Rec Basketball: A Love Note

Lee Shufro moved to Westport in 2020.  He serves on the executive boards of the Westport Youth Commission and Downtown Merchants Association. He is also a Rec Basketball coach. (His last year of organized basketball was the Stamford High School freshman team.)  

As March Madness approaches, Lee shoots the lights out with this paean to his passion. He writes:

Rec basketball holds a place dear to my heart. It is part of the mosaic that makes Westport such a great town.

Westport’s Park & Recreation Department operates the program, under the stewardship of Max Robbins.

Since 2019, he has done it all: promotion, registration, recruitment of commissioners and coaches, securing game officials, procurement of uniforms, creating practice and game schedules, and organizing the end-of-season events.

Fun is an important part of Rec Basketball.

The program includes pre-K and 1st- grade clinics, plus competitive leagues from 2nd grade through high school for boys and girls (though girls have not had a high school league since 2018).

This year there are 1,081 players — about 20% of all eligible students.

The program depends on adult volunteers. 174 have volunteered this year, mostly as coaches and league commissioners. As in other youth sports leagues, parents make the engine run.

I salute all the players’ parents. You schlep to schools for pick-ups and drop-offs.  You go to games intending just to watch, but you are cajoled into sitting at the scorer’s table, keeping track of fouls or maintaining the scoreboard.  Thank you! It truly does take a village.

Parents are part of the Rec Basketball village.

For the kids, it’s more than just a game. Their leagues became a social ecosystem. Post-draft Snapchats flow when kids find out who is on their team (and which one was “stacked”).

During the season they walk the halls, high-fiving a teammate who just scored their first basket or made a clutch free- throw.

Lunch tables buzz with game discussions, analyzed like an NBA finals game 7.

With 5 elementary schools feeding into 2 middle schools, and then into Staples, Rec Basketball serves as a bonding experience where everyone knows each other.

Rec’s formal rules, honed over decades, enshrine fundamental tenets of sportsmanship and equity.

First and most importantly: Everyone plays an equal amount of time. Rather than weed players out, Rec encourages players of all skill levels to participate. From the best players (often on travel teams) to kids who just like to hoop it up in their driveway, everyone plays the same. This rule is sacrosanct.

Playing …

Second: Great pains are taken to ensure the teams are fair. Leagues work together to draft players, so each team (at least on paper) is equal. That’s why we have tryouts – to evenly place players, for balanced rosters. Coaches want fun, fair and even contests.

All league regular season games are played for tournament seeding — which brings us to March Madness.

It’s the culmination of months of practice, and what distinguishes Westport’s league from other towns.

It is more than just a post-season tournament. Parks & Rec creates an entire format of fun games and experiences. From knock-out to 3-point tournaments, there is an activity for everyone.

After each team is eliminated, they get a mini-pizza party in the cafeteria. And of course, a champion is crowned. Queue up the “One Shining Moment” song!

… and warming up. (All photos courtesy of Lee Shufro)

I’ve been a volunteer coach since I moved to Westport in 2020 (my first season was post-Covid). Being a coach is one of the ways I’ve been welcomed to the town.

The season is long, stretching from mid-November tryouts to the championship in early March. Over the years, I’ve spent many hours in gyms rating players.  I’ve huddled with other coaches at Viva Zapata, drafting players with spreadsheets rivaling those found on Wall Street.

I’ve sent countless emails to parents to “remember to bring water to the game,” with play-by-play game stories. It’s been a true labor of love.

If I may speak for all players, coaches and parents: Just like all youth sports, it has been a massive commitment — but well worth it, on and off the court.

Many times I’ve been in a restaurant when a parent says hi, and thanks me for coaching their son years ago. I’ve formed bonds with other coaches, as we post game results and smooth over any issues via text chat. I’ve coached alongside other parents for years, building a rivalry that exists only in my head.

Lastly and most importantly, Rec Basketball has given me a platform to bond with my son.

We’ve been through it all. It’s crazy. but one of my fondest memories of Westport is his 5th  grade team’s run to the Final Four as the last seed.

With March Madness quickly approaching, the Rec season will come to its close.

As my son enters Staples next year, this merry-go-round will eventually stop. We will both graduate Rec Basketball. We will turn the page on another chapter of his childhood.

Goodbye and goodnight, Rec Basketball. I love thee!

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