DocDrew’s Swish Volume 1, Issue 11

By Dr. Paul Drew

Welcome to the eleventh issue of volume one of Swish, a weekly periodical with recaps and photos of Santa Monica YMCA youth basketball games, and other pertinent info such as standings, schedules, announcements, and updates from the program.

All good things must come to an end. This past weekend, the Santa Monica YMCA held its award banquets for all four divisions of the Fall season of youth basketball. It was a fun and entertaining season. There were exciting games and inspirational stories; but most importantly, all players developed greater skills, made new friends, learned to work together as a team, and had greater enjoyment playing basketball.

However, the Winter season of Santa Monica YMCA basketball has begun, and the gymnasium floor has been redone. The basketball courts not only have have an amazing gloss, but the are also glowing with the addition of new and brighter lights. Some teams are beginning their practices this week, while others will wait till next week after Christmas. Games will begin in January, which means “Showtime” is just around the corner.

If you were unable to get your child in the Winter season of YMCA youth basketball, then please sign up for the Spring season. Registration for Spring season will be available in person at the YMCA or online at www.YMCASM.org beginning February 1st, and the Spring Season will start on March 18th, 2019.

Diversity of Youth Sports

Youth sports provide an excellent opportunity for children to be exposed to different cultures. The inclusivity of youth sports, can help bring kids together from different races, religions, and ethnicities. Kids from all different backgrounds, learn to work together as a team. Basketball has the highest participation percentage of both boys and girls as evident from the graphic below from a study done at Ohio University.

https://onlinemasters.ohio.edu/blog/diversity-demographics-of-american-youth-sports/

YMCA basketball helps to promote diversity through inclusivity and acceptance of all kids regardless of their faith and background. We are all in this together, and we need our youth to become the leaders of tomorrow through acceptance and tolerance of all people.

Rookies

The Rookie banquet was a joyous affair with an arrangement of mostly 5 to 7 year olds enjoying pizza and juice, and conversing with each other about which television cartoon was their favorite. All Rookie teams were represented by coaches or a supporting parent, by talking about each of their players and what a fun season it was, and telling about how each player improved in their development of basketball.

Rookie champions were the Bulldogs, coached by Rick Moncher, and their star player Bella Kariger was awarded the Most Valuable Player. The following are the award winners from the Rookie League.

Rookie League

First team

Bella Kariger (Bulldogs) Most Valuable Player
Wally Levitt (Tigers)
Vitalina Moncher (Bulldogs)
Amir Enayati (Hawks)
Veronica Machala (Crows)
Elle Guggenheim (Cats)
Brandon Israels (Swans)
Jonathan Watson (Swans)
Dylan Kravitz (Crows)
Iwa Hashim (Tigers)

Second team

Tara Gohill (Cats)
Alan Larkin (Crows)
Kingston Andes (Hawks)
Chase Jenkins (Hawks)
Louis Meehan-Smith (Tigers)
Noah Levy (Bulldogs)
Connor Durcan (Bulldogs)
Ethan Pages (Crows)

Honorable mention

Rowan Woodruff (Cats)
Constantine Avramopoulos-Orlandos (Crows)
Tristan Hayes (Swans)
Liam Parr (Cats)
Ryan Drew (Hawks)
Jaxton Moore (Swans)

Rookie League All Rookie/Newcomer Team

First team

Elle Guggenheim (Cats) Rookie of the season
Rowan Woodruff (Cats) Newcomer of the season
Constantine Avramopoulos-Orlandos (Crows)

Second team

Luca Samson (Bulldogs)
Tanner Lehmkuhl (Bulldogs)
David Casparian (Hawks)
Benjamin Bassett (Swans)
Jake Silvera (Tiger)

Honorable Mention

Jerry Xu (Cats)
Riyaan Bhatt (Cats)
Richard Haro (Crows)
Devin Shao (Hawks)
Regan Shao (Hawks)
Oguz Aghayev (Swans)
Justin Kalkbrenner (Swans)
Randall Gallardo (Tigers)

Bantam

In the Bantam banquet, conversation amongst players mostly ages 7 to 9, shifted to which video games and YouTube videos were the best, but basketball took precedence, once the show began.

The Broncos were the champions, led by Most Valuable Player Dagmawi Ayele, and coach Kerri Keslow. The following are the award winners from the Bantam League.

