What is Haley Smith Basketball?
Haley Smith Basketball, also called Herndon Optimist Youth House Basketball (HOYHB), is one of the sports sponsored by the Herndon Optimist Club. Our mission is to provide youth of all skill levels an opportunity to enjoy a positive basketball experience, learn good sportsmanship and teamwork, and learn or improve their basketball skills.
Our developmental recreational house league is open to girls and boys in 1st through 12th grade who are residents of Fairfax or Loudoun Counties. We offer:
- Girls teams for grades 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12 (our girls teams may play games with teams from neighboring community youth sports leagues as well as teams within our league)
- Boys teams for grades 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12
- An adapted basketball program called "Buddy Basketball" for youth in grades 1-8 who have disabilities and high school students and adults who want to help them learn to play basketball
- Training programs for new and returning referees and scorekeepers, which are paid positions open to both youth and adults.
Our normal season schedule:
- Player skills evaluations are held by gender and grade division; grades 5-8 in mid-October, grades 1-4 in late October-early November, and grades 9-12 in mid-November
- Practices begin mid-late November and are held one night a week for 1.5 hours in a local school gym
- Regular season games begin in early December; elementary and middle school grade division games are held on Saturdays between 8am-8pm; high school grade division games are held on Sundays between 11am-9pm
- We take a break during the school winter break period, then resume games in early January
- Buddy Basketball combined practices/games start in early January, end in late February, and are held for 1.5 hours on Saturdays
- All Star Games are held in early February
- Playoff and championship games start mid-late February and go through mid-March for elementary and middle school grade divisions; playoff and championship games are held in late February for high school grade divisions.
We offer scholarships to cover the registration fees of children receiving free/reduced lunch or Medicaid, and a registration fee waiver for one child of the team's Head Coach.
Additional information about our league can be found under "Forms and Documents". If you have more questions or need assistance, please use the "Contact Us" option on the left side menu and we will get back to you as soon as we can. We look forward to having your family as part of our Haley Smith Basketball community!
James Passmore,
Commissioner
