Jay Aragon had played for other basketball clubs before joining the GIVE Greeley AAU program just a handful of weeks ago.
She’s played hoops on the club scene long enough to know the temptation with this brand of hoops can sometimes lean toward showcasing individual talents rather than building team chemistry and camaraderie.
But with GIVE Greeley, she believes she’s enjoying the best of both worlds.
She said she has felt a tightly-knit, family-like atmosphere, while also reaping the benefits of the exposure and competition she’ll need to garner interest from coaches at the next level.
“Other AAU teams, they get people from everywhere, but most of these girls are from this town,” said Aragon, a senior at Greeley West, who has already begun to field college offers. “So, it’s great. Chris (Yarbrough, who runs the club) really puts me out there, giving all my highlights out to different colleges. … Chris just does a great job making us all feel like one; like a family.”
Yarbrough is GIVE Greeley’s co-founder, president and director.
He has seemingly achieved a rare feat with his AAU club. He’s given his more than 100 basketball players a forum for showcasing their talents to college recruiters, while also creating the type of vibe normally reserved for a tightly bonded high school team that sees each other in the school’s hallways every day and plays multiple sports alongside each other.
Yarbrough’s son was playing club travel football a few years ago when Yarbrough decided that club’s arrangement of being based out of Greeley but practicing in Loveland was a bit tiresome. So, Yarbrough and another dad — Luis Casillas — decided to start their own club.
The club began as the Greeley Golden Knights in 2018, with just five teams during the first season.
GIVE Greeley’s football and baseball programs still utilize the Greeley Golden Knights name, but little else remains the same from the club’s modest beginnings.
Today, GIVE Greeley consists of 12 teams.
A year ago, the Greeley Golden Knights merged its basketball program with GIVE Sports — an organization operated by Xavier Silas, who is a former pro basketball player and a current assistant coach of the Delaware Blue Coats NBA G League team.
“With that move, it just gave our kids the opportunity to travel, with exposure to events that kids around here don’t normally get to go to — like Nike, Under Armour circuit, Reebok Nationals,” Yarbrough said. “It just kind of blew up from there.”
Before starting his own club, Yarbrough coached numerous sports as a volunteer through the Greeley Recreation Center.
A lot of Greeley youth, like Jose Roman, a sophomore at Greeley West, have waited for a local club that offers the structure, the coaching expertise, the competition level and the ability to travel for said competition that GIVE Greeley offers.
“Greeley is my hometown, and it feels good to represent it,” said Roman, who plays on GIVE Greeley’s 15U team. “As a player, I feel like I’ve improved a lot. My teammates push me to the best of my ability.”
One of Yarbrough’s main objectives when starting the club with Casillas a couple years ago was to give young local athletes a higher level of exposure and opportunity than they may have previously had.
For example, if an athlete is talented enough to play beyond his or her age group, they will have the opportunity to do so.
Such is the case with a pair of players in GIVE Greeley’s girls basketball program: Madison Sepeda and Brooklynn Charlo.
Sepeda is only 13 years old, but she plays with players three or four years older than her on GIVE Greeley’s girls varsity team.
“The girls have welcomed me really well; they’re really nice,” said Sepeda, who is an eighth-grader at Heath Middle School. “I enjoy being on this team. It’s a good opportunity to bring up my skill level.”
When GIVE Greeley first started, it drew almost exclusively from the Greeley area. Now, it has begun attracting athletes — including some top prospects — from throughout the state.
Charlo travels from Mead to play and practice with the club.
She first heard about GIVE Greeley from her friend, Sepeda.
Sepeda gave the club a positive endorsement while chatting with Charlo. So, Charlo decided to check it out for herself.
She’s glad she did.
Charlo said she’s reaped the benefits of playing against such a high level of competition — a higher level than what Charlo’s own age group might typically offer. And, being able to experience this level of competition without the overly stressful environment that sometimes accompanies club sports is a major perk, Charlo said.
“I love it,” said Charlo, an eighth-grader at Mead Middle School. “I’ve benefit from it so much. There is so much more energy and people are so much more aggressive. And, the coaches, they push you to your limits, while other coaches only sometimes do that.
“It’s huge for my confidence and how I play. You don’t want coaches to make you feel down on yourself. You want them to uplift you.”
Still, despite GIVE Greeley’s rapid growth the past couple years, the organization maintains a certain small-town, small-club feel.
While many other AAU clubs charge thousands of dollars per season for a kid to play, GIVE Greeley charges just $300 per season (September-December) for new additions and $250 for returning athletes.
With the money GIVE Greeley athletes save, they seem willing to pay it forward, Yarbrough said.
The athletes often gather for community service, like working at the Weld County Food Bank, performing yard work for older adults, etc.
But, it’s not always work, work, work when Greeley GIVE athletes get together.
“It’s a family,” Yarbrough said. “We definitely provide a family atmosphere. A lot of our kids are really close. We do stuff outside of (sports) — like lake days during the summer. The kids get together and we’ll go bowling. We’ll do (movie) night. I think that’s one of the biggest things that sets us apart.”
Bobby Fernandez covers sports for the Greeley Tribune. Reach him at (970) 392-4478, by email at bfernandez@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter @BobbyDFernandez.
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