Throughout the long 44-year history of the Staten Island Basketball League (www.sibl.us) — which caters to middle-aged established players — league commissioner Craig Raucher said he would receive calls weekly from Island parents who were looking for a place for their kids to play outside of the traditional CYO and JCC settings.
“They would Google basketball leagues seeking a place for their child or children to actually learn how to play basketball or to join a team and we would always come upon those searches,” said Raucher.
That got Raucher thinking: Why not start the Staten Island Basketball Youth League?
That idea came to fruition last month after Raucher opened his doors two days a week at PS 8 in Great Kills, the same site of the adult loop.
“On Staten Island, there is no place where you can send a young person to actually learn how to play basketball,” said Raucher. “No place that will teach you how to dribble, how to shoot, how to pass or how to rebound. No place exists on the Island to teach you how to warm up, how to stretch or how to work out. There are expensive private tutors but that is a one-on-one situation and basketball is a team game.
