Southwestern Youth Association Sports

SYA Travel Basketball FAQs

Q: What is my child’s age group ?
A: Teams will be formed based on the grades that players are in for such season; there are very limited age restrictions, but generally teams will be formed based on what grade the player is in for that season.  Summer league, players will play in their "rising grade", (the grade in which the student will attend at school the upcoming school year).

Q: Can my child play SYA Winter Travel? We live in Ashburn, Chantilly, etc.
A: FCYBL’s philosophy is to build commuinity-based teams. As such they limit each program to specific zip codes. SYA can only select Fairfax County residents in the Centreville/Clifton area. Specifically, you may try out for an SYA Travel team only if you live in these zip codes: 20120, 20121, 20124, 22030, & 20151.
SYA Travel policy: While FCYBL allows up to two “out-of-zip” Fairfax County players per team, SYA’s mission is to to develop Centreville/Clifton/Fairfax area basketball players. Therefore SYA will only allow “out-of-zip” players to participate on our teams on a case by case basis with the approval of the SYA Travel Commissioner.
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Q: How do I register for Winter Travel?
A: NEW Winter 2021-22:  All players interested in trying out for one of our travel basketball teams need to register for basketball tryouts. Once evaluations are completed, selected players will be sent instructions on how to complete the travel registration. Register for travel tryouts here: register online.

Q: What are the travel requirements?
A: FCYBL hosts games throughout Fairfax County and the cities of Alexandria and Arlington. We do not travel to MD, DC, nor outside of the county.

Q: What is the time commitment?
A: Select teams practice two times per week at local schools. Practice starts in October and ends in February. Each team plays a 14 game regular season starting December 1 that ends in February. The season culminates with a single elimination playoff tournament in the first two weeks of March.10 and 11-year-old age teams play only Saturday and Sunday games. Older age groups play games on weekends and a few weeknights. And, since regular league games and practices are suspended over the Winter break, we also encourage coaches to select a Holiday tournament. None of the extra tournament costs are included in the registration fees – each team decides how best to divide the entry fees.

Summer travel games are held weeknights at 6:15, 7:30 & 8:45 in Fairfax County School gyms.  Regular season games begin June 15th and run through July 17th with playoffs complete by July 24th.

Q: Once a player makes a Travel Team are they guaranteed a spot the next year?
A: No. Players are selected based on ability. The Travel program does everything possible to make the selection process as fair as possible. It is a fact that most Travel players return and play the following season. However, this does not mean that SYA views these players as having a guaranteed spot on the following season’s roster. All positions on all rosters are open to all competitors on a season-by-season basis. 

Q: How are players notified if they make or do not make a Travel Team?
A: Each coach varies in how the make selections, but most notify the players during the last tryout. Posting a list with tryout numbers or phone numbers is a common method, while some coaches prefer to phone player’s homes. This is by far the most difficult part of the season for both the players and coaches. 

Q: Are there any participation requirements for players?
A: SYA requires that each player participate in at least 25% of game minutes. Injury, game ejection, poor attendance at practice, and late arrival may nullify this requirement at the Coach’s discretion. Our stated goal is for each coach to make playing team decisions transparent to all players and further, to develop all players so that they can contribute significantly more than 25%.

Q: How many players are on a team?
A: Winter team rosters are typically ten (10) players. Rosters may deviate from ten player roster with approval of the SYA Travel Commissioners.

Q: Who are the coaches and teams?
A. We are actively interviewing coaches for all of our teams. If you are interested in coaching a Travel team, see our website for an application.

Q: If I have more questions about the Travel program, how can I get answers?
A: Please contact SYA Commissioner ( Josh Purdy). Watch our web site, www.syasports.org, for more up-to-date information and tryout schedule.

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Office Location:
5950 Centreville Crest Lane
Centreville, VA 20121
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 471
Centreville, VA 20122
Phone: (703) 815-3362
Fax: (703) 815-2180
E-mail: admin@syayouthsports.org