Dennis Dacus ran with the idea, helped build it, and they came in droves.

In late October of 2023, Dacus, the Boothbay Region Elementary School athletic director and boys' basketball coach, as well as a Boothbay Region High School physical education teacher, met with BRHS and BRES basketball coaches, BRHS athletic director Allan Crocker and others. Dacus had been asked by parents to start a youth basketball program at BRES after the YMCA didn’t start up its basketball program after the pandemic.

“I had experience in running such programs when I worked at Winslow Parks and Recreation,” said Dacus. “I was willing to do this (at BRES) if everyone at the meeting was ‘in’ to help.”

In November, flyers outlining the BRES youth basketball program for grades K through six were made available for parents. BRHS boys coach Dan Hallinan was in charge of the grades 5-6 boys program, BRHS girls coach Bruce Orne was in charge of the girls grades 3-6 program – and he eventually helped with the grades 1-2 program as well – and BRES girls coach Allison Crocker and her mother, Barbara, helped with the pre-K and K program.

Parent volunteers helped as well, and the program was off and running by early December. Practices and drills were held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Saturday mornings, and the older groups participated in travel basketball, playing on Saturdays in Bath, Damariscotta, Dresden and Wiscasset.

“And several high school players showed up to help teach the game to the young players as well,” said Dacus.

In total, over 100 kids participated in the eight-week, first-year program; the breakdown of the number of players in the various groups being: K-2 girls, 16; K-2 boys, 39; 3-6 girls, 18; 3-4 boys, 18; and 5-6 boys, 18.

“We charged $20 per child which helped pay for T-shirts and officials for the games,” said Dacus.

Dacus said they color-coded the shirts by group – white for the K-2 players, gold for the 3-4 players and blue for the 5-6 players. “We did this as sort of an incentive for the younger players to move up in the program,” said Dacus.

Coach Hallinan felt the program was not only worthy but necessary for the local school basketball programs.

“The future of the Seahawk Basketball Program or any basketball program for that matter, is heavily reliant on strong foundations established within the youth,” said Hallinan in an email. “They are the future. To invest in these young athletes at an early age is a commitment that pays dividends over the years.

“The excitement and energy these kids brought during our first year of the program was refreshing to see from a coach as well as a fan of the game. It’s important for these young players to experience these skills and drills sessions at an early age so by the time they reach the middle school and high school levels, coaches can concentrate on the team to execute and play at an elite level. Investing and buying into hard work and dedication on getting better is what this program will benefit from down the road. The future is bright for the region.”

Coach Orne agreed with Hallinan about the importance of the program.

“Being our first year, I felt like it went well. We had more kids than I expected, which was great. Moving forward there's a few minor kinks to be worked out, but given the circumstances, I think it went well,” said Orne via email. “Having the high school kids that came week to week was something that I think the kids enjoyed. I know for me as a young kid, getting to ‘play’ basketball with high school kids would've been like a dream come true. We're trying to bring back that deep sense of Seahawk pride that we all have/had, and parents and students and everyone in between still has. Every Saturday it felt more like it used to in a packed gym on a Friday night, even if it was Saturday at 11 a.m. for skills and drills with k-2 kids, as well as developing basketball skill along the way. We hope that this will also help our program numbers at the high school and every level, and maybe bring some kids out that might discover a newfound love. It's fun to see everyone eager to come play basketball and learn and have fun.    “We couldn't have done it without everyone involved, Mrs (Barbara) Crocker, Ms. (Allison) Crocker, on Saturdays with the young kids; Coach Hallinan and, of course, Mr. Dacus; all of the high school basketball players and quite a few others who volunteered to help out; and all the coaches for the travel teams. Generally speaking I think everything went swimmingly.”  “Both Allison and I feel that the BRES youth basketball program this winter was extremely successful. Pre-k-2nd grade participants eagerly gathered, in their matching white Wildcat T-shirts, on their Saturday mornings for eight weeks,” said Barbara Crocker via email. “These young Wildcat, future Seahawk players mainly worked on skills and drills including ... footwork, basic passing, ball handling, shooting form, and layups. A highlight of the program was the amount of current Seahawk players that would volunteer their time, modeling techniques, and being a positive presence during the clinic. We look forward to continuing this program and watching the numbers increase. Allison and I are fortunate to be able to see these kids on a daily basis at school, and to see their excitement for Saturday morning basketball is heartwarming.”   The program ended Feb. 3 but several players are continuing on travel teams.