Perry girls basketball coach Chris Morrow knows the trend must change for the survival of Jayette basketball in the ultra competitive Raccoon River Conference.  The first year head coach held a parents meeting late last week to try and figure out why youth kids aren’t going out for the sport of basketball in a town of 8500 strong.

“The numbers for Perry are not very good at all,” stated Morrow.  “To be honest, the way things are going, Perry is way behind the eight ball compared to other conference schools.  We need to get kids to come out and start working on skill development in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades.  Right now, we’re not pumping enough kids with skill development into the junior high and high school program.”

Morrow has been successful in recruiting high school kids to come out for the sport as evident by the participation of a full freshmen and junior varsity squad for the first time in a couple of years.  However, Morrow admits even though he was able to get kids out, there is a quick frustration factor with the new player since they are so behind everyone else in basketball skills.

“It’s great to get kids out but they get frustrated easier because they simply don’t have the work or time put in to match some of the opponent’s skill sets.  I want to try and get ahead of the curve and have kids enter into basketball during their grade school years so they can build a base to work around by the time they enter junior high.”

Prior to accepting the Perry varsity job, Morrow was one of the team leaders for Pure Prep Basketball Academy in Urbandale.  Morrow is trying to establish a connection with the highly regarded Academy and the Perry girls program.

“We are going to start taking 4th through 8th grade girls down to Pure Prep for a discounted rate so we can get some skill work in with teachers who coach varsity, college and even nba players and stars.  What a unique advantage for Perry to have this low cost option for their child to develop the necessary basic basketball skills needed to enjoy the sport and have success.  We just need the parents to be active and make sure their child signs up.”

Players will be given the opportunity to go through a 90 minute drill session with a professional for just five dollars a session every Wednesday night.  Morrow is hoping that parents will sign a car pool sheet to ease the burden of transportation every week making it a smooth and easy way for children in Perry to learn about the sport of basketball.  Morrow will also be running skill training in Perry once the varsity season is over.

“This is a critical time for Perry girls basketball.  Our numbers are way behind everybody else in the Raccoon River Conference.  It’s pretty simple.  Perry must change its current course if the Jayettes are to compete in the Raccoon River.  The youth participation must improve.”

Parents interested in signing their child up can contact the high school and talk to Morrow.