SOMETHING IS MARINATING IN BURLINGTON CITY 🏀🔥

Burlington City Basketball

Ever since I moved to Burlington City, I’ve been paying attention to the young athletes around here.

When my sons moved in with me full-time about seven years ago, they were coming from Frederick, Maryland, where they had been living with their mother and attending school. Once they came to live with me and started attending Wilbur Watts, I was still trying to learn Burlington City and figure out what was available for them.

At that time, I actually knew more about Burlington Township sports than Burlington City.

I signed my sons up for Burlington Township recreation basketball and football. Because we lived in Burlington City, I had to pay the extra non-resident fees, but I didn’t mind because I wanted my boys involved in sports.

De’Bron and Cameron ended up winning a basketball championship with an undefeated record.

I think that was around the time people started noticing them.

Parents would sometimes approach me and ask what grades they were in. When I told them they were only around fourth and fifth grade, they were surprised because of their talent, especially their shooting ability.

Basketball was already a big part of our lives.

I trained my sons mostly outside on the playgrounds. Early mornings, during the day, whenever our schedule allowed, we were somewhere getting shots up and working on their game.

For a period of time, I also had a co-partnership with Jungle Gym in Bristol, Pennsylvania. I had an office there, and my sons were able to get some indoor work in and participate in their youth league. I coached there as well, and our team finished runner-up in second place.

Eventually, the gym wanted to charge me additional money to use the court even though I was already paying for my office space there.

That’s when I decided to end that arrangement.

We went right back to what we had always been doing—training outside on the playground.

We didn’t need anything fancy.

Give us a basketball, a hoop and a playground, and we were going to get our work in.

The more basketball and football opportunities I started finding around Burlington and the surrounding areas, the more I started thinking maybe we had moved into the right location.

But learning Burlington City sports wasn’t always easy for me.

Burlington Township’s recreation system was much easier for me to navigate. I could communicate through email or relay calls, and I usually received responses. From my experience, everything seemed organized and coordinated well.

With Burlington City, it was more challenging, especially during that time period when the recreation system was going through changes in leadership and structure. I later learned they brought in a new director and were actively working to clean up a lot of the disorganization and communication issues that existed before. I just happened to be navigating the system during that transition phase.

That created a different situation for me as a parent.

I can’t overhear parents talking in the stands about an upcoming tryout.

I don’t hear somebody across the gym saying there’s a travel basketball team starting next week.

I can’t pick up random conversations about practices, registrations or teams unless somebody communicates that information directly to me.

So I explained something important to my sons.

I told them, “You have working ears. I need you to stay alert. If you hear kids talking about basketball tryouts, football, travel teams or anything sports-related, let me know so we don’t miss anything.”

And sure enough, that situation happened.

We found out late that Burlington City travel basketball had already started.

We were still learning the town, and one of my sons’ friends told him where the team practiced.

As soon as I found out, I took my sons over to Lawrence School.

I remember being worried that we might already be too late.

That’s when I met Coach Carlos, along with Coach Mike and Coach Man Man.

I explained to Coach Carlos that one of my sons was younger but was an advanced player and could play up with the older group alongside his brother.

Thankfully, they gave him the opportunity.

I remember watching those kids practice and thinking to myself:

Okay. Burlington City has a different type of basketball player.

No disrespect to Burlington Township because my sons had good experiences there and won a championship there, but the basketball environments felt different to me.

With some of the Township teams we played against, you could tell there were kids still learning the game or simply playing recreation basketball for fun.

But when I watched Burlington City?

Those kids were aggressive.

Fast.

Competitive.

Talented.

They could really ball.

Even at those young ages, you could tell basketball meant something different to them.

When my sons came home telling me they were officially on the team, I was cheesing.

That made me feel like we were definitely in the right environment.

It also reminded me of how my brother and I grew up.

We spent a lot of our time at playgrounds.

We played AAU basketball.

Football.

Baseball.

Soccer.

Track and field.

I played almost every sport I could.

We weren’t really running around the streets because we had something we were chasing.

We had a dream.

That is the type of environment I always wanted for my sons.

Sports gave us somewhere to be, something to work toward and something bigger to believe in.

Now, years later, I’m watching Burlington City basketball grow even more.

You have talented young players developing through travel basketball, middle school basketball, and now you’re seeing talented players transferring into Burlington City High School too.

From where I’m standing, it feels like something is being built—or rebuilt.

Coach Bryan Warrick may have a lot to do with that.

