In the News!
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
"‘Little hoopers’ hone their skills in basketball class"
By JOELLE BURNETTE
ROHNERT PARK CORRESPONDENT
“It’s all about connection,” said Jessica Bull, known as Coach J by the children who attend her Little Hoopers classes. As in connecting basketballs with nets, youngsters with each other and parents with their children.
Aimee bunting, left, cheers at the Little Hoopers class led by Jessica Bull, right. Classes at Callinan Sports Center run through July 25.
With music playing, Bull guides the children through warm-up stretches. Then she and the parents join their 2- to 5-year-old children in singing an upbeat version of “The Wheels of the Bus.”
“Bounce and catch, bounce and catch … ” they sing, moving their arms to get the blood flowing before a 45-minute class in the main gym at Rohnert Park’s Callinan Sports Center.
Every aspect of the child-friendly class has been designed to offer an easy avenue into the sport’s terminology and skills. For instance, when Bull teaches the children how to dribble a ball, she shows them a photo of a dog and compares the skill to petting an animal.
“We don’t slap the dog,” she says, “we pet it.” She demonstrates with a ball, and the children try to mimic her.
Bull and her friend Myriah “Coach M” Volk were local high school and college basketball stars before they became stay-at-home moms and started Little Hoopers. Bull also coaches varsity basketball at Analy High School and, in the fall, will resume her teaching career at Apple Blossom School in Sebastopol.
Both women have young children and started the class in Sebastopol as a way for them to get back into the gym.
“It got us moving and grooving with our kids,” Bull said, especially the defensive slides. They also knew that it would be a good way to introduce young children to basketball in a fun, educational and non-competitive setting.
They added a Rohnert Park class in February.
“What’s our magic word in basketball?” Bull asked the players at a recent class.
“Ball!” they shouted. Communication is key, she reinforced as they began to learn passing.
The party atmosphere disguises the drills and lessons. A game of red-light-green-light teaches jump-stops; small multi-colored drill cones teach agility and color names. And when the children stop for water, they converge under a flurry of bubbles.
Drop-in classes continue through July 25 at the Callinan Sports Center, 5405 Snyder Lane, at 10:30 a.m. Monday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Cost is $8 per child or two for $12, with four-class passes priced at $30. Visit www.littlehoopers for more information.
Bull said, “It has been really rewarding” helping children discover the joy of the sport and teaching such a broad range of children. “It has made me a better mom, a better teacher.”
SANTA ROSA NEW MOMS EXAMINER
"Little Hoopers is a Slam Dunk"
by Jennifer Azevedo
Monday, January 31, 2011
Little Hoopers is a non-competitive basketball program in Sonoma County for children ages 2 to 6 years. Your little one will have a ball learning to dribble, pass, shoot and socialize in groups with coaches Jessica Bull and Myriah Volk (known as coaches “J” and “M”), both local former high school and college basketball stars.
Some may think that a skill like basketball is too advanced for a two year old, but one visit to a Little Hoopers event will prove them wrong. “People think it’s too complicated for the younger ones, but we have broken it down so that they are able to participate” says coach Volk. The kids use balls that are appropriate sizes for their hands, and even the drill cones are smaller. The multi-colored drill cones are not only used for basketball skills, but also to help learn colors.
On New Year’s Eve, the Little Hoopers along with their parents and siblings celebrated with an age-appropriate New Years Eve Hoopla! Packed full of activities for all ages, the kids played and socialized, enjoyed pizza and finally welcomed in the New Year at exactly 12:00 PM with a balloon drop and children’s musician.
This program began in Sebastopol, and with great demand has recently expanded to Rohnert Park. The Little Hoopers class is held from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m., on Thursdays in Sebastopol at the Community Center and on Mondays at 10:30 am at the Callinan Sports and Fitness Gymnasium in Rohnert Park.
