For the 13th consecutive year, Island Garden will be hosting the Presidents Week Clinic.  This is a great opportunity for players to improve their skills under the direction of one of the top college coaches in the New York Metropolitan area and possibly the country. Tim Cluess is currently the Head Men's Basketball Coach at CW Post where he led his team to a record of 30-1 and an Elite Eight finish in the NCAA Division ll Men's 2009 Championships. Coach Cluess was also recently named as one of the Top 10 contributors to Long Island Sports during the past decade by Newsday.

Tim will operate the camp with his Assistant Coach, Bob Paul. Coach Paul was a long time and highly successful coach at Chaminade High School before joining Coach Cluess' staff two years ago. He also had been a Lightning coach handling our top recruitable teams for five years before moving on to CW Post.

The clinic will run from Monday, February 15 to Friday, February 19 beginning each day at 9:00 AM and ending at 3:00 PM.

For more details ......

The following is an article that appeared this week in Newsday. Greg Flynn and Eric Eve are Lightning  as well as high school coaches. They both are incredibly dedicated and we are very proud of them and their players!

It is February and that means it is time to begin serious planning for the upcoming AAU Boys Basketball season. NY Metropolitan AAU will offer District Championships for ages 9-19 at Divisions l, ll and lll. These great tournaments will provide an opportunity for teams of all ages and varying ability levels to particpate in not only well run and competitve local events but also National Championship Tournaments. There is an AAU Qualifying event for all teams whether you are a top level elite team or a local community based squad.

Begin forming your schedule around the District Championships which for many teams is the highlight of their season.

For dates and  registration information  ............

Do you want to be part of one of the largest and most respected AAU organizations in the entire country? Do you want to have your name on the board in the lobby of the Island Garden showing what college you will be playing for? Most of all, do you want to become a better player by receiving instruction from from a highly experienced youth basketball coach?

Lightning Basketball which has been in existence for 16 years will be holding its annual tryouts for high school age players on February 17 for girls and February 19 for boys. The times for each age group are as follows:

UPDATE AS OF FEBRUARY 2:

Do you want to play for one of the most established, most successful and respected AAU organizations in the country? Here is how you can become part of LIGHTNING!

 We will be expanding into Suffolk County with the intention of attracting both boys and girls ages 9-17 who are dedicated to the game and want to improve their skills so that they can compete at the high school and college levels.  Lightning is very proud to announce that Rob Pavinelli, formerly the Boys Basketball coach at St. Dominic's High School in Oyster Bay, has accepted the position of Director of Suffolk Lightning.
 In addition, SUFFOLK LIGHTNING will be based out of the brand new, state of the art multi-sport facility in Northport known as NORTHSPORT. Coach Pavinelli will be the operator of this new facility which is scheduled to open in late April, 2010. We fully expect that the combination of Coach Pavinelli and the beautiful new facility will result in Lightning Basketball being both available and convenient to the many players and coaches in Suffolk County.
 
Suffolk Lightning will be holding tryouts for Boys and Girls Grades 4th-9th on Saturday, February 13 at Northport High School.
Times are as follows:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: We have had to drop one team from the competitive division. We also moved another team from the Competitive Division to the Recreational Division. As a result, significant changes have been made to both schedules. We  request that all players in the adult league recheck your schedule. We apologize for any inconvenience but these changes were unavoidable.

THE WINNERS OF BOTH THE COMPETITIVE AND RECREATIONAL LEAGUES WILL WIN A SPOT IN THE AAU EAST COAST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT THAT WILL BE HELD AT ISLAND GARDEN FROM MARCH 26-28.

UPDATE AS OF FEBRUARY 1 : We just finished a great weekend! We are so thankful that the snow stayed south of us. We played well over 100 games and all of them went off almost perfectly. Great games, alot of fun and good sportmanship.  We are asking all coaches to check the standings to be certain that all results were reported to us correctly. Also, please remember to submit all fees and rosters as they are mandatory in order for you to compete in the playoffs.

We realize that there are some teams that  are owed make-up games. We will address those issues next week. Again, please do not ask us to cancel any games as they will not be rescheduled due to lack of available space.

Our very popular LIGHTNING DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAM is designed for players who either are not interested in our travel program or not yet ready to play at that level. Each team meets once each week at Island Garden and works under the direction of three of our top coaches. It has proven over the last ten years to be very well received by both players and parents.

