Jamestown Basketball Boosters provide opportunities, promote the sport

Mar. 19—JAMESTOWN — Basketball is a big deal in Michelle Neumiller's house and thanks to the Jamestown Basketball Boosters — she's found others in town with the same passion.

The Jamestown Basketball Boosters (JBB) is a group committed to promoting and supporting youth basketball for students in the Jamestown area.

"We are primarily providing basketball opportunities for youth in the Jamestown community along with also supporting our high school programs," said Neumiller, Jamestown Basketball Boosters president.

The booster members man the concessions stand at the high school games and provide food for the high school teams on the long overnight trips. Neumiller said the boosters have received requests to support team camps and are often asked to provide funds for new uniforms or warm up gear. JBB also provides a $500 scholarship to senior basketball athletes.

Neumiller has been on the JBB board since 2023. She became the organization's president in 2024.

"We want kids to be playing so if there is a request and we can meet it, we're very much supportive of it," Neumiller said. "It's been a fun experience — a lot of work — but rewarding."

Besides helping to bankroll Jamestown's youth and prep basketball scene, the JBB also offers a youth travel basketball program for students in grades 2-8. The purpose of the travel program is to offer athletes the chance to enhance skills and earn playing time while learning teamwork and sportsmanship.

Neumiller said there is 125 kids in the youth program that the Boosters help support.

The youth travel season runs from October to March. Coaches are responsible for signing their team up for tournaments. Teams usually compete in two tournaments per month. Most teams stay within a couple of hours of Jamestown but some have traveled as far as Minnesota and Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Each team practices twice per week. The JBB provides the gym space for teams to practice.

Neumiller said usually there is one girls team and one boys team per grade. This year, between grades 2-7, there were 12 travel teams.

If an athlete is interested in registering for a travel ball team, registration forms can be found on the Jamestown Basketball Boosters website. The registration cost for participants is $175 for grades 3-6. For grades 7 and 8, the cost is $100. For second graders, it is $100.

"We do offer scholarships," Neumiller said. "If we know of someone who wants to participate but maybe can't afford the full cost of participation — we work with them on that for sure. We want to make sure that if a kid wants to be involved, we make that happen."

Registration forms are not all that is on the website.

"If you Google, 'Jamestown Basketball Boosters,' a SportsEngine site will come up and it has a lot of information about volunteering," Neumiller said. "There are lots of different ways to get involved. You could volunteer to be in the concession stand, you could be on the board, you could coach or even help coach. Sometimes it takes two or three people at a second grade practice to help corral a bunch of 7 year olds for an hour.

"We greatly appreciate all of our volunteers because it does take a lot of volunteers to make things happen," she said.

A majority of those volunteers were in a Jamestown gym a couple of weeks ago.

The Boosters held its annual Spring Shootout on Feb. 23. Neumiller said the shootout boasted 25 more teams than it had in the past.

"We had 91 teams here, 138 basketball games, nine board members, two extra volunteers, lots of parents helping — it really takes a village," Neumiller said. "It was a 14-hour day but we pulled it off and it was worth it.

"It's fun having people coming to Jamestown for basketball," she said.

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