Swish Girls Basketball: Better Than Travel Ball?

Travel ball or not to travel ball, is that your question?

Are you looking for an opportunity for your daughter to develop into a truly competitive player but not sure about the high team fees, travel costs, long weekends and pressure on your family? Are you wondering if there's a better way? The short answer is yes! Unless your daughter is ready to be seen by Division I college coaches, there is definitely a more family friendly alternative than travel basketball. Youth sports culture has been lied to for over a decade now. We've been told that the way to develop into a truly competitive athlete is to get on a travel team and play. While our culture is telling one story, frustrated parents tell another. "My daughter has been playing travel basketball for three years and she's not gotten any better", is a story I hear over and over again.

We know why this happens. It's really very simple. Coaches and programs put far more emphasis on preparing to win games than developing players. An exorbitant amount of time is spent on team preparation like presses, press breaks, inbound plays, offensive strategy, etc., when all along what the girls need most is to develop solid man-to-man defense, ball handling, shooting, scoring and decision making skills. These skills fall by the wayside in an attempt to prepare the team to win the next tournament. At Swish Atlanta, we are developers rather than gatherers. We want to develop players so they enjoy the game more and choose to play for a long time. There's a reason so many girls drop out of the game. It's simply not fun if you're not comfortable and confident on the court and are unable to put the ball in the basket with any level of consistency.

Swish Girls Basketball answers the call. Our family friendly approach provides each player with two skill development/decision making sessions per week plus the ability to play internal games every Friday night officiated by Georgia Officials, LLC. This internal games approach gives us the freedom to focus exclusively on helping players learn the game and be better prepared to compete at a higher level. With nothing on the line, girls have a freedom that they would never experience in a tournament setting - the freedom to experiment and try new new things. When they're truly ready to test their abilities against competition that's far more intense than their school teams typically play, we'll give them opportunities for outside competition....when it's appropriate.

Think of this as a hybrid between recreation, school, and intense travel basketball.

More training hours than rec programs.
More serious players to train and play with.
Better training than typical rec programs.
More consistent playing time than school or traditional travel ball.
Less stress on your family, schedule and finances than traditional travel ball.

Yes, your daughter can become a high level player without giving up entire weekends to do it! Online Registration is now open for Swish Girls Basketball - Spring Program. Here are some highlights of what your daughter will receive:

22 Training Sessions
No Sunday or Wednesday Practices
8 + Friday Night Internal Family Night Games
Uniforms (Jersey, Shorts, Shooter's Shirts)
No Overnight Travel – VERY Local Game Play (Gwinnett & Forsyth)
EVERYONE Plays
First Session: Monday, March 3rd*
Final Friday Night: May 15th*

* Training sessions are Monday and Thursday at Old Atlanta Rec Center in Suwanee from 5:45 to 7:15 PM. Friday night games are at Gwinnett Hall Baptist Church in Lawrenceville. For more details please see our Swish Girls Basketball page or contact me at (770) 995-0198, or bformella@swishatlanta.com.