This powerhouse trio has united to create a ‘game-changing’ youth basketball league
The two premier basketball facilities in Wichita have teamed up with MAYB, an organization renowned for running basketball events, to create a youth basketball league they believe can be a “game-changer” for the Wichita area.
The games will be played at Wichita Sports Forum and Wichita Hoops, two facilities separated by less than 5 miles in northeast Wichita that have a combined 18 basketball courts and 251,000 square feet. The two facilities and MAYB announced their partnership earlier this week to launch the Wichita Youth Basketball League, which has a tentative start date of June 15.
So what makes this youth basketball league different?
“I keep hearing from a lot of club organizations that they are looking for something more competitive during the week,” said Tim Simoneau, general manager of Wichita Hoops. “They’re playing in tournaments on the weekend that are competitive, but right now they don’t really know what they’re going to get in leagues during the week.”
Enter the WYBL, which the partners believe will be the answer for high-level teams all across south central Kansas looking for improved competition during the week. League games will likely be on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays.
“We think we can provide the best high school league in the market,” said Matt Baty, the general manager of Sports Forum. “We want to give those high-level teams a competitive environment that these kids are looking for. They’re getting that from AAU and MAYB on the weekends, but they’re not getting that mid-week.”
Filling that high-level void for Wichita-area basketball players is originally what led Simoneau to seek out his contemporary at a rival facility. While the two are natural competitors in the youth basketball market, they each recognized the potential if they united.
“Then you add MAYB to the equation and now you have this powerhouse,” Simoneau said. “We believe we have the two best basketball facilities in the area and then with MAYB’s reputation for running tournaments, it just makes for a winning combination.”
“The winners in this are the athletes and the families who are going to be able to use two great facilities that are now on the same page for the first time and are working for the betterment of the community,” Baty said. “We obviously win by coming together, but the community also wins and the hotels and restaurants also win. This only makes basketball stronger in Wichita.”
The league will feature different competition levels for boys and girls for each age group from first to 12th grade and a nine-game guarantee, including a single-elimination tournament at the end of the session. The league hopes to offer leagues during all four seasons. It will cost $750 per team or $95 per individual with sign-ups currently available at MAYB.com, mayb@mayb.com or 316-284-0354.
Currently the YMCA is overwhelmingly the most popular option for youth basketball in the Wichita area. With its affordable prices and abundance of courts at Farha Center locations, it’s easy to see why it is the leading option. But those leagues don’t often provide the competition level that advanced teams are looking for.
The WYBL believes it can offer the right league for all ranges of basketball players.
“I do believe this can be a game-changer because we can be whatever our athletes are looking for,” Baty said. “If they’re looking for a competitive league, we’re going to put that on. If they’re looking for a recreational league, we’re going to have that as well. They’re going to be playing in two great facilities and we’re going to provide a first-class league.”
Launching a basketball league in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic has been challenging, but Baty and Simoneau said it has given them more time to coordinate how they want to ultimately run the league. The June 15 start date is tentative and they will push that back if needed and in accordance with Gov. Laura Kelly’s guidelines for re-opening Kansas.
The opportunity to join the agreement was a much-needed life-line for MAYB, an organization decimated by the shutdown. Greg Raleigh, the MAYB national director, said he had to let go of all seven of his salaried workers when it became evident basketball was going to be shut down for a while. He has since been able to hire the majority of his team back, but said the financial damage has already been severe.
“I have some farm land up here (in Hesston) and it’s kind of like in farming when you were going to have your biggest wheat harvest in history and then a hail storm comes through and you lose it all,” Raleigh said. “It’s not anybody’s fault, that’s just how it happened.”
Raleigh said it was a natural alliance for MAYB to team up with Sports Forum and Wichita Hoops. He envisions a lot of teams competing in WYBL during the week and then playing in MAYB tournaments around the area on the weekend.
Finally, that option is now available for Wichita-area teams.
“We want to start out walking before we fully run, but I sense enough excitement building for this that we’re going to have to pick this up into a jog pretty quick,” Baty said. “That’s why it was so important for us to bring MAYB into the fold.
“I would put our market here in Wichita up against anybody in the country as far as quality of courts go,” Baty said. “The assets that we have here, nobody really competes with us. If we can put that to good use, then we have the opportunity to really change the focus in the Midwest when it comes to basketball.”
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