Divisions

House League Divisions

Amherst Youth Basketball League consists of separate girls and boys divisions.  Information regarding dates of play are available on the Dates page. 

The Boys' divisions are as follows:

• 3rd Grade, 28.5" basketball (See Division Notes)
  
• 4th Grade, 28.5" basketball
• 5th Grade, 28.5" basketball
• 6th Grade, 28.5" basketball 
• 7th Grade, 29.5" basketball
• 8th Grade, 29.5" basketball
• 9th - 12th Grade, 29.5" basketball (See Division Notes)
  

 
The Girls' divisions are as follows:

• 3rd - 4th Grade, 27.5" basketball (See Division Notes)
  
• 5th - 6th Grade, 28.5" basketball
  
• 7th - 12th Grade, 28.5" basketball (See Division Notes)

Basketballs:

• The size of a basketball corresponds to the circumference of a basketball.
• Starting with the 2024-2025 season, the Girls 3rd-4th Grade division will experiment by using a 27.5" (small) basketball.
  
• A 28.5" basketball is typically labeled as "junior" or "women's."
• A 28.5" basketball is a standard junior boys/HS Girls/HS Girls College/WNBA basketball.
• A 29.5" basketball is a standard boys HS/College/NBA basketball.

3rd Grade Boys and 3-4th Grade Girls Divisions

In these divisions, we will limit the number of players on the court from the usual five players to four.  We also limit the number of players on a team to eight.  Further, we restrict "defensive pressure" in order to provide more offensive opportunities, more "touches" for players, and higher scoring games. 

These divisions will have more practice time and fewer games than the other divisions, providing the coaches with more time to teach fundamentals.  

Boys 9th-12th Grade Division

Available to boys in 9th-12th grade who meet residency/restriction requirements listed on the home page.  We urge you to register on line before the first day of play.  Note that this division plays only on Sundays through early-March.

Boys registered in the 9th-12th grade division are invited to come to the Sundays "open play" sessions.  During these sessions, players will have the opportunity to warm up rusty skills, meet potential teammates, contact friends and past AYB teammates in order to form teams for the regular season, and also to recruit parent coaches. Boys registered for the 9th-12th grade division who do not request to be on a specific team by the end of the "open play" Sundays will be placed on a team with an open roster spot before the regular season begins. Register early, as the high school division usually reaches its maximum well before the "open play" Sundays conclude.

Girls 7th -12th Grade Division

Available to girls who meet residency/restriction requirements listed on the home page. Ideally, we would like to have a Girls 7th-8th Grade division and a seperate Girls HS (9th-12th Grade) division. However, this is driven by registration. Note that we have successfully combined Girls in Grades 7 thru 12 pretty regularly in recent years. Based on registration, regardless of which direction we go, we always keep our core values front and center when it comes to these young ladies. We will do our best to provide regular updates to parents and players of Girls in 7th-12th Grade.