After a five-month layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coral Springs Basketball Club is back in action.
Its spring season has sprung in the form of a summer league, which was supposed to begin in March, started in late August and will run through October. The groups are age 6 through high school. There are just over 300 players, including a Junior Varsity Girls Division.
“This was our original spring season that would have started in March,” said Coral Springs Basketball Club President Richie Fraiman. “But, of course, with the delay, we were just able to get it started with certain guidelines.
Since the Coral Springs Gymnasium is still closed, the games are currently being played on the outside courts in the front of Mullins Park.
The guidelines include that everyone in the court area must wear masks, which include coaches, spectators and officials. The players are not required to wear masks while they are playing. Players also do not shake hands before, during or after games.
“We just acknowledge good game,” Fraiman said. “Teams also wait outside the fenced area for the next games until the game is over and cleared out. So far, so good.”
Fraiman said the Coral Springs Basketball Club also changed some club rules with the pandemic going on.
“There is no full-court press and no man-to-man defense,” he said. “Only zone defense is permitted, so we can limit the contact as much as possible.
“Parents and coaches are thrilled that we are were able to put this together and get kids back on the court to play some basketball,” Fraiman said. “It’s been a challenge, of course, as in anything else, but we are trying to move forward with everyone’s cooperation.”
The Coral Springs Basketball Club had to wait it out, but it was worth it, according to Fraiman. He said they needed to be patient. They fielded many calls from coaches and parents asking when the league would resume.
“So far I can say it’s been great,” he said. “The feeling is as if we haven’t played in over a year. Everyone is so relieved to have kids playing basketball once again and hopefully return to some type of normality…not complete but some.
“We feel for everyone who had a loved one lost to the COVID-19,” Fraiman said. “And we understand the difficulty of dealing with all the obstacles. Of course, we had many that decided not to play, but 80% wanted to play from original spring signup.”
Fraiman credited the city as being great through the process.
“The Parks and Recreation Department is working with the league to make it work for the community,” he said. “I really want to compliment all the coaches, the Division ADs (athletic directors), and, of course, our board members for working together time and time again. Without everyone’s input, this would not be possible. We are getting praise just to get to this point as a league. I believe it is the best game in town.”
The Coral Springs Basketball Club began practicing a couple of weeks before the season started as it implemented the COVID-19 protocols. Fraiman said when everyone was on the same page, the club and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department came up with a plan and guidelines to follow.
The finals will begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 8 with the JV girls division. The Trainee 4 championship game will be at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13. The Senior Intermediate Boys title game is set for 6 p.m. Oct. 14, while the Senior JV will be at 6:50 p.m. Oct. 14 and the High School championship will be played at 7:40 p.m.
Registration for the fall is from 10:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 3 by the front basketball courts at Mullins Park, 10000 Ben Geiger Drive, in Coral Springs. The cost is $120 and the season will run from November to January.
Visit csbchoops.com/.
