New basketball league takes shape

The gymnasiums at Valley Stream’s three high schools always seem to have a lot of activity happening inside, but usually it’s for high school games and practices. However, earlier this month, the gyms at South and Central played host to some younger students.

The Valley Stream Recreation Department hosted two basketball clinics in March for boys and girls in third- through sixth-grade. About 70 children attended each of the clinics — March 13 at South and March 20 at Central — where they worked on ball handling, shooting and passing during the two-hour sessions.

The two clinics served as introductory sessions for parents and children to meet Shandue McNeill and Jeff Artis, who will be in charge of the newly created Valley Stream Recreation Basketball Program.

The recreation program will take the place of the Valley Stream Basketball League and kick off in mid-May at the Hendrickson Park courts with a 10-game season. Boys and girls in grades 3-6 are eligible to join the league.

McNeill and Artis are two veteran basketball coaches who are no strangers to teaching young children the game they love. McNeill played four seasons at St. Bonaventure University as a point guard where he is now a member of the Athletic Department’s Hall of Fame. Following his graduation in 1997, he played professionally in Germany and the Dominican Republic for three years.

Artis grew up in Inwood and attended Lawrence High School where he often competed against Valley Stream schools. He played collegiate ball at Farmingdale State College and has coached Amateur Athletic Union and Christian Youth Organization basketball teams. For the last three years, he has held at clinic at Grant Park in Hewlett, where he got to know Valley Stream Village Clerk Bob Barra, who works as an attendant at the park for Nassau County.

When the idea to form a new league began to take shape, Barra reached out to Artis. Tom Roberts, the village’s recreation director, said he and other village officials spoke with Artis and McNeill over the winter and then began coordinating the introductory clinics.