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Note: If you would like your team's schedule published here, please contact your team manager.
Welcome to Flight
"Our mission is to develop the Puget Sound Flight players' basketball fundamentals and life skills to give them educational opportunities, and to allow them to play at the highest level of competition available."
I am the president of the Puget Sound Flight Girls Basketball Club. I have been part of Flight for the past 6 years as a coach and I would like to welcome you to our program. As I write this letter there have been over 500 girls that have played on Flight teams over the past decade and many have gone on to play ball at the collegiate level. This is quite an accomplishment in our 12 years as a program and due in large part to the founders (Dennis Edwards and Terry Graham), coaches, volunteers, and players that have dedicated themselves to the program over that time period.
The goal of our club is to assist the female student-athlete who is motivated to reach the next level of competition. We do this by providing a positive environment that stresses fundamentals, teamwork, and dedication to your team and yourself. Through basketball, we strive to teach our players life skills that will make them successful and outstanding citizens.
We are excited about the upcoming 2012 season. Each year we strive to build upon our prior successes and to minimize our weaknesses. Our coaching staff and other key volunteers complete the support system that is so important for our program to continue to reach new levels of success.
There are many dedicated players, parents and sponsors that support our organization. Our continued success depends on this support. Please contact us and ask how you can help if you are interested. We definitely need you!
We encourage our parents, players and volunteers to provide us with input and feedback about the program. If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me Tracy Daugherty at tracyda
microsoft.com or Flight Board member Phil Mazzaferro felixmazz
msn.com.
Communication is a key to the success of our organization.
On behalf of the board and our coaches, we all look forward to another exciting year of Flight basketball.
Tracy Daugherty
President
Puget Sound Flight Girls Basketball Club
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| 6th Grade Flight Champions of NW Allstars SYB TOC Qualifier | | | by
posted 04/16/2012 The 6th Grade Flight team completed another weekend sweep Sunday night en route to another tournament win -- this time the Northwest Allstars / Seattle Youth Basketball TOC Last Chance Qualifier in Auburn.
 Saturday morning started out slow vs. ECBA Swarm, with the effects of Spring Break taking their toll. After halftime the girls found their stride and finished off the Swarm 57-18. Lauren led the team with 5 rebounds, 6 steals and 8 points in the paint.
The next game was a match up with the same ECBA Jammin Giants team that took Flight to the final minute in Burlington three weeks ago (a narrow 26-24 Flight win), but this time Flight was in control from takeoff to landing, and posted a 50-15 victory. Nicki was one of several stand out players in the game with 5 RBs, 3 assists, 6 steals and 14 pts. Ashley added 8 pts, 2 RBs and 4 steals. Coach Gary and Coach David agreed it was one of the finest complete Flight games they had seen.
Sunday afternoon the girls crushed Northside Sting team 52-7, led by Marissa's 14 points, 6 steals, an assist and a rebound. The win secured the top spot in the AA bracket and put the girls into the final at 6:00pm.
In the Sunday night final the girls lead from start to finish in a very physical match up with the talented Northside Swarm squad, but prevailed with tenacious defense (13 Defensive RBs, 6 steals, 2 blocks) and relentless execution on the offensive side of the court. It wasn't over until the final seconds, when Flight prevailed 30-23 after making key free throws and defensive stops down the stretch.
Final Highlights
Meghan had two blocks including one ESPN-highlight-worthy SWAT OUT OF THE GYM that rallied the team late in the first half. Teagyn drove the lane with confidence and earned the majority of her points the hard way, making 5 of 7 free throw opportunities, adding 5 RBs and a steal. Jade was outstanding penetrating and distributing the ball, making everyone around her better, and finished the game with 7 pts, 3 RBs, several assists and a steal. Abby, Carly and Marissa were fierce on defense as "sharks", and Nicki (4 RBs, 1 steal), Lauren (3 RBs, 2 Steals), Amelia (3 pts, 1 RB) and Mariah (4 RBs) provided toughness down low to stop the relentless Swarm attack on the hoop.
The 6th Grade Girls outscored their opponents in the tournament an amazing 189-63, and are now 9-0 in tournament games vs. 6th grade opponents.
Thanks to all the Flight supporters -- Parents, Siblings, Grandparents, Coaches and Players -- for making this another terrific Spring AAU weekend.
| | | | 7th Grade Flight Wins Monroe Invitational Tournament | | | by
posted 03/29/2012
Congratulations go out to our 7th grade Flight team who won the first annual Who’s Got Game Invitational in Monroe this past weekend.
