Basketball - Boys

Click on the guide to explore the pages!

Click on the Box [ ] in the top right for full screen view.

We are a Christian Homeschool basketball team for homeschool athletes in the Northwest Arkansas area interested in playing competitive basketball. We offer teams from 10U thru 18U/Varsity depending on the availability of players and coaches. We are are a non-profit volunteer organization and exist solely to bless the homeschool community in the area.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18U - Birthdate range is 8/2/2005 - 8/1/2007 (must be 18 or younger on 8/1)

Coach - Head Coach - Stephen Greer - slgreer0780@gmail.com

Asst Coaches - Mike Newby, Reagan Baber

Practice Schedule - Mon, Tues, Thurs, or Fri evenings at the AAO (3 per week)

First Game - Oct 26

Game Schedule - will be listed on this website soon

Number of games this season - 32-40+ including tournaments

Tournaments - WinterSlam (Springfield, Dec 12-13), Districts (Lawrence, Jan 30-31) State (Conway, Feb 6-8), Regionals (Lawrence, Feb 20-21), Nationals (Springfield, Mar 10-14)

16U - Birthdate range is 8/2/2007 - 8/1/2009 (must be 16 or younger on 8/1)

Coach - Head Coach - Stephen Greer - slgreer0780@gmail.com

Asst Coaches - Mike Newby, Reagan Baber

Practice Schedule - Mon, Tues, Thurs, or Fri evenings at the AAO (3 per week)

First Game - Oct 25

Game Schedule - will be listed on this website soon

Number of games this season - 35-40+ including tournaments

Tournaments - Winter Slam (Springfield, Dec 12-13), Districts (Lawrence, Jan 30-31), State (Conway, Feb 6-8), Regionals (Lawrence, Feb 20-21), Nationals (Springfield, Mar 10-14)

14U - Birthdate range is 8/2/2009 - 8/1/2011 (must be 14 or younger on 8/1)

Coaches - Head Coach - Joe Toddy - toddyfamily12@hotmail.com

Asst Coaches - Jeremy Sparks

Practice Schedule - Mon, Tues, Thurs, or Fri evenings at the AAO (3 per week)

First Game - Oct 24

Game Schedule - will be listed on this website soon

Number of games this season - 35-40+ including tournaments

Tournaments - Districts (Lawrence, Jan 30-31), State (Conway, Feb 6-8),

Regionals (Lawrence, Feb 20-21), Nationals (Springfield, Mar 10-14)

12U - Birthdate range is 8/2/2011 - 8/1/2013 (must be 12 or younger on 8/1)

Coach - Head Coaches - Steve and Angie Rogers - rogersrun@gmail.com

Asst Coaches - Matt Potts

Practice Schedule - Mon, Tues, Thurs, or Fri evenings at the AAO (2-3 per week)

First Game - Oct 24

Game Schedule - will be listed on this website soon

Number of games this season - 30-35+ including tournaments

Tournaments - State (Conway, Feb 6-8), Regionals (Lawrence, Feb 20-21),

Nationals (Springfield, Mar 10-14)

10U - Birthdate range is 8/2/2013 - 8/1/2016 (must be 10 or younger on 8/1)

Coach - Head Coach - Todd Pantier - toddpantier@hotmail.com

Asst Coaches - Aidan Mora

Practice Schedule - Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Lowell Baptist

First Game - Nov 2

Game Schedule - will be listed on this website soon

Number of games this season - 15-20+ including tournaments and depends on other

teams being able to form a 10U boys team. Could be more if we are able to get into the local AAO league

Tournaments - TuneUP?? (Springfield, Dec 13), State (Conway, Feb 6-8),

Regionals?? (Lawrence, Feb 20-21), Nationals (Springfield, Mar 10-14)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When will the Season Registration open and how much does it cost?

Season registration usually opens in early August. We will always post updates here and on our social media accounts when registrations go live.

The cost varies from season to season and from team to team. The registration fees for the older teams are typically more expensive than the younger teams simply because the costs are higher. As mentioned above, we are a non-profit organization, so 100% of the fees we bring in go toward our costs for the season (court costs, referee costs, uniforms, insurance, tournament fees, equipment etc.). We also strive to keep the costs as low as possible. For a ballpark figure, our 16U boys season fees in 2023 were $675, and the youngest teams were around $400. There are a lot of factors that go into determining those figures that change from year to year, but that gives a general idea of what to expect. We also offer a payment plan that will allow you to pay the fee in 3 or 4 installments.