Bantam League

First team

Dagmawi Ayele (Broncos) Most Valuable Player
Asher Eng (Packers)
Parker Keslow (Broncos)
James Cook (Broncos)
Josie Casas (Buccaneers)
Max Lewis (Jets)
Sammy Levi (Steelers)
Archer Aguilar (Titans)
Camden Goetz (Bengals)
T.J. Turner (Packers)
Asyu Aghayeva (Packers)
Bora Kocataskin (Rams)

Second team

Julian Weinerman (Bengals)
Kai Mevasse (Bengals)
Asher Zaczepinski (Bengals)
Alex Ghiassi (Broncos)
Amelia Morovich-Hess (Buccaneers)
Monika Diaz (Buccaneers)
Jarvis Wakefield (Rams)
Kahlo Lemond (Steelers)
James Petrovich (Titans)
Ronan Hill (Titans)

Honorable Mention

Gavin O’Brien (Bengals)
Owen Roberts (Broncos)
Marina Shickler (Buccaneers)
Vihaan Nawathe (Jets)
Noah McLaurin (Jets)
Gryffin Glowacki (Packers)
Cam Pariser (Rams)

Bantam League All-Rookie Team

First team

James Petrovich (Titans) Rookie of the Season
Gavin O’Brien (Bengals)
Kai Mevasse (Bengals)
Henry Brown (Rams)
Alex Ghiassi (Broncos)

Second Team

Dominic Drew (Bengals)
Jacopo Stabilini (Packers)
Noah Hagooli-Bolaños (Rams)
Michael Mikhail (Rams)
Liam Parr (Steelers)
Erol Besincioglu (Titans)
Desi Parra (Jets)
Vihaan Nawathe (Jets)

Honarable Mention

Luke Steelman (Steelers)
Rayan Etemadnia (Titans)
Ryan Cohen (Bengals)
Victoria McNary (Buccaneers)

Bantam League All Newcomer Team

(Only for first season playing in Santa Monica YMCA league)

First Team

Kai Mevasse (Bengals) Newcomer of the season
Alex Ghiassi (Broncos)

Second Team

Daisy Siegler (Broncos)

Honorable Mention

Marcus McCannel (Broncos)
Jackson Harper (Broncos)
Delilah Holsey (Buccaneers)
Megan Yang (Buccaneers)
Donna Enyati (Buccaneers)
Brendan Massett (Jets)
Sam Shteynberg (Packers)
Aiden Man (Packers)
Mason Mahmoudi (Steelers)

Rookie to Bantam League All Transitional Team

(Only for those moving from Rookie to Bantam this season)

First Team

Gavin O’Brien (Bengals) Transitional Player of the Season
James Petrovich (Titans)
Henry Brown (Rams)
Vihaan Nawathe (Jets)

Second team

Dominic Drew (Bengals)
Jacopo Stabilini (Packers)
Noah Hagooli-Bolaños (Rams)
Michael Mikhail (Rams)
Liam Parr (Steelers)
Erol Besincioglu (Titans)
Desi Parra (Jets)

Honorable Mention

Luke Steelman (Steelers)
Rayan Etemadnia (Titans)
Ryan Cohen (Bengals)
Victoria McNary (Buccaneers)

Minors

With players mostly ages 9 and 10, conversation began about who was the best player in the NBA, and “Did you see that dunk the other night?” Young boys and girls got together to believe that maybe someday, they too, would be stars in the NBA or WNBA. The Chiefs, coached by Brian Brick, were the Champions. Arjun McIntosh, of the Chiefs, won the Most Valuable Player.

The following are the award winners from the Minor League.

Minor League

First Team

Arjun McIntosh (Chiefs) Most Valuable Player
Daara Shafipour (Eagles)
Danilo Samardzija (Seahawks)
Richard Cortez (Giants)
Alex Brick (Chiefs)
Griffin Boccella (Chiefs)
Hunter Esposito-Doi (Bills)
Theo Haberli (Bears)
Aayan Lakhani (Eagles)
Parker Cappiccille (Falcons)
London Coleman (Giants)
Dean Phelan (Vikings)
Leo Sikora (Bears)
Kalen Anderson (Bears)

Second Team

Weston Keslow (Bills)
Darien Jones (Eagles)
Ryan Chambers (Giants)
Isaac Samy (Vikings)
Isley Williams (Falcons)
Miles Aguilar (Seahawks)
Eddie Stein (Bills)
TJ Turner (Bills)
Priya Mavasse (Bills)
Joseph Zak (Chiefs)
Matthew Hanasab (Falcons)
Emiliano Slesaransky (Seahawks)

Honorable mention

Holden Hagooli (Bears)
Ryan Schuster (Seahawks)
Roberto Sierra (Seahawks)
Jonathan Shu (Seahawks)
Leo Mooney (Vikings)

