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It's not just a game anymore
Today's aspiring basketball players need talent, money to be competitive
By Seattle Times staffShe's the legendary former Garfield High School basketball star, college All-American and Harlem Globetrotter who learned the game by playing with the boys on asphalt courts in Seattle's Central District.Joyce Walker now is being asked to restore glory to Garfield's girls-basketball program as the Bulldogs' head coach. Despite her personal dynamism and star appeal, Walker faces a disadvantage: Several of her players hail from families without much money. In girls basketball, success on the court has become a commodity. And money makes for an uneven playing field. Some parents devote thousands of dollars and hours to get their daughters on Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) select teams that play summer tournaments across the country. Participation is a prerequisite for any girl with realistic aspirations to play college ball. Parents send their daughters to expensive summer camps or hire personal trainers for them. Walker worked as a trainer-for-hire, at $45 an hour, for six years.
"It is economics," Walker says. "Their parents can pay the money to get their kids the type of training that is necessary." In the past decade, the power in Puget Sound-area girls high-school basketball has shifted from inner-city schools like Garfield to more affluent suburban and private schools. In the Metro League, which is made up of five private and seven public schools, the last public school to win the girls-basketball championship at what is now the 3A level was Rainier Beach in 1989. Each private school has won the title since. No Seattle public schools were among the 32 teams competing in the girls state 4A and 3A championship tournaments last season. The brackets featured several local private schools and suburban public schools. It has been 20 years since Walker led Garfield to the state title. Her game got better playing pick-up ball. By the time she made her first AAU team as a senior, she was the most celebrated girls high-school basketball player in state history. "Some of the kids in affluent areas grow up with AAU," Walker says. "They start playing when they are 7, 8, 9 and 10. And some of our kids can't afford to do that." A girl with athletic talent who learns technique from an early age is poised to compete in high school. A girl with athletic talent - but no money - may never make the first cut. "It's very disheartening that we are starting to leave out young athletes. We've raised the bar so high, I think we sometimes forget what our goal was,'' says Suzy Barcomb, coach for the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. "And that was to provide athletic opportunities for young women. I don't like it that we leave out the average Joanne." Refining instincts Morgan Richards, a 5-foot-9-inch senior at Lakeside, a private high school in North Seattle, is one of the top players in the Metro League. She has played on AAU select teams since the fifth grade. She played last summer on the prestigious Seattle Magic 2001, at tournaments in Arizona, California, Nevada and Oregon. Her parents, Kerry and Jan Richards of Ballard, estimate they spent $5,000 to cover the costs. "I wish it didn't cost so much - because it is a financial drain on my family," Morgan Richards says. AAU play helped Richards hone her skills and learn the nuances of the game. Play with Magic helps market her to college scouts. "Magic coaches know the drill," said Richards, who has whittled her choices to three Ivy League schools. "They know how to get players seen." Players without summer-league experience stick out on the court. "You can tell who are the athletes with good basketball instinct but have not been able to refine that instinct," she says.
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