Mahwah Youth Basketball Starts First Special Needs Clinic

For the first time, Mahwah Youth Basketball is running a clinic for a group of athletes that doesn’t always get to play.

The rec sports booster league is running its first-ever clinic for special needs children in the township, the group announced last week. The “All Star Basketball Clinic,” organizers said, will be open to kids in grades three through eight that “might not be ready or comfortable” with the structure of traditional rec basketball.

“I have been involved in our youth program in town for the last seven years and we have a great travel and rec program, but it seemed like there was a large group of young people we were not reaching,” TMYSB Basketball Coach Jeff Morris said.

Morris got the idea for the clinic from activities that his own young daughter, who has some developmental disabilities, has gone to.

“She had participated in a soccer program in Ridgewood that is offered for children with special needs and I thought it would be nice if we could do something like that with our basketball program,” Morris said.

“We have a good group of coaches volunteering and will have some of the older players in our program coming to help as well.”

The clinic starts next Saturday and will run for six weeks at the Joyce Kilmer School. Registration in the program is $20.

Get more information in the attached flyer or on the youth basketball website.