Minor League All Rookie Team

First Team

Daara Shafipour (Eagles) Rookie of the season
Theo Haberli (Bears)
Leo Sikora (Bears)
Kalen Anderson (Bears)
Eddie Stein (Bills)
Joseph Zak (Chiefs)
Isley Williams (Falcons)
Ryan Chambers (Giants)
Danilo Samardzija (Seahawks)

Second Team

Holden Hagooli (Bears)
Priya Mavasse (Bills)
Ryan Schuster (Seahawks)
Roberto Sierra (Seahawks)
Emiliano Slesaransky (Seahawks)
Leo Mooney (Vikings)

Honorable Mention

Asa Stiehm (Chiefs)
Justin Tun (Falcons)
Rowan Booher (Vikings)
Kayra Sanar (Vikings)

Minor League All Newcomer Team

(Only for first season playing in Santa Monica YMCA league)

First Team

Priya Mavasse (Bills) Newcomer of the season
Daara Shafipour (Eagles)

Second Team

Holden Hagooli (Bears)
Asa Stiehm (Chiefs)

Honorable mention

Becky Scholze (Falcons)
Aarov Asnani (Vikings)
Leul Belay (Chiefs)

Bantam to Minor League All Transitional Team

(Only for those moving from Bantam to Minor this season)

First Team

Danilo Samardzija (Seahawks) Transitional player of the season
Theo Haberli (Bears)
Joseph Zak (Chiefs)
Ryan Chambers (Giants)

Second Team

Ryan Schuster (Seahawks)
Leo Mooney (Vikings)
Rowan Booher (Vikings)

Honorable mention

Antonio Rodriguez (Bears)
Ben Felson (Chiefs)
Atobek Nasimov (Eagles)
Justin Tun (Falcons)

Majors

With maturity and growth, the older players at the Santa Monica YMCA, talked about game strategy and playmaking. Players who were mostly ages 11-14, received their awards for outstanding performances. Many of these players will be returning for the winter season, and some will wait to come back next spring. All players showed improvement and enjoyment for the game of basketball. Most importantly, all these players took steps towards becoming our future leaders through sportsmanship, encouragement to younger kids, and setting good examples for all of us to follow.

The Rams, coached by Brent Stoll, were the champions. The Rams Griffinn Pine won the Most Valuable Player. Griffinn also coached the Bantam league Packers, furthermore, passing down his knowledge to the next generation of young players moving up through YMCA basketball. The following are the award winners from the Major League.

Major League

First Team

Griffinn Pine (Rams) Most Valuable Player
Ben Dreifort (Broncos)
Keenan Bryant (Broncos)
Eli Levi (Colts)
Quest Miller (Colts)
Evan Daghighian (Dolphins)
Luke Kholsa (Dolphins)
Timosha Moncher (Packers)
Sam Rubin (Packers)
Xailoh Hermosillo (Raiders)
Sebastian Ramirez (Rams)
Gaspar Antal (Ravens)
Ariadni Potamianos (Panthers)

Second Team

Jason Tun (Broncos)
Charlie Downey (Dolphins)
Dom Kajota (Packers)
Michael Hanasab (Panthers)
Jaxon Glowacki (Panthers)
Shiva Mcintosh (Raiders)
Aviel Haroonian (Raiders)
Keean Stoll (Rams)
Bruno Bernacchi (Ravens)
Joey Little (Ravens)
Nifty Twerdos (Panthers)

Honorable Mention

Kayvon Abadi (Broncos)
Lorenzo Stabilini (Colts)
Bruno Picazo (Packers)
Eli Eng (Panthers)
Cy Backen (Raiders)
Anthony Sugars (Raiders)
Rama Karimi (Rams)
Orlando Popkin (Rams)
Gorden McLean (Ravens)
Conner Sullivan (Ravens)

Major League All Rookie Team

First Team

Aviel Haroonian (Raiders) Rookie of the season
Rama Karimi (Rams)
Anthony Sugars (Raiders)

Second Team

Jacob Burrows (Broncos)
Natasha Kohli (Colts)
Orlando Popkin (Rams)

Honorable mention

Taylor Chen (Colts)
Xavier Echiribel (Packers)
Clark Elliot (Ravens)

Major League All Newcomer Team

(Only for first season playing in Santa Monica YMCA league)

First Team

Anthony Sugars (Raiders) Newcomer of the season
Aviel Haroonian (Raiders)
Rama Karimi (Rams)

Second Team

Xavier Echiribel (Packers)
Orlando Popkin (Rams)

Honorable mention

Nathan Kashper (Broncos)
Jahrid Longsworth (Packers)
Shawn Sikder (Rams)
Leo Grossman (Rams)

Minor to Major League All Transitional Team

(Only for those moving from Minor to Major this season)

First Team

Natasha Kohli (Colts) Transitional player of the season
Jacob Burrows (Broncos)

Second Team

Taylor Chen (Colts)
Clark Elliot (Ravens)

Honorable mention

Jayson Badua (Colts)
Ben Farzam (Packers)
Joe Farzam (Packers)
Adi Petros (Raiders)
Cecilia Casas (Ravens)
Guy Carter (Rams)
Coral Izen (Rams)

This Week’s Profile:

Each week, Swish has a profile of a coach, player, or someone in the program who inspires all of us involved in Santa Monica YMCA basketball.