For more details ........

KEEP AN EYE ON THIS POSTING AS WE HAVE NEW INFORMATION JUST ABOUT EVERY DAY ABOUT OUR LIGHTNING PLAYERS!!!!!!!!

One of the main goals of Lightning is to assist our players in reaching their goal of playing basketball in high school and college. We are very proud that so many of our Lightning athletesare doing so well with their respective schools and colleges at this time of the year. Pete Gilbert, a Lightning Board Member, has suggested that we publicize the accomplishments of our Lightning players. He has agreed to write a regular update so that all of us can follow our terrific players. If you have news about Lighting players, please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Our most recent article was posted on February 5.

.....

Our long time friends at Lawrence Woodmere Academy in nearby Woodmere have now joined us as a sponsor of Island Garden. You will soon see their signs at Island Garden as well as their presence at various events. This is a great match since both Lawrence Woodmere and Island Garden stand for many of the same values when it comes to student athletes. LWA is an outstanding academic institution that also has one of the top basketball programs in the New York Metropolitan area. The Head Coach of the Boys Varsity, Jeff Weiss, is one of the most respected coaches in all of New York State. He has a tremendous winning percentage but even more importantly is Jeff's proven dedication and concern for his athletes which has been the key part of his overall success in the past several years.

Men's Basketball is one of the most popular recreational sports in the country today. The AAU Men's Basketball League that is played at Island Garden has been benefiting from that interest and has been flourishing for the past several years. Based on that growth as well as the quality of the league, the AAU National Office has granted New York Metropolitan AAU the right to host a new event entitled the AAU Men's Basketball East Coast National Championship. The tournament will be held from March 26 to March 28, 2010 at the Island Garden Basketball Arena in West Hempstead, New York. The AAU will be assisting in recruiting teams from throughout the Northeast. The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency will also be assisting us in locating hotels and identifying points of interest in the area during the off hours. Our goal will be to attract teams made up of players who enjoy playing basketball as a recreational and fitness activity. The tournament will be structured as a three game guarantee that will have two games in pool play and the third as the first round of the playoffs. Teams can choose to play Friday evening and Saturday or just Saturday. The playoff rounds will be played on Sunday. AAU Championship medals and sweatshirts will be awarded.

This event will be open to all men's adult teams. We will register your team with AAU in order to meet the eligibility and insurance requirements.

For further information, contact Jim Fox or Ken Feeley at 516-292-4956 or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 

Our program for our youngest players resumes on January 5 and will continue for six consecutive weeks. The program focuses on training the basic fundamentals to players ages 5-8. We use smaller balls, lower baskets and an experienced instructor. Every child has a ball in his or her hands for virtually the entire session. The training is provided in a fun-filled and healthy environment. This program has been in existence for ten years.

The fee is $165.00 for all the sessions or $28.00 for a single session.

Click here to register

Future Hoops meets every Tuesday from 4:30 to 5:45 PM. For further information, please call Rosemary at 516-292-4956 or 516-351-6640

We are beginning to introduce our new offerings. This week we started a FACEBOOK page, ISLAND GARDEN BASKETBALL. We invite everyone to become a fan (friend). You can do this by going to www.facebook.com in the search box on the upper right corner, type in Island Garden Basketball. We will be offering various opportunities and special offers.

Our next step will be to introduce the "Forum for Coaches" which will provide an excellent opportunity to comment on the league operations as well as exchange information. Look for more information on this next week.

We also must have everyone's roster. This is necessary for insurance, eligibility and to institute our new scoresheet system. Coaches must submit their roster to Island Garden if they have not already done so. 

You can view the schedules and game results by clicking here -> SUPER LEAGUE SCHEDULES

BE BETTER THAN THE REST...........

Island Garden is pleased to welcome Said Hamdan, M.S., A.T.C., who has trained a wide array of professional and college athletes. Such well known professionals as Allan Houston, Chris Mullin, Lon Kriger and Tim Capstraw all have offered testimonials praising Said's methods and results.  His program is designed to enhance the fundamentals, game approach, and athletic education of today's athlete - whatever your sport.

Island Garden is an excellent place to hold your son's or daughter's next birthday party. We provide the entire package so that all that mom and dad have to do is watch, enjoy and take pictures!