After dropping their first game in pool play against a tough Northside Swarm team, the girls were able to win their next two games to play themselves into the semi-finals against a tall and very skilled EBI Lioness team.
After a slow start in the first half (down 9-19) the girls came out in the second half determined to make a run. After a long jumper to tie the game with 2 seconds left, and a very tough overtime period the girls won in Sudden Death Double Overtime to move on to the finals.
The girls got a chance for redemption against the Northside Swarm, and won a thrilling overtime championship game 45-41. A truly fun weekend and outstanding effort by everyone on the team.
The second picture of the girls with their legs up, apparently some sort of soccer trick explained by Keri Kirton ( the team only had 35 minutes rest between a grueling semi final game and the championship)...
 Leg draining: Frenchie (EFC U13 Soccer Coach) has the girls drain their legs during tournaments when they have back to back games (when they can’t ice bath). It helps their legs recover quicker. Minimum of 5 min, max of 10-15…they can tell they are drained when they start to tingle…Alexa and Ellie must have decided to do it, since they know the benefits. Maybe next tournament, they can do it where the wall doesn’t have a poster on it.
Below are quotes from different running sites on the benefits (The US national team does this too).
"Your hips can be flush with the wall at 90 degrees or slightly away creating a 45 degree angle with the legs. Stay here for a minimum of 5 minutes. If you hang out here for 20 minutes, its equivalent to taking a two hour nap!”
“By elevating your legs you drain any swelling away from them which can help recovery from training.”
Well done, Girls. Congratulations.
The 7th Grade Flight team is coached by Phil Mazzaferro, assisted by Julia Taylor and Joe Kassuba.
| | | | 6th Grade Flight Wins Tulip Tournament | | | by
posted 03/26/2012
Congratulations to our 6th Grade Flight Squad who posted a 5-0 record this past weekend to notch their first tournament win of the Spring season.
Their road to the finals included routing Lake Stevens and North Sound Elite before advancing to the semis with a tough win over ECBA Jammin' Giants, 26-24.
In the Semi final Sunday morning, the girls fell behind 2-13 vs. a quick, well-coached Stanwood team, but battled back with a 14 point run of their own to make it 22-17 at half. Flight 6th grade finished strong (as they usually do), pouring it on down the stretch to win in convincing fashion 49-36.
In the tournament final the girls fell behind early and got into foul trouble, but managed to battle back and earn a 45-38 victory over the tournament's defending champion from last year, Wenatchee.
The team is pictured here with the Tulip Festival Ambassador, who rather seemed to enjoy being surrounded by the Flight girls for this photo / award ceremony. Flight 6th Grade features (L-R from the back row): Marissa, Amelia, Lauren, Mariah, Jade, Teagyn, (L-R front row) Nicki, Annie, Meghan, Abby and Carly (not pictured).
The Puget Sound Flight 6th Grade team is coached by Gary Strand and Assistant Coach David Carpenter.
| | | | What Makes a Nightmare Sports Parent (and What Makes Great Ones) | | | by
posted 03/24/2012
Hundreds of college athletes were asked to think back: "What is your worst memory from playing youth and high school sports?"
Their overwhelming response: "The ride home from games with my parents."
Read the entire article " What Makes A Nightmare Sports Parent -- And What Makes A Great One" by Steve Henson, Yahoo! Sports, originally published February 15, 2012.
The informal survey lasted three decades, initiated by two former longtime coaches who over time became staunch advocates for the player, for the adolescent, for the child. Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller of Proactive Coaching LLC are devoted to helping adults avoid becoming a nightmare sports parent, speaking at colleges, high schools and youth leagues to more than a million athletes, coaches and parents in the last 12 years.
Those same college athletes were asked what their parents said that made them feel great, that amplified their joy during and after a ballgame.
Their overwhelming response: "I love to watch you play."
There it is, from the mouths of babes who grew up to become college and professional athletes. Whether your child is just beginning T-ball or is a travel-team soccer all-star or survived the cuts for the high school varsity, parents take heed.
The vast majority of dads and moms that make rides home from games miserable for their children do so inadvertently. They aren't stereotypical horrendous sports parents, the ones who scream at referees, loudly second-guess coaches or berate their children. They are well-intentioned folks who can't help but initiate conversation about the contest before the sweat has dried on their child's uniform.
