BASKETBALL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE OF SAN JOSE
ABOUT BDL
BDL is a co-ed basketball league. Players are grouped according to their ages and/or abilities. The league has four divisions: Future Stars, Rookies, Juniors & Seniors and Adults. The guidelines for each division are shown below. These are just general guidelines. Players can be moved up or down the divisions depending upon circumstances.
The Rookies are not assigned to permanent teams. Depending on the number of rookies and their abilities, they are divided into groups at the first practice. On game day, the players are divided into teams within their practice groups. This rotation method allows the Rookies a chance to play among different players.
BDL Coaching Philosophy
Coach Bert started coaching at the YMCA but left to start his own league (BDL) in order to give the kids more practice time. BDL has always stressed the importance of attending practice and learning the fundamentals of basketball. These fundamentals include lay-ups, proper shooting, dribbling, defense, running the floor, and basic offenses. For those in the Junior or Senior Division, there is also the unwritten, unofficial rule that a player will be penalized by less playing time in the game if they do not attend practice.
Practices are designed to give all players within their group the same instruction. Typical practices conducted by other organizations will consist of players practicing among their own assigned team. In BDL, all the players within their division (Rookies, Juniors, and Seniors) are put into one group and practice together. Everyone participates in the same drills. This method provides each player the same opportunity to learn as another player within a group. It is a more efficient way to teach a large group and helps promotes better camaraderie among all the players. There is a head coach that leads and directs the practice for a group and several other coaches available to assist and provide hands-on training as needed. We emphasize the basic fundamentals as mentioned before. All coaches have prior basketball experience and/or coaching experience as well.
History of BDL
The league was made up of parents who volunteered as coaches, referees, scorekeepers, clock managers and took care of set-up and clean-up.
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Practices and games were held at Mt. Pleasant High School. There was only one division comprising of four teams with a total of 32 players. Their ages ranged from 11-14. Most of the players came over from the YMCA across the street, where they were already in teams together.
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By word-of-mouth, the league started to grow. Over the years, more divisions were added to accommodate the number of players who wanted to play. First a junior division was added; followed by the rookie division. As the older kids grew up and graduated from high school, an Adult division was started.
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In 2011, the league moved over to Silver Creek High School. With the help of Marijane Davis, and her relations with the Silver Creek basketball program, we were able to utilize their gym. Silver Creek had been very supportive of this league and has been vital in continuing this successful league. In return, many students from around the area, including Silver Creek students, were able to train and participate in our league to improve their basketball skills.
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In 2016, the league moved over to Sylvandale Middle School. With the help of Donald Taylor and his relations with Sylvandale's administration, we were able to utilize their gym for about two years before we moved to Andrew Hill High School. At Andrew Hill, we were able to restart the Adult division. Coach Kiira Rodriguez and Coach Daniza Rodriguez also developed the Future Stars division in 2021 to teach kids ranging from the age of 4 to 7.
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Our emphasis in BDL has always been to give the kids more practice time to work on different skills and develop into more complete players. During games, the league’s main concept has always been to give each player equal playing time no matter what their skill level.
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The league is a non-profit organization and has always highly depended on volunteers to successfully keep the league going and accommodate all the players that sign up each season. Fees always go towards the player’s uniform, gym time use, and equipment. The growth in our league has made it challenging to accommodate all players. However, thanks to all the hardworking volunteers, we are able to continue to allow more players to join our BDL family.