Diamonds in the Valley
The exodus of local basketball talent to Los Angeles travel clubs.
A blog about Sports & Recreation.
|
There's Diamonds in the Valley. November 09 
RSS 2.0    Share!
|
|
|
There's Diamonds in the Valley.
Location:
1616 U.Street,
Bakersfield, CA 93301
October 7, 2009
There’s Diamonds in the Valley
Kevin Bush
A well known fact is that the Central Valley has for many years produced outstanding high school basketball talent.
If the Central Valley can produce the likes of Vern Mikkelsen, Freddie Boyd, Cliff Pondexter, Lonnie Shelton, Pete Verhoeven, Chris McNealy, Winston Crite, Bison Dele, Chris Childs, JR Henderson, Deshawn Stevenson, Tyson Chandler, Chris Jeffries, Torraye Braggs, Robert Swift and Brook and Robin Lopez, why on earth don’t we have the college coaches descending on Bakersfield with scholarships in hand. The answer is “they don’t have to”. They can see our elite kids, along with the many other southern California athletes from Los Angeles when they attend the AAU sanctioned tournaments throughout the country each year.
The process goes as such: A Los Angeles based Travel Club armed with shoe company finances comes into Bakersfield and recruits or compensates a well intentioned but shortsighted coach/scout to bring our most talented athletes to their program. The Club then travels to the major tournaments with their squad. Most often the club team is developed around a top college prospect and our athletes are there to fill out the team.
We believe that there is a better way……We believe that we can develop teams of Valley athletes that can compete at the National Level, thereby getting the athlete the exposure needed and also bringing attention to the Central Valley.
As an example of what could be done, this summer Bakersfield United Sports Association conducted a joint project with South Valley Fever (Coach Marco Vasquez), a well known and respected travel club from Hanford. Our organizations share the same passion of stopping the exodus of our most talented ballers to Los Angeles and Oakland. We formed a team made up of local ballers - Jordan Burris, Chris Dixon, Randall Jackson and Kaylin Evans and Hanford’s Kevin Bailey, Rakim Brown, Rodney Webster and Cody Brice. With the assistance of Local Coach Mike Avery this team won the Las Vegas Summer Showcase (Star Visions), won the Cen Cal Showdown, Semi finalist in the HAX Memorial Day Bash, and Elite 8 finisher in the Double Pump Tournament in Denver Colorado. They defeated top travel club teams LA Rockfish (Adidas sponsored), Los Angeles Pump and Run (Adidas sponsored), IEDP (Adidas sponsored), Team Reebok, Belmont Shore, 2D1 and Nike Sponsored Boise Flight. The highlight of the summer was the hard fought 7 point semi-final loss to the Nationally Ranked (5th) Compton Magic. The successful summer earned this team the distinction of being ranked 3rd in the State of California.
Our goal……is to organize the travel coaches, develop elite travel teams with the top players in the valley and promote our local kids by conducting leagues, camps, academies, showcases, and tournaments locally and regionally. We believe that we have enough elite talent in the Central Valley to lure College Coaches over the Grapevine, thereby giving, not only our elite athletes but also our mid level athletes opportunities to display their talent.
Our progress thus far…..We have started the process at our facility at 1616 U. Street in Downtown Bakersfield. Our team has developed the 1st ever Fall League for local middle and high schools, we have formed a committee of local coaches including NBA Retired Chris Childs and Travel Club Coaches Terrence Hubbert (Gladiators) and Devon Johnson (Prodigy).
We are seeking input and financial assistance from the Central Valley Community. Mr. Bush can be reached at 661 204-5994 or Bakersfield.United@gmail.com. 1 comments from 1 users
1
posted by
JacquelineF
on Nov 19, 2009 at 10:28 PM
Your athletes should have at least a pair of reebok shoes, it would help a lot for the muscles. Everyone is looking for an easy way to do anything, and the Reebok Easytone shoes are purported to help tone your upper legs and your backside. However, like most things purported to be a quick fix, even Reebok Easytone shoes, it isn't exactly what it sounds like. The shoes naturally offset balance, making muscles work more than normal. That said, they will take time to work, and you have to be out walking for them to work. Therefore, you won't have a Baywatch approved derriere for some time, or at all – even if you get instant cash loans to get Reebok Easytone shoes, you will have to put in the work to shape up.
1
 Loading Stories
Advertisement |
