New business resurrects Juneau adult basketball leagues

Juneau adult basketball
(Photo courtesy City and Borough of Juneau Parks and Recreation)

When the City and Borough of Juneau cut the equivalent of 12 full-time employees at the beginning of this fiscal year, the Parks & Recreation department lost three positions and had to cut the decades old adult basketball program.

But through the efforts of one woman, the program is staying alive independent of the city.

Jocelyn Ramirez has been playing basketball since she was a kid. She was a varsity player at Mt. Edgecumbe High School and played basketball in college. For the past 25 years, Ramirez continued playing as an adult in the city run basketball league. She was disappointed when the Juneau Assembly decided to cut it.

“It just seemed wrong for it to end just at the drop of a budget,” Ramirez says.

The city started the basketball league in the 1970s. About 30 teams participate each season in five women’s and men’s divisions with a total of about 330 players.

“It plays a big role in our community. A lot of teams and players would be lost without that activity between November and February and just in Southeast in general, for all walks of life, it’s an important sport,” Ramirez says.

Some players saw the city league as practice for the Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament held every March in the capital city.

Ramirez went to Juneau’s Parks & Recreation department and asked what needed to be done to keep adult basketball going.

S.E. Reign Sports founder Jocelyn Ramirez registers teams for the new adult basketball league. (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)
S.E. Reign Sports founder Jocelyn Ramirez registers teams for the new adult basketball league. (Photo by Lisa Phu/KTOO)

“I decided that I didn’t want to see it lost in the city so I developed a company called S.E. Reign Sports just a little over a month ago so that I could run the league for men’s and women’s adults,” Ramirez says.

Costs are slightly higher than they were under the city, but they’re comparable. Player registration costs $55; team fee is $850. Ramirez anticipates a total budget of about $36,000, none of which she’s pocketing. She just hopes to break even.

With basketball gone, volleyball is the only adult sports program run by Parks & Rec. Up to 450 players participate in each of two volleyball seasons.

City recreation manager Dave Pusich says basketball was cut because it was smaller and costlier.

“Basketball is a little more expensive because you’ve got more referees and scorekeepers, whereas volleyball you don’t have that. We also contracted out the referees to pay them at a higher rate because it’s a little more challenging of a sport to manage,” Pusich says.

For youth, the city offers indoor and outdoor soccer, basketball and a sports development program which covers a variety of activities.

With the city facing another deficit next year, Pusich can’t guarantee that any of these programs, adult or youth, will stick around.

“I think everything is on the table and they’re looking at everything overall right now,” Pusich says.

Pusich says he’s glad the adult basketball league will continue. Ramirez says she’s heard gratitude from others.

“A lot of people are saying, ‘Thank you and you deserve something,’ and I’m like, ‘No.’ I didn’t even look at it like that. I just felt it was a void that needed to be filled, and we filled it,” Ramirez says.

For now, S.E. Reign Sports is focusing on adult basketball, but Ramirez hopes to branch out to other sports, like kickball and dodgeball. Even though it started as a for-profit company, Ramirez says S.E. Reign Sports will eventually become a non-profit, like the Juneau Softball Association and the Juneau Hockey Association.

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