Link: http://www.examiner.com/new-moms-in-san-francisco/little-hoopers-is-a-slam-dunk
SONOMA WEST TIMES & NEWS
"Little Hoopers to host New Year’s Eve HOOPla"
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| HOOPY NEW YEAR — Little Hoopers- Basketball Basics whill host its 2nd Annual HOOPla gala event at the Sebastopol Community Center on New Year’s Eve. The HOOPla offers an opportunity for parents and their younger children to celebrate the new year in a fun atmosphere. - photo by Amy Cavanaugh-Volk |
A children’s celebration
by Laura McCutcheon
Sonoma West Staff Writer
The second annual HOOPla, sponsored by Little Hoopers-Basketball Basics, is geared for children between the ages of 2 and 6, but siblings are welcome. Festivities are from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Dec. 31, at the Sebastopol Community Center, in the main hall. The party cost $5 and includes basketball hoops, hula hoops, bubble machines, hats and blowers, and pizza provided by Mombos. And, a children’s musician will perform interactive songs during the countdown.
“We thought it would be really cool for the kids to count to noon, and have a New Year’s celebration ’cause the parents get to go out later, so why not have the kids do it at noon?” Little Hoopers cofounder Myriah Volk said, noting the turnout at last year’s debut event was so good, she and cofounder Jessica Bull decided to make it an annual occurrence.
“We are grateful to Mombos for helping out. The pizza is fun for the kids and it’s nice to feed them. We are excited to do it again this year. It’s a good party,” Volk said.
Little Hoopers-Basketball Basics began in the summer of 2009 during a chance meeting at a park bench alongside the sandbox at Ives Park, Bull said.
Little Hoopers founding “moms,” Bull and Volk, “sat gazing at our three little boys, ages 2, 3, and 4, playing happily in the sand. In conversation, we discovered we were old high school basketball rivals; one the star center from El Molino and the other the star point guard from Healdsburg,” Bull said, noting both of them also played basketball in college. “We quickly bonded over our love of basketball, resolving to share this love with our toddler sons, and bring basketball to the community one child at a time. Thus, the birth of Little Hoopers- Basketball Basics,” she said.
With the support of the Sebastopol Community Center and local independent businesses, Little Hoopers- Basketball Basics has provided a fun, healthy and affordable “game time” to families in Sonoma County for more than a year, Bull said.
The non-competitive basketball program actively engages them in basic basketball drills and games, and is “committed to the physical, social and academic development of young children through the game of basketball. Learn to dribble, pass, shoot, and even slam-dunk a basketball with Little Hoopers … it’s all FUNdamental!” the Little Hoopers’ website states.
“We see these kids come in; 2-year-olds clinging to their mom’s legs, and then by the end of class we see them dunk a basketball and they are laughing. That’s a good feeling,” Volk said. “We watch them build confidence,” she said, noting often times the children think they can’t do it, and when they do, they smile with that type of confidence that someone can only get from achieving a goal.
There are also parents who find it difficult to believe that such young children can shoot baskets, Volk said. “But, we have hoops that are as short as a 2-year-old. And there is nothing simpler than putting a ball into a basket.”
Volk said they used their own children as guinea pigs when designing the class.
“We tried out our drills and games with our own kids to see what they were interested in, and what lost their attention,” she said.
Then Volk and Bull made a website and held their first class a year ago last October.
“We stood at the door of the community center and kids just came. Ten showed up the first day. Since then, we have had hundreds of kids showing up, coming from Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Santa Rosa, etc.” she said, noting they were just approached by someone with the Rohnert Park Community Center who asked them if they could run their class there, as well. Volk and Bull have also taken their class into several preschools, where they put on interactive assemblies.
“It’s been surprisingly successful. We get 100 hits a month on our website. And it came from the things we know. We both know basketball and we both have preschoolers,” Volk said.
On a national level, basketball in this age range isn’t really done, she said. “This is kind of a niche. We are even talking about going to a Warriors’ game and approaching them to see if they’d allow Little Hoopers to do something at half time. We want to think big with it, ’cause why not?”
The Little Hoopers class is held from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m., on Thursdays. The cost is $8 per child, per class, or two children (such as siblings) for $12. Bounce passes, good for four classes, are also available for $30.
