WSYB holds their annual Winter Tryouts mid-October for interested boys and girls between 5th & 8th grade, and 3rd thru 4th Grade Girls. The tryouts themselves are ran by West Salem High School coaching staff with WSYB volunteers assisting as needed. Teams will be formed by skill level with an “A” level team and possibly one or more “B” level teams for each grade. Our goal is to keep as many kids in the program as we can while keeping in mind coach availability, gym space, and teams’ ability to competitively compete at the tournament level. We will not field more than 10 players to a team unless special circumstances apply.

Our goal is to keep costs as manageable for individuals and families while also providing competitive skill development and a unique experience around being a part of the West Salem Titan community. The annual $330 fee goes towards 6-8 tournaments per season, team gear, team equipment, insurance, technology fees, and first-aid kits. Keep in mind that this fee does not cover parents or family admission costs into OAB tournaments (roughly $6 per person). We are fortunate to have dedicated volunteer coaches and supportive community sponsors to offset additional fees that help us create a genuine Titan experience. Please let us know if you would like a more detailed budget of specific costs for each item.

WSYB coaches are volunteers and become the backbone in our mission of developing future Titans as well as our emphasis on player skill and character development. Because they are volunteers and often parents of players, we intentionally confirm coaches after our mid-October tryouts (this ensures that players have an equal opportunity to compete for team spots and are not predicated on coach availability). Coaches are assigned teams immediately following team assembly and are agreed on through a group process involving high school coaches and WSYB leadership.

If you are interested in coaching, please send us an email at info@wsybasketball.com and let us know.

Officially, WSYB only runs our competitive team tryout process for students between the 6th and 8th grade. However, in recent years interest has grown to include 5th grade teams and in some occasions, 4th grade options as well. In other words, we put more controls in place for the selection of and development of our middle school teams and take our 4th or 5th grade teams on an “interest” level depending on available players and coaches. If your son or daughter is a 4th or 5th grader, the best next step is to contact us and ask about possible playing options.

Our goal is to develop future West Salem Titans which means our target audience is Straub and Walker Middle School students who want to develop as competitive basketball players. This means that priority will be given to students that attend a West Salem school. From time to time circumstances allow for players outside of the West Salem geography to play, the most common ones being a team that does not meet the 10 player cap or a student whose family is seriously considering transferring to West Salem.

Because WSYB is always intended to be an extension of the West Salem High School Basketball program, our leadership board is intentionally made up of coaching representation from West Salem High School along with a volunteer board.  Each summer, board positions are voted on and affirmed so that we're ready to roll when the new season begins.  This year the WSYB Leadership Team includes Travis Myers (WSHS Boys Coach), Katie Singleton (WSHS Girls Coach), Terry Williams, Dwayne Hilty, Gretchen Bennett, Craig Sladek, Gene Berg, Melissa Sommer, Carrie Stewart, and Casey Corliss.

The Winter season for WSYB officially begins when we host tryouts for 6th-8th graders.  Immediately following tryouts we begin working to assign players to teams and confirm coaches for each team with the goal of getting practices started the first week of November.  Since the majority of our tournaments are played through Oregon Amateur Basketball (OAB) teams often begin playing their first tournaments when the OAB Winter Tournament Season begins.  From December through March each team decides on the specific dates and tournaments that they will play in.  As games begin to wind down, WSYB does something very special to celebrate the development of our Titan community which we call "Bballapalooza". This is usually held in early March in our local West Salem middle schools (picture a homecoming sort of game for each of our teams that features the development of our players).