2023 Jr Huskies

Who are the Jr Huskies?
Jr Huskies is a competitive feeder basketball program for boys slated to attend Naperville North High School. Our organization strives to provide a fun, safe environment for future Naperville North basketball players to learn and improve their skills. Our primary goal is to prepare the boys to play basketball at the high school level the North way!

Who can play for Jr Huskies?
The Jr Huskies program is open to 3rd through 8th grade boys that live within the Naperville #203 School District, and feed into Naperville North High School.

When are tryouts?
2023 / 24 season tryouts will be in August of 2023. 

We are planning on having two teams at each grade level.

There is a $20 tryout fee to be paid online at registration or at check-in.

How many players on a team?
Ideally there are 8-10 players per team. With the inclusion of practice players, there may be some situations where a team may have up to 12 players.

How are teams selected?
Teams are selected during the tryouts based upon ability and team need.  Evaluations are conducted during the tryouts by Jr Huskies Director, the Asst Director, current coaches, and past coaches. Typically players are evaluated on dribbling, shooting, defense and overall basketball skills. The game of basketball has long been a game of height in addition to ability. Due to the fact the boys develop size and ability at different paces there may be situations where a taller player is selected over a smaller player that may be more advanced skill wise.

How are coaches selected?
Jr Huskies coaches are linked to the Naperville North Basketball Program. They are current North basketball coaches, North boys basketball alumni, and in some cases Naperville #203 middle school coaches.  We also selectively use strong AAU coaches and Parents.

Typically Coaches that are considered in “good standing” from the prior season are afforded the opportunity to continue coaching.

All coaches are required to complete a background check each season.  We also have mandatory Coaches training.

What is the cost to play Jr Huskies?
Our fees are evaluated each year based upon the program overall costs, including insurance, gym fees, league fees, tournament fees coaching, professional training, equipment, and miscellaneous costs.  With rising costs and inflation we are proud to announce we are able to hold our fee structure!   Our fees for 2023 will be as follows:

--All Players - $800

There will be an incremental uniform package fee for all players.  

Training and Development

To continue to improve our services to our student athletes this coming season we want to increase our training activities. Both Coach training and Player Development training.  

Coach Training:  One of our biggest assets in the program is our Coaches.  We work closely with the NNHS coaching staff and former players familiar with the “Huskie Way” to lead our future High School players.  As such, we will have some new and young coaches.  We want to prepare them and teach them in areas such as:

• Creating a practice plan
• Player development
• Game management
• Coach / Player Relationship
• Accountability of Players
• Teaching life lessons beyond basketball

Player Development Training:  Once again this year we will partner with SAM FRANKLIN BASKETBALL to provide our athletes with multiple sessions of direct in house skill training.  Sam trains some of the top High School, College, and Professional athletes in the Chicagoland area.  These training sessions are available to all Jr Huskies players at no additional cost.

In addition in 2023 we will offer Shooting and IQ Night.  One night a week for one hour we will focus on shooting from all 3 levels.  Furthermore, there will be situational training to focus on the mental aspect of the game.

Speed and Agility Training: Once again we will offer Speed and Agility training to our athletes.  The goal is to improve the players strength and overall athleticism.  We want to build athletes with the skills to compete at the highest level!  We are proud to welcome back Coach Michelle Seyller.  Michelle is a former NCAA Track Athlete, Obtained a BS degree in Kinesiology, and is the Regional Director of Pilates at Life Time Athletics. 

What is the season commitment ?
Our season starts in late November, the players practice for two weeks, before we begin tournament and league play.  Games will officially start early December and run through late February. 

There are two or three practices each week for 1.5 hours. We practice between 5:00 pm and 9:30 pm at Naperville North High School.

We play between 30-35 games each season. Most teams play a combination of league games, within the DuPage Youth Travel Basketball Leagues, and tournaments. Games are mostly on  Sundays. Play can range from 2 games in a weekend to 5+ games depending on tournament schedule/league schedule.

During the course of the season it is very important that Jr Huskies Basketball be prioritized above other sports and teams.   Attendance  to practices and games are crucial to the development of each players skills and understanding of the team concept and capabilities.