Cray Draws we had a similar experience. However, academy is now fully staffed and kids are once again doing age appropriate drills. The academy has been great for my kids. Particularly my 11 year old daughter.

This review is for the Academy specifically. Ive taken my daughter for several months and I really like that they offer the Academy several times each week and that families can drop in as often as is convenient for them without having to sign any kind of commitment. BUT... my daughter is usually one of the younger players there (age 7) and, quite often, there is just one coach for all the kids. The problem with this is the age and ability range of players. There are 7 year olds who are fairly new at basketball and 17 year olds who have been playing for many years. The drills have been way too hard for many of the younger kids and I notice several of them getting frustrated. Ive seen more than one kid come out crying and my daughter now protests going to Academy, though she used to love basketball. She now says that shes no good and wants to give up. In the past the Academy had two or even three coaches for each session and they split the kids into groups by ability. My daughter was challenged but had fun and didnt get stressed about not being as good as some other kids. The drills theyve expected her to do are WAY too hard for beginners and that should be obvious. Another big problem, some of the coaches are rude to the kids. Often its in a playful way and the kid gets it, but the coaches can be harsh, aggressive, and unapproachable. My daughter felt too scared to ask the female coach from Academy to repeat the directions that she couldnt hear over the 30 other kids (yes... 30 kids, 1 coach) in the group because she said she was too mean. Im really disappointed because this had been a great way for my daughter to keep practicing ball, even when camps for small kids werent in session, but its just ruining her love for basketball and that breaks my heart. I just cant take her back anymore.

My first expirence was horrible. The concept of this league is great but when you allow referees to work only to get a pay check the whole concept is a negative experience. The amount of contact allowed is not about the players but about getting the game over to keep on time. When the players get hurt from allowing this kind of aggresive play it is not about the players it becomes about the parents checkbook. I would seriously think about this when signing up. I am sure a majority of refs have players safety in mind a few do not.