Outdoor basketball league in California continues to thrive
High school basketball players from around the area aren’t contained to playing in gymnasiums during the month of July.
Though the days of pickup basketball at a local park are a distant memory, the concept is still very much alive in California. Seven years ago, the California Borough Recreation Authority launched the J. Budd Grebb Memorial Basketball League.
It began with a handful of teams, but in its seventh season, the Budd Grebb League is the talk of high school athletes during the spring months. Bragging rights are on the line four nights a week at Mechanic Street Playground’s court in California.
The league added a girls division three years ago, which expanded to six teams, and the boys hold six teams with 10 players on each. Players travel from as far as Rogersville and Latrobe to compete.
The girls play tripleheaders Mondays and Wednesdays, and the boys compete Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“What attracts kids is it’s a good league,” Dana Zajicek, who is the commissioner of the boys league, said. “We have great coaches who also coach high school teams around the area and they all know the game. It’s also not as structured as your high school teams in the summer leagues. It has more of a street ball feel to it.”
That street ball feel brings excitement and large crowds to the playground each night. The recreation authority had to build additional bleachers after last summer when 150-200 people attended games, which have similar rules to the PIAA but teams must play man-to-man defense.
The league includes players entering ninth to 12th grade from as many as 18 school districts across five counties. The Most Valuable Player of the boys’ league the past two summers was Elijah Minnie, a Monessen native and Lincoln Park graduate who had a standout season for Robert Morris as a freshman last winter. Both leagues have players who went on to play in college.
The boys league turned away 20 kids after tryouts, which are followed by an NBA-style draft.
It was created as a buffer between the end of the spring sports season and the start of the fall sports season for WPIAL athletics. The schedule is structured to be completed at the end of July with the championship games and an all-star game against a similar league based in Uniontown.
Three years ago, Melanie Greco, who has helped run the Beth-Center youth leagues, saw the excitement the boys league generated and developed plans to create a girls league. What started as only three teams has grown to six.
“It’s been very exciting. On the girls side, we are very blessed because the boys put the road map out for us and started a wonderful thing,” Greco, the girls league commissioner, said. “We just followed in their footsteps and modeled our league in the same fashion.”
California girls basketball coach Chris Minerd has seven of his players competing in the league this summer and sees the extra playing time as a benefit, especially when the competition includes players from larger schools such as Belle Vernon.
“Anything that keeps the kids playing is a good thing,” Miner said. “I totally support the league and everything they do. It keeps the kids active. It’s a good league and a great idea.”
That very idea has created highly competitive games in both leagues with players from several local schools competing. Unlike AAU where the hefty price tag can discourage kids from playing during the summer months, the Budd Grebb league costs $30 per player.
With its seventh season under way, there are no signs of it slowing down.
“A lot of kids still don’t like to play outside, but if you love the game you do,” Zajicek said. “I think they really like playing with kids they play against. They aren’t contained to playing one position. They can show their skills playing against kids outside their district.
“We want to keep growing.”