What is your definition of Homeschool?

There are many different versions and interpretations of what it means to Homeschool. We want to include as many people as possible, but there some kids that "homeschool" that aren't eligible to play for us. We follow the requirements as set by the post season tournaments that we play in.

Here is the bottom line, in order to be eligible to play for us, you must:

1. Be required to fill out an intent to Homeschool form with the state each year. if you are not required to fill out that form, then you are likely not considered homeschooled as defined by our league rules.
2. The curriculum that the student uses must be parent directed. There can be non-parent teachers, but the parent must have control of the courses that the student takes, and must have a say in when and how school work is completed.
3. Students can take courses at a highschool or college, but this must account for less than 50% of the student's total work load.

if you have any questions about this, feel free to reach out to us at nwahornetsbasketball@gmail.com

Read More

Can my homeschooled athlete play for a school team and for the Hornets?

No, kids are not allowed to play for any school team and for the Hornets at the same time. There is a path for transferring from a school team to our team, but this is handled on a case by case basis and you would need to reach out to us to get more information about this process.

On a related note...kids that go to a school that does not offer basketball are NOT eligible to play for us because they don't meet the homeschooling requirements.

Do you have tryouts?

No, we have never had tryouts before, it might be something we need to consider as we continue to grow, but so far we haven't held tryouts for any team.

That being said we also don't guarantee playing time. (See more in the "competitive team" section)

What does being a Competitive Team mean?

Being a competitive team means we are a team that puts a priority on winning games and competing for championships. We are Christians first, and will play, compete, and conduct ourselves in a Christ-like manner, but we also compete to win.

What this means practically is that we don't guarantee playing time for any player. This is in contrast to a rec league team which focuses on recreation and equal playing time.

Every player will get equal practice time, and equal opportunity to play and/or improve their skills to work towards more playing time. But, there will be some players that get far more playing time than others...especially on teams that have a lot of players (10 or more).

Side note: Team practices during the season are just that....they are team focused. There will obviously be some individual skill work done in practice, but the majority of the time will be team focused. If a player is needing to improve their individual skills they will need to devote time outside of the team practices to work on those skills. If you need more information about what to work on or what to do, you can talk to your athlete's coach. They can refer you to a trainer or give you some drills they can do at home on their own.

When will Practices start, where are they located, and what time are they?

I won't have specific answers to this question until Late July or August. But generally practices start in mid-August or September.

Location varies a bit because we don't have our own facility (yet). But, typically practices will be held at the Rogers AAO or at First Baptist Lowell. These gyms are only about 1.5 miles apart.

Time varies as well depending on gym and coach availability. Typically our 10, 12, and 14U teams practice twice per week. I'm expecting practice to be on Tuesday and Friday evenings this season. Our 16U and 18U teams typically practice 3 times per week and I'm expecting those to be Monday, Tuesday and Friday evenings.

When and where are games played, and do you travel?

Games will begin in late October. The regular season will conclude in early February. There will be a few post season tournaments in February and the season will conclude with the national tournament in Springfield, MO in early March. (Note - our 10U teams have typically ended their season with the state tournament in mid February, but they can go to Nationals as well if there is enough interest).

We don't have set game days, but most games fall on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday. We will occasionally play on Monday or Friday but never Wednesday or Sunday.

Home games are typically played at the Rogers AAO or at the Jones Center in Springdale.

We will play some teams in or near the NWA area, but we will also travel some to play other homeschool teams. Most of the travel will not require an overnight stay until tournament play at the end of the season. (I think there will be 1 overnight for the younger teams and 2 for the older teams during the regular season). The farthest we will travel during the regular season is Tulsa, Springfield, MO, and Little Rock. The post season tournaments are located in Conway, Springfield MO, and Lawrence Kansas

What is the level of competition like?

Each team and each season is a little different. There is also a lot of variability with homeschool teams. Some of them are very talented and would easily compete at the 2 or 3A (possibly even 4A) level in Arkansas. I would say most teams we play would be comparable to a 1 or 2A highschool team.

What teams do you play?

There are anywhere from 6 to 9 homeschool basketball teams in Arkansas depending on the age group and the year. We make every effort to play each of them at least once per year. We will also play homeschool teams from Oklahoma and Missouri during the regular season. After that we will fill out our schedule with private, charter, or public schools located in the Northwest Arkansas area.

All of the postseason tournaments we play in are homeschool only tournaments, and will include teams from all over the country, and some of them are very talented.

What team will my athlete be on, and what are the age limits?

