We don’t want to come across as blaming or pointing fingers. But the state of girls' basketball in Nashville seems to be that only the top 20% of players are good and taken care of by AAU teams, trainers and other offerings to improve their game.  If you look at the results of this position, you will see that this is not working.  Metro has those few girls playing at a high level.  The problem is that the other 80% is not offered or can't afford these opportunities and therefore isn't ready skill-wise to achieve greatness on the court .  So 17.15 Sports wants to put things in place to help improve the other 80%, offering high quality training and events at a very affordable price.   

 

Here are some of the programs in place to help build up girls' basketball in Nashville:

 

1) 21 Leagues:  These are 1-night leagues where different age groups come and are put on a random team.  They play 7-minute games, after which the coaches and trainer evaluating the game will coach them during their break.  A coach will give them a drill to work on or correct a fundamental.  Then we look to put that skill into their action during the next game.  

 

2) Low Cost Workouts:  For a player to get individualized training, play travel sports, and participate in other programs dedicated to becoming a skilled player, it can easily cost around $2500 a year. Let's put this in perspective..........70% of students attending Metro Schools of Nashville qualify for free or reduced lunch. To qualify, a family of 4 must make less than $25,000 a year.  So for 70% of children in Metro schools, their families will have to sacrifice 10% of their yearly income for 1 of their children to receive quality training in a sport.  17.15 Sports seeks to make quality athletic training affordable for all children, not just children whose families can afford the current options.  In a lot of cases, we offer a 1 for 1 model for payment with workouts.  

 

3) Clinics and training for Coaches/Teams:  17.15 Sports staff will come in offer a shooting clinic, ball handling clinic, or a defense camp to the whole team.   Also, we will work with coaches in a consultative fashion to give them someone to bounce ideas off of or to evaluate their programs to see areas where they can improve.