HATFIELD CAL SPORTS YOUTH TEAMS HONORED
Seventh-grade team takes national basketball title
HATFIELD TWP » Two teams of teens from Hatfield were recognized last week for placing among the best basketball players in the country.
Seventh and eighth grade members of the CAL Sports Academy’s AAU basketball teams were honored for finishing in first and fourth place respectively at recent CAL AAU national tournaments.
“Over the last two years, they have dedicated themselves to, not just being exceptional athletes with great character, but then spending the time, and the effort, and the passion necessary — which is a significant amount — to go and become national champions,” said commissioners President Tom Zipfel.
“We are remarkably happy to have them here in Hatfield, and we are very proud of their success, not only now but for the many years they’ve been with us,” he said.
The CAL Sports Academy is based on Christopher Lane in Harleysville, with several other locations across the area, and local academy owner Corey Lord is a Hatfield resident, as are the members of the two teams recognized by the board on Aug. 22. The Hatfield CAL Sports seventh grade AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) Cobras earned the top rank in their Classics division, Zipfel told the board, and recently won the national
— Hatfield commissioners President Tom Zipfel “We are remarkably happy to have them here in Hatfield, and we are very proud of their success, not only now but for the many years they’ve been with us.”
championship for their age 13 and under division — a victory coach Aaron Dean said was not an easy one.
“We started out in Hampton, Virginia, three years ago, and we ended up 2 and 3. Last year, we were back in Hampton again, and we ended up 4 and 1, and this year, we were in North Carolina, and we went 5 and 2 and won the classic division at Nationals,” Dean said.
“It was so funny: we lost our first two games, and it looked like, ‘Uh, what kind of weekend were we gonna have?’ Then we won five straight. They got hot,” he said.
Dean credited the turnaround to a team meeting the players called after the second loss, and said the team was easy to coach after multiple years together.
“Once you know what their strengths are, they know the system, all you have to do is what I told them: ‘Go perform. It’s not on me, you guys go perform,’ and they gave it their all,” Dean said.
“You guys should be proud, because they represented Hatfield, they represented CAL Sports, and they represented their families,” he said.
Each team member sported a gold medal as they received a formal proclamation from Zipfel, and handshakes and a round of applause from the board
and their friends and family. Dean said it may not be the last time the township hears from them.
“The names you hear tonight, just listen out for them for the next few years, because these guys are going to have some big things in the future,” Dean said.
The eighth grade team received similar proclamations recognizing their fourth place finish at the national tournament, and coach Tony Hall said he has been proud to watch his players grow.
“There’s a lot of people who put into these young men, and they spend a lot of time, they sacrifice a lot of summer hours” to work on their skills, Hall said.
“When a lot of kids are
hanging out at the pool and doing other things, these guys are in the gym, they’re working on their bodies, they’re working on their game, and they want
to go somewhere,” he said.
Zipfel said, after coaching in prior years and watching his son Owen on the seventh grade team, he knows the countless hours each player, and their family, puts in to the program.
“I can attest to the early mornings, the late nights, the long weekends, the traveling, the playing in hot gyms, the playing in cold gyms, the good referees, the bad referees,” Zipfel said.
“Boys, we are remarkably proud of you, and it’s not because you won basketball games. It’s not because you will forever be able to say you were national champions for your age group. It’s for the young men you have become,” he said.
For more information on CAL Sports Academy visit www. Cal Sports Academy. com, search for “CAL Sports Academy” on Facebook or follow @CALSportAcademy on Twitter.