The past several weeks have been tough on the Fuquay Varina Athletic Association membership. After acting for 22 years as the town’s representative for youth athletics, the town council voted to start their own sports program. But that hasn’t stopped FVAA from moving forward. In fact, the membership is more determined than ever to offer a quality sports program that is open to anyone that wants to participate, regardless of their residence or financial status. The first step was to make sure the winter basketball program would continue.

David Butts, the former basketball commissioner that helped grow the program for over 10 years, has returned to manage the program, which will offer a competitive program to the town’s offerings. “The town has put FVAA in a tough spot. The short notice meant a lot of legwork had to take place to ensure we’d have a place to play. With help from Wake County Public Schools, the Lillington Parks and Recreation program, and other private organizations, we’ve actually been able to acquire more gym space than the town offered in the past, and are ready to move on.”

What this means is that anyone, in our urban service area of southern Wake County, Harnett County and western Johnson County, will have a place to play, at a reasonable cost. For starters, FVAA is waiving their membership fee for basketball signups this season. All participants will pay the same fee, regardless of address. And the program is offering special incentives, including a players and coaches clinic featuring the Campbell Camels basketball coaching staff, and others. The program is also planning a wheelchair basketball league, to help those that may have to travel out of the area to play. These are just a few of specials that will help the program remain viable and competitive.

“Our focus is to stay inside the town limits as much as feasible, but also to reach out to those outside of the area, rather than develop a program that focuses on in-town residents while penalizing non-residents or families with financial hardships… “ Butts continues. “but our long term goal is to provide a program that offers competitive and recreational levels of play for all while ensuring quality coaching and a great, fun experience. The family can choose what level they want to participate in, and we will continue to offer a more cost effective solution for travel basketball programs such as AAU.”

Registration for the FVAA basketball program started Sept. 11, and continue well into October. Team selections will occur in November, with parents able to ask for pairings with siblings or friends when possible. Practices will start around Thanksgiving, and the season will run from mid-December through February. Ages 4-5 will have a development league that focuses on skills and team play. Minor leagues will be available for boys and girls combined for 7-8 year olds, and for both boys and girls starting with Junior 9-10, Intermediate 11-12, and prep 13-15 year olds.

For more information, contact FVAA at 919-552-5465, via email at fvaa@nc.rr.com, or on their website at www.fvaa.org.