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Sports

Basketball Magnet; Eastern Hoop League attracts 1,700 kids

By Mike Grenier
Staff writer
Published: August 16, 2008

WENHAM — Nick Gagliolo of Peabody simply looks like a basketball player.

At 14 years old, he's nearly 6-feet-2-inches tall and he has a wiry, athletic build.

Chances are he'd be playing ball just about anywhere this summer, but he's most comfortable playing with his buddies for the Delta Equity team in the Eastern Hoop League.

Based in Hamilton and Wenham, the Eastern Hoop League has 1,700 players from grades 5 through high school playing for 120 boys and girls teams. The league has exploded to 400 girls on 42 teams this season, up from 14 teams just a year ago.

Gagliolo was playing in the league's 798th game of the summer Thursday night at Gordon College. The league is so well plotted out by founder Doug Lindland of Hamilton — who also utilizes courts at Hamilton-Wenham Regional, Endicott College and the Sterling YMCA in Beverly — that there have been only two game forfeits all season.

For Gagliolo, who is about to enter his freshman year at St. Mary's of Lynn, and his teammates, the league is an opportunity to play 15 to 16 games in a structured environment. Delta Equity ended up winning the ninth-grade boys championship with a 48-29 win over Visionary.

"This is a competitive league," said Gagliolo, whose Delta Equity teammates are headed for Peabody High, St. John's Prep and St. Mary's. "You learn a lot, and we've had a lot of close games. I'm just trying to get better, especially shooting and rebounding."

Defraying costs

Kevin Moran, the St. Mary's head coach who is in charge of Delta Equity's summer team, knows that his players are eager to break into the high school ranks within a year or two. He makes sure that all 11 of his players get quality playing time. There is ample opportunity for everyone, since the league runs from late June until mid-August. Every team is guaranteed 10 games, and the playoffs are a double elimination format.

"A league like this allows kids to play on a regular basis throughout the summer," Moran said. "As coaches, it's a developmental thing. We want to get these kids ready for high school.

"This is a good setting for the kids. They're young and they're playing in college and high school gyms. It's where they'll be playing in a few years, and the talent level here is very good. It's been competitive for us all summer."

Lindland says his operational costs for the league have risen to $100,000, yet it's pretty inexpensive for the players, some of whom come from as far away as Maine and New Hampshire. It's generally less than $100 for kids who play on local town or city teams such as Peabody, Beverly and Masconomet, and less than $200 for the many so-called free agents, who are willing to join just about any team in their age group.

Lindland has also been known to cut kids who don't have much money plenty of slack. Former Endicott College player Samuel Evans, 24, who coaches two teams and helps Lindland with various tasks, has made regular runs to Lynn this summer to pick up kids who can't afford to pay the fee, as modest as it is.

"Three times a week I go to Lynn and bring back 4 to 5 players for my teams, and those kids play for free," said Evans, who hails from Philadelphia and is pursuing his master's degree in sports management. "A league like this has a huge impact on them. It keeps them out of trouble, and basketball becomes such a positive thing in their lives. I'm more than a coach to them, too.

"It's not just about basketball, it's also about focusing on the importance of academics. There are a lot of ways that we help these kids."

Girls just want to have fun

Mandy Zegarowski, who coaches at Ipswich High, has seen the phenomenal growth on the girls side of the league in the past year. She coaches two teams herself: the Mass Hoop Elite sixth grade and ninth grade squads. Her daughter, Masey, played on the sixth grade team that made it to the championship game before losing to Beverly.

"You don't see kids playing pickup ball anymore," Zegarowski said, "so it's good to get them here where they can learn to play the game. We're not designing plays for girls in the sixth grade; they're just out there having fun. Socially, they look forward to seeing each other."

Sometimes, the Eastern Hoop League is just good therapy. After the formidable Peabody West Little League Williamsport all-star team lost in the state tournament in Worcester a few weeks ago, the boys returned home in time to play in their sixth grade basketball game that night. Somehow, it took away some of the hurt from losing in the Williamsport tourney.

"We couldn't believe it," Lindland said. "We didn't think they'd play, but we got a call from the Peabody (basketball) coach and he said the kids were on their way. It was hilarious."

For Lindland, it was one of the high points of the season, watching those kids bounce back.

"It's the kids who make the league," he said.

All 1,700 of them.

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For more on the Eastern Hoop League, go to www.easternhoopleague.com

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