My child hasn’t played basketball before. Will this league be a good fit?

Absolutely. We focus on teaching fundamentals, teamwork, and strength of character. Players of all skill levels will find they can have fun, engage in healthy competition, and grow in their athletic ability.

What are the divisions? What is the hoop height and ball size?

Division	Hoop Height (ft.)	Ball Size (in.)
Co-ed: 4-Year-Old	6.0	25.5
Co-ed: Kindergarten	6.5	27.5
1st – 2nd Grade Girls	7.5	27.5
1st – 2nd Grade Boys	8.0	27.5
3rd – 4th Grade Girls	8.5	28.5
3rd – 4th Grade Boys	9.0	28.5
5th – 6th Grade Girls	9.5	28.5
5th – 6th Grade Boys	10	29.5

Can my child play with a specific friend?

Each Upward season is designed for participants to meet new friends and build a sense of team comradery together! While friends playing the same division may happen to be assigned to the same team, we do not deliberately place friends or groups of friends together when forming teams. Siblings playing in the same division will be placed on the same team unless their parents request otherwise. 

What are Evaluations and why do you do them?

Don't worry! Evaluations are not tryouts! One of the ways we ensure that Upward builds fundamentals and remains a good fit for all skill levels is by building fair and competitive teams. Evaluations help us do that.

Evaluations are laid-back and fun. At evaluations, your child will do basketball and agility drills. Third through sixth graders may also do some light shooting around and scrimmaging as well. This will allow us to gather information about the approximate skill level of each participant. This information will be used to form balanced teams that promote fun and healthy competition.

Note for Kindergarten and Preschool: Participants under the age of six do not need to attend an evaluation. We will just assume your child is a beginner and go from there :)

When are Evaluations?

Your child only needs to attend ONE of the following evaluations. Each evaluation is from 6-8pm and you are free to arrive any time during that period. Depending on wait times, evaluations usually take from 30-45 minutes.

• Thursday, October 17, 2024
• Monday, October 21, 2024
• Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Veteran tip: Avoid the rush! Historically lines are the shortest after 7pm. Consider eating a good dinner and coming out during the second half of the evaluation!

When are practices and how long do they last?

Each team will be assigned a weekly 1-hour practice time slot. These 1-hour practices will occur on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, OR Thursday in the early evening. This means that your total time commitment for practice will not exceed 1-hour per week for each child.

If there is a day of the week when your child is unavailable to practice, then simply let us know when you register online, and we will place your child on a team that practices on a different day.

Practices will begin on the week of December 2nd, 2024. They will continue each week the final game on Saturday, February 15th, 2025, with a break between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Note for 4-year-old division: The 4-year-old division will have no weekday practices. Instead, they will have a half-hour practice followed by a half-hour scrimmage on Saturdays.

When are games?

Games will occur on Saturdays and last for one hour each.

• Game #1: Saturday, January 4
• Game #2: Saturday, January 11
• Game #3: Saturday, January 18
• Game #4: Saturday, January 25
• Game #5: Saturday, February 1
• Game #6: Saturday, February 8
• Game #7: Saturday, February 15

Where will practices and games take place?

All games and practices will take place at the Seabreeze Outdoor Basketball Courts.

Are there sibling discounts?

Yes, sibling discounts are applied automatically in the online registration. There is a $35 discount for the second sibling and a $65 discount for every sibling after that.
There is no sibling discount for the 4-year-old division.

Are uniforms included in the cost of registration?

Yes, check them out HERE! A matching t-shirt and shorts are included as well.

I heard you use wristbands. How do those work?

During games, each player wears a black, blue, red, yellow, or white wristband. The color of each players wristband matches the color wrist band of a player on the opposing team. Players are matched up by skill set. On defense, players can only guard the player with the same color wristband. This allows each player to guard and be guarded by a player of a similar skill set, thereby increasing the opportunity for each player to be involved in the game.

I heard you don’t allow stealing. Is that true?

Stealing is allowed in every division except Kindergarten and 4-Year-Old divisions. In these younger co-ed divisions, we focus on teaching players to stay in front of the ball on defense. Not only does this help the little ones develop good defensive footwork to build on in the future, but it also reduces chaos and allows for an actual game flow to develop.  

What do you do if it rains?

If practices are rained out and your team wants to reschedule then your coach may schedule an optional make-up time. If games are rained out there will be no official make-up games, however, we will work with coaches to provide options for makeup scrimmages during the week around previously scheduled practice times. There are no refunds for rainouts.

Who runs the league?

Upward at Seabreeze is hosted and run by Seabreeze Church. The 2024-25 season will be the 21st year of Upward at Seabreeze. Each year dozens of Seabreeze members volunteer thousands of hours to make the league available to the community. They are led by the Upward Leadership, most of whom have served in Upward in some capacity for each of the past 20 years. There is a diverse range of age, interest, and skill among the many Seabreeze volunteers who make Upward happen, but what they all have in common is that they all love families and they all love Huntington Beach!