Basketball - Girls

We are a Christian Homeschool basketball team for homeschool athletes in the Northwest Arkansas area interested in playing competitive basketball. We offer teams from 10U thru 18U/Varsity depending on the availability of players and coaches. We are are a non-profit volunteer organization and exist solely to bless the homeschool community in the area.

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16/18U - Birthdate range is 8/2/2005 - 8/1/2009 (must be 18 or younger on 8/1)

This will be our only team that isn't made up of all homeschool students because we won't have enough to form a complete team this year. We are currently planning on joining forces with Haas Hall Bentonville.

Coach - Mark Sistoso

Asst Coaches - ??

Practice Schedule - ?? should know by mid August

First Game - Oct 25

Game Schedule - will be listed on this website soon

Number of games this season - 10-14

Tournaments - None because not all players will be homeschooled

14U - Birthdate range is 8/2/2009 - 8/1/2011 (must be 14 or younger on 8/1)

Coaches - Head Coach - Kate Pantier - katepantier@gmail.com

Asst Coaches - Joseph Toddy, Todd Pantier, and Lara Little

Practice Schedule - Mon, Tues, Thurs or Friday evenings at the AAO (3 per week until games start)

First Game - Oct 26

Game Schedule - will be listed on this website soon

Number of games this season - 30-40 including tournaments

Tournaments - Districts?? (Lawrence, Jan 30-31), State (Conway, Feb 6-8),

Regionals (Lawrence, Feb 20-21), Nationals (Springfield, Mar 10-14)

12U - Birthdate range is 8/2/2011 - 8/1/2013 (must be 12 or younger on 8/1)

Coaches - Head Coach - Kate Pantier - katepantier@gmail.com

Asst Coaches - Joseph Toddy, Todd Pantier, and Lara Little

Practice Schedule - Mon, Tues, Thurs or Friday evenings at the AAO (2-3 per week until games start)

First Game - Oct 24

Game Schedule - will be listed on this website soon

Number of games this season - 20-30 including tournaments

Tournaments - State (Conway, Feb 6-8), Regionals (Lawrence, Feb 20-21),

Nationals (Springfield, Mar 10-14)

10U - Birthdate range is 8/2/2013 - 8/1/2016 (must be 10 or younger on 8/1)

Coaches - Head Coach - Stephen Fulton - stephenfulton@icloud.com

Asst Coaches - Robin Fulton, Joseph Toddy

Practice Schedule - Mon, Tues, or Friday evenings (2 per week) at Lowell Baptist

First Game - Nov 2

Game Schedule - will be listed on this website soon

Number of games this season - 15-20 including tournaments and depends on other

teams being able to form a 10U girls team. Could be more if we are able to get into the local AAO league

Tournaments - TuneUP?? (Springfield, Dec 13), State (Conway, Feb 6-8),

Regionals?? (Lawrence, Feb 20-21), Nationals (Springfield, Mar 10-14)

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When will the Season Registration open and how much does it cost?

Season registration usually opens in early August. We will always post updates here and on our social media accounts when registrations go live.

The cost varies from season to season and from team to team. The registration fees for the older teams are typically more expensive than the younger teams simply because the costs are higher. As mentioned above, we are a non-profit organization, so 100% of the fees we bring in go toward our costs for the season (court costs, referee costs, uniforms, insurance, tournament fees, equipment etc.). We also strive to keep the costs as low as possible. For a ballpark figure, our 16U boys season fees in 2023 were $675, and the youngest teams were around $400. There are a lot of factors that go into determining those figures that change from year to year, but that gives a general idea of what to expect. We also offer a payment plan that will allow you to pay the fee in 3 or 4 installments.

What is your definition of Homeschool?

There are many different versions and interpretations of what it means to Homeschool. We want to include as many people as possible, but there some kids that "homeschool" that aren't eligible to play for us. We follow the requirements as set by the post season tournaments that we play in.

Here is the bottom line, in order to be eligible to play for us, you must:

1. Be required to fill out an intent to Homeschool form with the state each year. if you are not required to fill out that form, then you are likely not considered homeschooled as defined by our league rules.
2. The curriculum that the student uses must be parent directed. There can be non-parent teachers, but the parent must have control of the courses that the student takes, and must have a say in when and how school work is completed.
3. Students can take courses at a highschool or college, but this must account for less than 50% of the student's total work load.

if you have any questions about this, feel free to reach out to us at nwahornetsbasketball@gmail.com

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If you are a coach or scheduler and would like to schedule a game with us, you can contact our basketball director, Reagan Baber, at nwahornetsbasketball@gmail.com

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This is a list of trainers that we trust, and several of our players have trained with them. They all offer private and small group lessons. You can contact them for details on cost and availability.

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This season we only had 4 homeschool high school girls, but we partnered with some girls from Haas Hall who weren't going to have enough to have a team either. This allowed our girls to have a season, learn how to play as a team, and not miss out on a season of individual skill development. Big thank you to our friends at Haas Hall and to our coaches Mark Sistoso and Larry Tinkler. With their help we were able to have a great season will several awesome wins! We were also able to provide a final season to a couple seniors which we honored at our last home game. One of those seniors was a homeschool athlete that has competed with the Hornets for several years....Lauren Tinkler.

Lauren Tinkler excelled as a dual athlete in high school. She played softball and had several offers to play in college. She also played basketball with the Hornets for several years and was a dynamic scorer. Lauren was a great teammate, and we are so glad we got to watch her compete one last time! She had a fantastic career and an awesome Senior season. She has decided to continue her education at Arkansas Tech.

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At this time I don't know of any 18U girls that will play with us next season, but there are 3 girls that played on this high school team that will be 16U next season. We are looking for a few more so that we can have a 16U team next season. If you know of anyone that might be interested...please send them our way!

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We didn't have a 14U Girls team in 2023-24, but we are excited that we will have one next season. Several of the 12U girls will move up and we are expecting to add a few more players to the team as well.

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Our 12U Girls had a great season!! Many of the girls were playing competitive basketball for the first time this season. Watching their improvement and growth as a team over the course of the season was so fun to see!! These girls compete hard and love being with each other. We are so glad they are all Hornets, they are going to be fun to watch for many years to come!! Several of these girls will move up to 14U next year, while many others will continue with the 12U team next year looking to build on their success from this season.

State Tournament - 4th Place (Milena Fulton and Alaina Toddy made the all-tournament team)

National Tournament - We didn't place, but played some hard fought games, and were able to win a few of them. We also got to end the season on a high note by winning our last game of the year in exciting fashion.

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Our 10U Girls were really fun to watch this season!! We were a really young team, and it made their growth this season really fun to watch! They play so hard and love to cheer each other on. They won some hard fought games this season, and lost a few heartbreakers, but they always left all they had on the floor. They are going to be a force to reckon with as they continue to improve their skills and play as a team! Several of these girls will continue playing 10U ball next season while a couple of them move on to the 12U team.

State Tournament - 4th Place (Lizzi Bird, Charlotte Bryner, and Madeline Fulton made the all-tournament team)

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