Paden City Youth Basketball

Rachel Kane is in her rookie year as the head of the Paden City Youth Basketball League. “We got off to a rocky start with this being my first year running the Youth Basketball League, but things are definitely falling into place, finally. When Covid struck, the kids missed out on having a regular basketball season, so some kids are picking up basketballs for the first time,” shared Rachel. She went on to explain the parents that stepped up to coach the kids this year have done an amazing job. Rachel believes they are the backbone of this whole organization. “If it wasn’t for them the league wouldn’t even be happening. They have also helped me put together 3 raffles to build funding for the upcoming years,” revealed the organization leader. Rachel finds great joy seeing parents step up and put their heart into something their kids are interested in, and knows it benefits everyone in the long run. Zack Miller, Jill Householder, Jason Yost, Ryan Yoho, Ashley Herbold, Marcus Herbold, Jeremy Anderson, and Mitchell Stewart are some of the parents that have gone above and beyond this year. Rachel wants them to know how much she appreciates them.

She even gave a glimpse into the future. “This year’s coaches and I have discussed upgrading the refrigerator for concessions and have thrown around the idea of running a basketball camp this summer to help kids stay interested and active in the sport.”

Rachel would also like to thank Paden City and New Martinsville’s businesses for donating to the raffles to help purchase jerseys and concessions for this season and new basketballs for next season. “It takes a village and we have a pretty good one. Fingers crossed for bigger, better things for the Youth Basketball League for years to come,” added Kane.