the distance of the free throw lines are modified to fit young athletes.
Not only are the ball sizes age appropriate, but the basket height is lowered to be age appropriate. These simple but significant modifications permit the players to develop their ball handling skills and learn the fundamentals of the total game—offense, defense, dribbling, rebounding, passing, and shooting.
The young athlete can shoot and jump shoot the ball into the hoop—not just throw the ball at the hoop. Biddy rules require that 10 players play at least a quarter in each game, preventing teams from loading up with just a few superstars, and requiring that all players are developed to their maximum potential.
The Biddy Basketball system provides an excellent feeder program for the high school and college level.
It prepares and teaches the skills necessary to compete at that higher level. Some great players have come through the Biddy program, including former University of Texas and current Charlotte Bobcat point guard DJ Augustin and former Duke standout Chris Duhon, to name just two.
There are over 20,000 boys and girls playing in 300 Biddy leagues across the states, Puerto Rico, Finland, and Canada. Advancing through the District, Regional, and International Championships motivates these young athletes to excellence—to be the very best that he or she can be.
The Slidell Steel, generously sponsored by Slidell businessman Chris Jean, has had a most impressive string of accomplishments. Over three years, starting in 2007, the Steel was undefeated. The Steel won 60 games in a row.
In that time, they won two Louisiana state championships and one national championship. The outcome of most games was generally not in doubt after the first quarter, with 20-point leads at the first buzzer being not uncommon.
This year, to help these young men get better, the team and the parents decided to play "up." This means that they played teams in tournaments that were in higher age brackets. Because of this, the Steel finally lost a few games. Still, in going 18-7 so far for the season the Steel has had the following accomplishments
1) Defeated the powerhouse St. Margaret Mary Catholic School eighth grade team by 10 points. This is the same St. Margaret Mary team that won the greater New Orleans championship game in three quarters by 70 points due to the mercy rule.
2) Placed fourth in two 12 year old tournaments.
3) Won the championship in another 12-year-old tournament. The Steel went to the loser's bracket by losing to the St. James 12-year-old all-stars by 20 points. In the championship game, the Steel defeated the St. James All-Stars by five points with their best player fouled out and sitting on the bench.
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