OBA Families,

We hope this message finds you and your family doing well and staying healthy.  Please take a minute to read some important information about the upcoming OBA basketball season.

First and foremost - yes, we are planning for a basketball season!  We absolutely want our kids on the court and will do our best to make that happen. No, we don’t know exactly what the season will look like but we are working hard to make it the best season we can.  The health and safety of our players and coaches will be our top priority.  As with everything else these days, we’ll ask for your patience and flexibility as we work through the coming months.  We expect the start of the school year and fall sports to provide us a lot of insight into when and how we can get travelling basketball underway.

Registration for the upcoming 20_21 season

• Registration is now OPEN!
  • Register at:  https://www.owatonnabasketball.com/register  
  • Registration deadline is Sunday, September 13th
• NEW this year is an online-only registration process.  The new process should allow you to complete everything needed online.
• If you do have any questions or would like to test out jersey sizes for your son or daughter, an in-person registration will also be available Monday, September 14th at Jaycee Park Pavilion from 6:00-7:30 pm.  OBA board members will be available to assist in anyway possible.  Regardless of if you plan to see us in person, we ask that you register online by the 13th.
• Please note that registration fees for the season WILL NOT be collected until closer to evaluations or shortly after.  We will use an online billing platform to collect payment this year.  More information will be made available in the coming weeks.

Registration Fees

• Registration fees for the 2020_21 Season are as follows:
  • 4th Grade - $260
  • 5th Grade - $290
  • 6th Grade - $325
  • 7th Grade - $360
  • 8th Grade - $360
• Registration fees were increased for this season.  The reason for the increase is 2-fold.  First, tournament registration costs are on the rise and will have a significant impact on our costs.  Tournament registration fees are our largest single expense.  One positive in this trend is associations are starting to move more toward a gate-free model, where admission fees are built into the registration cost so you will start to see more and more tournaments where you don’t have to pay for entry to watch your son or daughter play.   Second, the effects of COVID are expected to greatly diminish our home tournament revenue - which is one of our primary sources of revenue, allowing us to keep registration costs down.  Lower attendance, lower concession sales (if any at all) and higher costs to run the tournament due to COVID are all a factor. 
• If our season is significantly impacted by COVID - meaning the length of the season is shortened and # of tournaments we play in is impacted - registration fees will be refunded according to the impact on the season.  By not collecting registration fees until closer to the beginning of the season, we hope to simplify the process should the start of the season be delayed.  More details will be provided as the season nears.
• NEW!  4th grade teams will now play in 6 tournaments during the year vs. 5.  This will be  a change for this year and future years.

Evaluations

• Evaluations are currently scheduled for the evenings of Sunday, November 1st and Monday, November 2nd for all grade levels.  These are revised dates from what was originally published as the school district isn’t allowing outside activities in the schools until November 1st.  Please mark your calendars as player attendance is mandatory.  Specific dates and locations will be published soon.

Save the dates!  Home Tournament Dates are as follows:

• Girls Tournament - Jan 9/10th
  • 4th, 5th and 7th Grade on Saturday, Jan 9th
  • 6th and 8th Grade on Sunday, Jan 10th
• Boys Tournament - Jan 23/24th
  • 4th, 5th and 7th Grade on Saturday, Jan 23th
  • 4th, 6th and 8th Grade on Sunday, Jan 24th
• Commitment to work the home tournament as a parent/player may be impacted by COVID.  More to come closer to tourney time.

Thank you for your support of OBA.  Please pass this information along to others that may be interested in OBA (especially those younger players or new families considering OBA).  For any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the board and make sure to follow us on your favorite social platform for regular updates and news.

Facebook:  @OwatonnaBasketball
Twitter:  @OBA55060
Instagram:  owatonnabasketball

Stay safe and we look forward to seeing you in November!

Matt Ginskey
OBA President