Junior League provides
early start on skills

[Times photo: Steve Hasel] Tom Densmore helped start the summer-long Junior Hurricanes Youth Basketball League 10 years ago..

By ANTONYA ENGLISH

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 19, 2000

INVERNESS -- When Tom Densmore began to survey the Citrus County high school basketball scene a decade ago, he noticed a disturbing trend: Most of the top high school players were transfers from other areas.

They also were much better than the home-grown talent.

"Kids were moving into this area that were so far ahead of our kids," Densmore said. "We knew we needed to develop better basketball skills."

Densmore decided something needed to be done to level the playing field for county athletes. With the help of Mike Downing, Densmore organized the Junior Hurricanes Youth Basketball League 10 years ago in an effort to teach fundamental basketball skills to the county's young players, while developing skills for the future.

With only a small article in the newspaper to advertise the league's organization, the men embarked on a project that has grown into a labor of love and a strong teaching tool.

"The idea was to develop the kids' basketball skills," Densmore said. "The year we started the league, the Citrus varsity team was almost all kids from out of the area, places like New Jersey. And they had all been playing since they were 7 or 8. The bottom line is that kids who start playing at seven years old are a lot better off than kids who start playing in seventh grade."

The Junior Hurricanes League began with 110 youth players, which surprised Densmore even though he felt there was a need for the program.

"We figured out how much it would cost per kid -- insurance, uniforms, basketballs and using the facilities," Densmore said. "We based the price on if we put 10 kids on a team and decided that's how much it would cost per kid. And we just played amongst ourselves."

Bobby Kirby has been playing with the Junior Hurricanes League for five years. Kirby plans to try out for the Inverness Middle School team this year and said he thinks being in the league has helped him get ready for middle school competition.

"I've learned more about basketball," said Kirby, a 12-year-old seventh-grader. "It gets more competitive (every year). I feel like I have a better chance to make the (IMS) team."

Eleven-year-old John Campbell is a teammate of Kirby's in his first year with the league.

"My dad wanted me to play a sport and I decided to play basketball," he said. "I like it (the league play). It's fun."

It also is huge. The program has grown in the past decade, far exceeding what Densmore had expected.

The Junior Hurricanes Youth Basketball League is now 340 players strong and boasts teams in four age groups: 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14.

"Absolutely, it did get larger than we expected," Densmore said. "It was a lot easier to run it with 110 kids. We run it now nine weeks in the summer from June until August with nine games at Citrus and eight games at the (Inverness) middle school every Saturday. We started with just Mike and me, but we've been fortunate to always have a lot of people want to coach and help out."

Densmore believes the level of play among young athletes in Citrus County has improved in the 10 years the Junior Hurricanes League has been around. He's seen it firsthand as Citrus' junior varsity boys basketball coach.

"Before, we were finding that even on our ninth grade team we were having to teach them how to do things as simple as a left-handed layup," Densmore said. "They are so much farther ahead now when they get to middle school. They've already learned the basic skills."

Densmore is proud to point out that Citrus High children are not the only ones to have benefited from the league. Many of the top players at Lecanto and Crystal River are former Junior Hurricanes players.

But Citrus definitely is reaping the rewards. Of the 11 Citrus varsity players on the 1999-2000 team that won 16 games for head coach Jimmy Thomas, all but one had participated in the league.

"It's just fun to watch the kids come play," Densmore said. "You get to know them before they come play for your (high school) team. A lot of times we've watched them play for eight years."

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