For this week’s profile, we are wishing a fond farewell to our assistant director, Barry Hendrix. Barry is moving on up in the music industry, and we are all happy for him. As the saying goes, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Barry has done everything from running the scoreboard, keeping stats, setting up the gym, refereeing games, coaching teams, and being involved in administrative duties of the league. Barry was a man of many talents, and will be missed by all of us involved with Santa Monica YMCA basketball.

DocDrew: How did you come about getting the position of assistant youth basketball director at the Santa Monica YMCA?

Barry: I knew I wanted to move to the LA area and always heard about how great Santa Monica was, so I called and asked if they had anything available and just so happens they were looking for a Youth Basketball Assistant. I drove up from San Diego for my interview with Peter and the rest is history haha! I instantly fell in love with the culture in Santa Monica as well as the homelike feeling of the SM Y.

DocDrew: What do you enjoy most about the Santa Monica YMCA youth basketball program?

Barry: I’ve worked at two other YMCAs (St. Louis & San Diego), but the SM YMCA is unique in so many ways. The families are all close knit and everyone knows each other. It’s like all one big family! This leads right into the basketball program because all the kids know each other, the coaches know each other, and the parents all know each other so it makes everything that much more fun. This is the first YMCA I’ve been a part of where the basketball program is ran year round! There’s no way you can run a maxed basketball program year round unless you have an awesome, fun league that families love coming back to each season, and that speaks volumes to what Peter and everyone involved has done over the past several years.

DocDrew: What memories will you have of SMYMCA youth basketball?

Barry: There’s so many haha! I’ll definitely remember Peter “granting me” the opportunity to man the score’s table for the Major’s Championship my first season all by myself lol I’ll also always remember my 3 Minor teams I had the pleasure of coaching and all the kids I’ve seen develop and grow, not only as basketball players, but as teammates as well!
My favorite memories, without a doubt, will be handing out “Player of the Game” awards and seeing the smiles and excitement on the faces of all the kids and their parents!

Barry Hendrix keeping stats and working the scoreboard during a youth basketball game at the Santa Monica YMCA

Final Standings:

Teams are awarded 5 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 1 point for a loss, 0 points for a forfeit. Tournament games have greater point value. Teams are listed in their place in the standings with W-L-T and team points

Rookies:

Bulldogs 8-1-0, 43 points *League Champions*
Crows 6-3-0, 36 points #Crows beat Tigers head to head twice
Tigers 6-3-0, 36 points
Cats 3-6-0, 23 points
Hawks 2-7-0, 17 points #Hawks were 2-1-0, head to head against Swans
Swans 2-7-0, 17 points

Bantams:

Broncos 7-2-0, 40 points *League Champions*
Titans 6-3-0, 35 points
Packers 5-3-1, 34 points
Bengals 5-4-0, 30 points
Rams 4-4-1, 29 points
Jets 4-5-0, 26 points
Buccaneers 3-6-0, 21 points
Steelers 1-8-0, 13 points

Minors:

Chiefs 8-1-0, 44 points *League Champions*
Eagles 7-1-1, 42 points
Giants 5-2-1, 33 points
Bills 4-5-0, 27 points
Vikings 4-5-0, 26 points #Vikings beat the Seahawks twice head to head
Seahawks 4-5-0, 26 points
Falcons 2-7-0, 17 points
Bears 1-7-1, 15 points

Majors:

Rams 7-2-0, 40 points *League Champions*
Colts 7-2-0, 37 points *3 points deducted for unsportsmanlike conduct fouls
Broncos 6-3-0, 35 points
Packers 5-4-0, 31 points
Dolphins 3-6-0, 22 points
Raiders 3-6-0, 21 points
Panthers 2-6-1, 20 points
Ravens 2-6-1, 19 points

Special congratulations to Vitalina and Timosha Moncher. Recently, both kids won national championships in judo in their divisions. Timosha is the current State and National champion, but Vitalina has family bragging rights. She is also the current State and National champion, but won the triple crown of judo by also winning gold in the Junior Olympics this year.