He brings a basketball background that speaks for itself. A Burlington-area product who attended Burlington Township High School, Warrick went on to play at Saint Joseph’s University before being selected 25th overall by the Washington Bullets in the 1982 NBA Draft. He eventually played four seasons in the NBA, so when I talk about him recognizing young talent, I respect that he has seen basketball at a level very few people ever reach.

With his background as a former professional basketball player, I believe young players and families can trust that he understands the game and recognizes talent.

I’ve met Coach Warrick a couple of times, and one thing that stood out to me is that he seems capable of recognizing potential early.

I remember De’Bron telling me Coach Warrick approached him and told him to come to the high school basketball workouts and open gym during the summer.

De’Bron was only in sixth grade.

He also told him to bring Cameron.

He barely knew my sons at the time, but apparently he saw something in them.

As a father, that meant something to me.

You want coaches who can recognize potential before everybody else starts talking about a player.

It gave me confidence knowing somebody with his basketball background saw something in my boys.

I’ve also attended some Burlington City High School games, and I was impressed with what I saw.

The energy.

The toughness.

The defense.

The physical style of basketball.

The atmosphere.

They played hard.

In my opinion, they had talent, but they just didn’t have enough depth to make the kind of postseason run they were capable of making.

But this upcoming season—and possibly the next several years—could look very different.

You have players already there.

You have talented transfers coming in.

You have young players developing underneath them.

And that’s what really catches my attention.

I’m not only looking at the varsity basketball team.

I’m looking at the whole pipeline.

Travel basketball.

Middle school basketball.

High school basketball.

Opportunity League run by Mr. O and Mrs. O.

And I’m also starting to see where I may be able to contribute more myself.

Through Got Basketball In You Training, I’ve been trying to build relationships and create more opportunities for young players in the area. I haven’t been able to get it moving the way I really want yet because one of my biggest challenges continues to be finding consistent gym access. It can be frustrating when I’m trying to provide free clinics for kids and still being asked to pay significant gym fees just to get them inside.

That hasn’t stopped me.

I’ve held several free basketball clinics outside at the playgrounds, and I’ve had parents thank me for taking the time to work with their kids.

What really motivates me is what I’ve seen from some of the young players around here, including players on my sons’ middle school team.

There is some raw talent in Burlington City.

Especially some of those bigger young players.

Sometimes I’m watching them and thinking, if somebody really works with this kid, teaches him footwork, fundamentals, positioning and confidence, there is something there.

That is the part of basketball I enjoy.

Seeing something in a young player before it is completely developed.

I also want people to understand that when I moved to Burlington City, I didn’t want to walk into somebody else’s community acting like I was coming to take over.

That was never my intention.

There were already coaches, parents, recreation programs and people putting their time into these kids before I arrived.

I wanted to learn the community first.

Build relationships.

Watch.

Listen in the ways I can.

Understand who is doing what.

Let people get to know me and let me get to know them.

That is part of the reason it has taken me some time to really navigate Burlington City basketball and find the players I believe I can help.

I’m still building that network.

I’m still building those relationships.

And I’m still looking for the right gym situation so Got Basketball In You Training can become another positive resource for Burlington City and the surrounding communities—not something competing against what is already here, but something that can add to it.

Those little kids watching the high school players today could become tomorrow’s Blue Devils.

When I first moved to Burlington City, I was just a father trying to figure out where practices were, when registration opened and how to make sure my sons didn’t miss opportunities.

Now I’m able to look back at everything we’ve experienced and see a much bigger picture.

My sons came here young.

They played recreation ball.

They trained with me on playgrounds.

They found travel basketball.

They competed against talented kids.

They started getting noticed.

And now we are watching another generation of Burlington City players coming through while the high school program continues adding talent.

That’s why I can say this:

I believe we landed in the right area.

An area where basketball matters.

An area where competition can make you tougher.

An area where young athletes have opportunities to develop, compete and eventually represent Burlington City.

There is still room to improve when it comes to organization, communication, gym access and making recreation opportunities easier for every family to access. But I also recognize that changes have been made, leadership has been adjusted, and efforts are being made to move things in a better direction.

And once we found our way into the sports community, I started seeing what Burlington City had to offer.

And now?

I believe the Blue Devils could be building something special.

Not just for one season.

But from the youth level all the way up.

And if I can play even a small part in helping some of those young players develop along the way, that’s something I would be proud of too.

Silence Is The Loudest Sound.