We divide teams by age and will offer 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, and 18U teams for both boys and girls depending on availability of players and coaches.

The birthday cutoff date is August 1st. For example, if your athlete is 14 on August 1 they would be on a 14U team that year. Even if they turn 15 on Aug 2. This rule applies for each age division and applies to both girls and boys.

Typically the youngest age we allow on our 10U teams is 8, but we have occasionally had kids a little younger than that on our 10U teams.

A player that turns 19 on or before August 1 has aged out and is no longer eligible to play with us. There are many kids that graduate from high school, and don't turn 19 until after August 1st. These kids wouldn't be eligible either....an athlete must still be working toward a high school diploma to be eligible to play on our team.

Can my athlete play up or down an age group?

We never allow athletes to play down an age group, that is against the league rules.

We do occasionally allow athletes to play up an age group, but this is based on necessity and/or player ability. It is common for homeschool teams to have a few players that play on more than one team, but it's usually because one of the teams is low on numbers and needs another player or 2.

The decision to do this will be made by the director and the coaches involved. This isn't something that can just be requested by the player or parents. There will need to be team-based reason for a player to play up.

My athlete is interested in playing in college. Is that possible if they play homeschool basketball?

Yes!

College sports aren’t for everyone. There are many kids that play for us that have no interest in playing at the next level…and that is totally fine. However, if your athlete does have an interest in playing in college, we are getting resources in place right now to assist kids with this very thing. We have a few boys on our 16/18U teams that are very interested in playing at the next level, and we are doing all we can to help them fulfill that dream. There are kids playing on college teams at all levels that played on a homeschool team in highschool. At the homeschool national tournament this past season there were at least 5 players committed to play at a D1 school, and many others committed to smaller colleges.

Bottom line, the answer is yes, and we want to help make that a reality if your athlete is interested.

if your athlete is in highschool (or will be starting highschool soon) and is interested in playing in college…let us know and we can discuss it further.

Do you offer scholarships?

We are a non-profit organization, so we have limited funds for scholarships, but we are occasionally able to offer scholarships or find someone willing to sponsor a player. You can contact the director for more information and for a link to a scholarship application. contact Reagan at nwahornetsbasketball@gmail.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are a coach or scheduler and would like to schedule a game with us, you can contact our basketball director, Reagan Baber, at nwahornetsbasketball@gmail.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a list of trainers that we trust, and several of our players have trained with them. They all offer private and small group lessons. You can contact them for details on cost and availability.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We didn't have an 18U Boys team in 2023-24, but we are excited that we will have one next season. Several of the 16U boys will move up and we are expecting to add a few more players to the team as well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our 16U Boys had an incredible season and took home a lot of hardware!! Many of the players are returning next year, and we are expecting to add few new players as well. Next season should be another great season for our 16U boys team!!

State Tournament - 2nd Place (Conner Baber, Josh Castenada, Blake Greer, and Jace Hudsonpillar made the all-tournament team)

Regional Tournament - Div 2 2nd Place

National Tournament - Div 3 Final Four (gold ball winners), 3rd place overall

(Blake Greer was selected as a National Tournament MVP)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our 14U Boys had a great season! A few of the players will be moving up to 16U, but there are some returning players, some new additions, and some 12U players that will be moving up next season. We look forward to another great season building on to the success we had last season.

State Tournament - 2nd Place (Gunner Gunville, PJ Hillabrand, Cole Hudsonpillar, and Logan Pantier made the all-tournament team)

Regional Tournament - Didn't place, but won a couple of games. This was the first time in many years we have taken a team to the regional tournament, and on top of the wins we gained some very valuable experience.

National Tournament - We didn't place, but played some hard fought games, and were able to win a few of them. We also got to end the season on a high note by winning our last game of the year in exciting fashion.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our 12U Boys had a fantastic season and brought home a lot of hardware!! Many of the players were playing competitive basketball for the first time this season which makes their improvement over the course of the season and their accomplishments even more impressive. A few of the boys will return next season, and a few will move up to 14U, but these boys are going to be a lot of fun to watch!

State Tournament - 2nd Place (Luke Bradley, Michael Duggar, Van Kentner, and Hudson Rogers made the all-tournament team)

National Tournament - Div 2 Silver Bracket Champions, 3rd Place overall

(Their only losses at the National tournament were to the Div 2 champion and the Div 1 3rd place team. What an incredible finish to the season!!)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We didn't have a 10U Boys team in 2023-24, but we are hopeful and working towards having a team next season

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------