In the moments after a game, win or lose, kids desire distance. They make a rapid transition from athlete back to child. And they’d prefer if parents transitioned from spectator – or in many instances from coach – back to mom and dad. ASAP.
 Brown (pictured right at podium), a high school and youth coach near Seattle for more than 30 years, says his research shows young athletes especially enjoy having their grandparents watch them perform.
"Overall, grandparents are more content than parents to simply enjoy watching the child participate," he says. "Kids recognize that."
A grandparent is more likely to offer a smile and a hug, say "I love watching you play," and leave it at that.
Meanwhile a parent might blurt out …
“Why did you swing at that high pitch when we talked about laying off it?"
"Stay focused even when you are on the bench.”
"You didn’t hustle back to your position on defense.”
"You would have won if the ref would have called that obvious foul.”
"Your coach didn't have the best team on the field when it mattered most.”
"Let your child bring the game to you if they want to,” Brown says.
Brown and Miller, a longtime coach and college administrator, don't consider themselves experts, but instead use their platform to convey to parents what three generations of young athletes have told them.
"Everything we teach came from me asking players questions," Brown says. "When you have a trusting relationship with kids, you get honest answers. When you listen to young people speak from their heart, they offer a perspective that really resonates.”
So what’s the takeaway for parents?
"Sports is one of few places in a child's life where a parent can say, 'This is your thing,’ ” Miller says. "Athletics is one of the best ways for young people to take risks and deal with failure because the consequences aren’t fatal, they aren’t permanent. We’re talking about a game. So they usually don’t want or need a parent to rescue them when something goes wrong.
"Once you as a parent are assured the team is a safe environment, release your child to the coach and to the game. That way all successes are theirs, all failures are theirs."
And discussion on the ride home can be about a song on the radio or where to stop for a bite to eat. By the time you pull into the driveway, the relationship ought to have transformed from keenly interested spectator and athlete back to parent and child:
| | | | Flight 5th Graders Win 4th Championship | | | by
posted 06/13/2011
The WTA's 5th Annual Luau was a celebration for Puget Sound Flight's 5th Grade Blue team as they won their 4th Championship of Spring 2011.
To get to the final these Flight girls mowed over everything in their path, averaging 60 pts per game and allowing their opponents just 13 pts.
In the final, FOH Red fought hard, shot well and played tough defense and found themselves within 1 point mid-way through the 1st half. That's when this Flight team kicked things into another gear and poured on the points. At half time it was 25-11, and by final buzzer the girls had scored 51 pts to FOH's 29, giving Flight Blue yet another Championship.
Other WTA Luau winners included the Flight 7th Graders (finalists) and Flight 6th Graders (3rd place). Congratulations to all Flight players, parents and coaches.
5th Grade Flight Blue pictured below with their newest Championship T-Shirts.
 | | | | Flight 8th & 5th Grade win Vi Slamma Jamma Championship | | | by
posted 05/30/2011
On Monday, May 30th, both the Flight 8th grade team and Flight 5th grade team won the WTA's 23rd Annual Vi Slamma Jamma Tournament in Renton.
8th Grade Champions
Flight 8th Grade won 4 games over the weekend en route to their tournament win including an opening round 44-23 victory over the eventual 2nd place Rockets. To seal 1st place in the tournament the Flight needed one more "W" on Monday morning, and took care of business against Advantage Blue in convincing fashion with a 38-26 win.
Pictured below: the 8th Grade Flight and Head Coach Brian Wilbur: 
The results for the 8th grade Flight are posted here on YourWTA.com
5th Grade Champions
The 5th grade team had similar success in Renton this weekend, winning all five of their games en route to a 49-8 final victory over SYRF. Defense was key for the 5th graders as they only allowed 55 points in 5 games.
The results for the 5th grade Flight are posted here on YourWTA.com
Pictured below are your 2011 5th grade Flight Champions:
Congratulations to each Flight player, Coach and Parent!
| | | | Puget Sound Flight FAQs now available | | | | | | | Puget Sound Flight Updates | | | by
posted 01/10/2011 Be in the know
There are two convenient ways of staying up to date with all the exciting developments with Puget Sound Flight, including updates about tryouts:
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Email: Subscribe to Puget Sound Flight email updates (or follow the link or navigate to "Join Our Email List" on the left side menu)
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Players and Parents with Puget Sound Flight will receive timely updates via email, and even receive practice notifications and game schedule updates via both email and txt messages.
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