Macomb Resident Devotes Decade to District Youth Girls Basketball League

Fourteen years ago, Joe LaFrance never dreamed he would be the driving force behind a local youth girls basketball league.

Back then, LaFrance was just looking for a way to help his then fourth-grade daughter, Stephanie, participate in the sport. With weekdays being consumed with other obligations such as homework and Catechism, Saturday and Sunday were the only days open.

When LaFrance, 47, heard that head coach Tom Lesko had been trying to form a weekend league, he signed on and has been a central part of it ever since.

The Chippewa Youth Girls Basketball Fall League, which LaFrance stresses is purely fundamental, is designed to be a fun, recreational outlet for girls in grades second through sixth.

Every Saturday from September until early November from 9 a.m. until noon, the league meets in either the Dakota or Chippewa Valley high school gym.

For the first hour,, current district varsity basketball players teach basic skills such as dribbling, passing and shooting to the participants at timed stations. Afterward, games are played for two hours. Second through fourth graders play against one another, and likewise for fifth and sixth graders. During the week, the girls also get a full practice with their coach at a nearby elementary school gym for an hour.

“It’s not about winning because we don’t keep score in this league, it is pure fundamentals and pure learning,” LaFrance said. “As a youth, you will know by the time you’re in seventh grade if you really want to try out for basketball or not and if not, you move on to another sport; that’s why we do this.”

Unlike other area leagues, girls from different schools have the unique opportunity to come together and play as one team. As the girls grow older, they continue their lifelong friendships with one another, who they may have never known otherwise.

“There’s no need to be afraid or anything; it’s a good league that inspires people to play basketball and have confidence,” said Olivia Patton, a sixth-grader at .

This year around 80 girls are a part of the eight-week league, but the number has reached above 120 in past years.

“It’s fun, the girls will get to know a lot of people and it really gets them ready–especially for middle school tryouts,” said Miranda Bates, a junior at and varsity player. “It really helped me learn the fundamentals of the game–like to not pick up a dribble and keep dribbling and not going out of bounds and coming back in–it just helps you get used to the game a lot.”

Though all three LaFrance girls have since gone through the league, graduated from high school and moved on, he has no plans on stopping his Saturday morning routine anytime soon.

“I do it for all of the kids,” LaFrance said. “I love it. I just love it. I have no need to be here, I have no daughters here, I have nothing to do with this school and I’m not a faculty member ... I just love this program, that’s why I’m here.”

For more information on the Chippewa Youth Girls Basketball League, visit http://www.chippewavalleyschools.org/ or http://www.cvs.k12.mi.us/dakotaathletics/.