08/27/2026
Middle School Girls Basketball tryouts have come to a close and we are excited and proud to announce that both 7th and 8th grade teams will have 15 players on their roster. 💪🏼
I can hear you already— “15?! What the heck? That’s way too many. No one will get playing time. Why don’t they make two teams?”
Yes, you heard me correctly. 15 on each team after making cuts.
First- there is no physical way to keep two teams per grade. There aren’t enough schools to play to create a schedule for two teams. I have tried. I actually brought this option to our AD this time last year with the anticipation of this happening. The conference board told him it was not possible for girls. Yes boys have two teams per grade, because other schools do, too. No other school around us (to my knowledge) have two girls teams in one grade. In fact, many can’t form a full 7th and 8th grade squad and often combine to make one team.
Secondly- IT’S NOT ABOUT PLAYING TIME and our players (and parents) shouldn’t be obsessing over that at this level. An AMAZING characteristic of these two middle school groups is that most of these players play competitive travel basketball. That is where they will get their deep minute playing time. A big part of middle school season is about building camaraderie with teammates that you will be fighting to win championships with when you get into high school. We are still playing to win every game, trust me. But we will do that with giving kids who work hard an opportunity to be a part of it. There is no middle school Championship. No “All Conference” player awards and no conference leading scorer stats.
A few other reasons why we decided to keep the number we did:
Besides the fact that all 30 of these girls can dribble, pass, shoot, display a strong positive attitude, willing to work hard and they know the game of basketball; one of the biggest reason is development and retention. Middle school is often too early to know which players will become your best high school players. A 7th or 8th grader who is physically behind, inexperienced, or lacking confidence can look completely different two years later. Keeping 15 gives more girls access to our coaching, to practices, to competition, and to our program culture.
More reasons we made this decision:
•Protecting future numbers. We will eventually lose a few girls to other sports, injuries, families moving, or simply losing interest (which happens every single year.) That class can become very small by high school if we keep only 10-12 players in middle school. Starting with 15 gives the program a healthier pipeline. Next year Davison moves to the OAA Conference. Most of the schools in this conference have a Girls Basketball Freshman team. Davison currently does not, and if we were to only keep 10 players in middle school, we would continue to not have a freshman team. Next year is the first time in 10 years that we have the opportunity to have a freshman team. That’s how much our program has grown!!
•Better practices. 15 players gives you three groups of five. You can run 5-on-5 with substitutes, three-team competition, stations, and competitive drills without constantly stopping. This also provides more competition. Players learn that minutes are earned through effort, attitude, attendance, defense, and improvement.
•We are developing athletes, not just selecting basketball players. At the middle-school level, I’d rather give a hardworking kid an opportunity to develop than cut her because she isn’t one of the best 10 players at age 13. And ALL of these girls worked their tails off at tryouts. All of them.
•It strengthens our varsity program. The goal isn’t necessarily to create the smallest, strongest middle-school roster. It’s to create the largest possible group of committed, developing players who eventually COMPETE for varsity positions. When numbers are higher, more competition comes out.
At the middle school level, our job isn’t to predict who the best players will be at 17 yrs old based on who they are at 12 and 13 yrs old. Throughout my coaching years I have witnessed, right here in Davison:
•one of the smallest girls in middle school become one of our toughest and most valuable players on varsity.
•the tall, uncoordinated 7th grade girl that couldn’t stop falling and struggled to catch a ball, become a division II athlete.
•one of the less skilled players become one of our programs best shooters of all time by her junior year.
•the “volleyball only” kid who decided to give basketball a try in 8th grade, turn into a dominating basketball player who went on to play division I college basketball.
• and I have also seen the best player in 7th and 8th grade quit by their sophomore or junior year because they got burnt out.
…Our job is to develop these kids. And it’s what we continue to do every year. Keeping 15 players allows us to keep more girls involved, create competitive practices, protect the future of Davison Girls Basketball, and give late-developing players an opportunity to grow. Playing time may not be equal, but development opportunities will be.
So before you question what our middle school and high school coaches have decided is best for our program and ALL of our players, not just the “best” players; try to look at it through our lens. Davison Girls Basketball is growing rapidly and we couldn’t be more proud and excited to have so many hardworking girls want to be a part of it.
