SO Many Leagues where do we PLAY ?

So Many Leagues Where do we Play ?

The 2014/2015 season for youth basketball may go down as the year that changed everything in the GTA as well as Ontario in regards to where the kids play and under what rules. Teams and Clubs are making this choice everyday as the time comes to really starting hooping for the Winter Season and as it stands the 3 dominant leagues  are :

1. OBA - Provincial League / Governing Body (Tournaments and Exhibition games by 
Sanctioned Clubs) - http://www.basketball.on.ca/site/index.cfm

2. ABS - GTA /Toronto (OBA Partner) - http://www.absbasketball.ca/

3. CYBL - Toronto /GTA (Non OBA) - http://www.cybl.ca/


4. THE FIRM -LEAGUE - Toronto (Non OBA) - The Firm Basketball League

5. Possible New Comer - PTR (Pound The Rock)  - Toronto (Non OBA) - http://www.poundtherock.ca/


** (Non-OBA = games within these Leagues are not Sanctioned or Recognized by the OBA and do not count towards rankings for the Ontario Cup)**

The decision on where you play should be based on your Clubs goal and your Team Goals if you Club as an entity is a traditional OBA Club remaining in the OBA does not hurt you at all its simple safe and scripted Tournaments / Rankings and a Provincial Championship. The issue with the OBA might be in there customer service people always complain about the reaction time on any subject with the OBA as well as the rules associated with games and fair play plus the new contract rules for players (Transfer Fee's). Overall the OBA has provided the Basketball Community a great service for many years however it seems times are changing and people (Parents) want more the game is growing the kids are getting better in the GTA bringing more expectation from the Parents and coaches which the OBA may not be ready or willing to provide. The OBA is not set up to get scholarships or NCAA coaches to see your kids nothing about the OBA indicates they offer that service nor are they actually capable of doing so.

These new Leagues seem to offer or imply they may be able to expose the kids to Elite Basketball or AAU style play without the restrictions of the OBA allowing any Club or Organisation to enter without the "red tape" of the OBA opening up the game more on a grassroots level .. its is not an easy process becoming an OBA sanctioned club at the moment the game has become territorial.

CYBL - Allows all comers in regards to Team or Club entry and the League is fully Insured across North America an Insurance package comparable to any other League without the waiver form other Leagues provide in order to save costs.  The issue with CYBL would be they do not play FIBA they play federation AAU style rules and your games are not Sanctioned by OBA making it a costly venture if your team intends to participate in both Leagues. CYBL initially seemed geared towards High School aged teams focused on AAU in the summer using the League as a tune-up however this season 2014/2015 the CYBL will now have complete divisions of Middle School aged players.
CYBL appears to me more of a Circuit with 4 sessions 16 games + 3 playoff games .. similar to other leagues but more of a tournament style with ranking building up each session. This League looks to be the biggest threat to OBA and ABS as they are less restrictive in there overall policy for adding teams you do not  have to be an OBA Team to join and yet they accept OBA Sanctioned clubs great business model. If your looking to play open play at a younger age to get the Boys playing real basketball sooner this would be the League to join.

ABS - OBA Sanctioned League running now in its 3rd Season many traditional Clubs are members and partners of the League the League is well run by the Monarchs and BMBA Warriors as the backbone of the League. Issue with ABS very restrictive constitution hard to join even if you are an OBA Club you may have to do some compromising to participate as a smaller local club. 2 games per weekend which is good for scheduling , stats are kept on individuals and teams , well organized a good league to be in if you are in Peel and Halton, all games count towards OBA rankings which is great for teams targeting the Ontario Cup .. In our opinion this League is not an AAU preparation and we do not believe they desire this League to be an Elite only League. ABS has always stated they really push for the Clubs who offer House League to Rep which are known as "Development Clubs" generally the bigger Clubs in any city SBA , BMBA, Monarch & Blessed for example these are great clubs to build a backbone for a League you will never run out of kids or Teams to participate a great "Development" environment.

 THE FIRM -LEAGUE - Toronto (Non OBA)
 Possible New Comer - PTR (Pound The Rock)  - Toronto (Non OBA)

These 2 League are smaller Regional League in the GTA offering the smaller clubs and opportunity to play more scheduled games in a localized setting again Unsanctioned non - OBA games depending on how they set up there schedule and games 2 oba teams playing FIBA should be considered a sanctioned game if the 2 teams register the games.

In Conclusion :

We anticipate more Leagues popping up every year with more New Clubs in the GTA wanting to get in on the Basketball Gold Rush of sorts their seems to be no end in sight in regards to the new talent being found and recognized in GTA Boys Basketball.