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| In this issue Tryouts · Charity Poker · For Parents · Alumni |
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| From the Director | | Welcome to our first issue | | Good Afternoon, | | This is the first issue of our newsletter, and I am extremely excited to start it. For 27 years most of what families heard from us came in short bursts: a tryout date, a payment reminder, a schedule change. I would like you to hear more than that. Four times a year I will write to you about where the program stands, what is coming up, and the people who make Common Bond what it is. | | This year we changed the way we try out, practice, compete, and how families pay for and become a part of this program. After this many years that is not a small thing, and I appreciate the trust each of you has shown while we work through it. Preseason has been running, and the improvement in the gym has been very evident. I firmly believe we are building something better than what we had. | | Thank you for being part of this program. | | Kindest Regards, |  | Tyrone Hicks
President and Director, Common Bond Basketball
director@commonbondbasketball.com | | |
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| State of the Club | | Where the program stands | | A home gym. Preseason runs at Bessie Hoffman Gym in Belleville, and our winter practices will be in the same building, Monday through Friday evenings, from November 9 through March 12. | | New leadership. Johnny Lee is our new Director of Basketball Operations, and he is coaching our 9th grade team this year. | | Billing. Season fees are now billed through QuickBooks. Each payment on your plan arrives as its own invoice by email, and you can pay it right from the invoice. QuickBooks sends a reminder ahead of each due date. |  | | Laura Stroud |
A bigger board. Our board met in September and voted to grow from five directors to as many as fifteen. Laura Stroud, a Common Bond alum, has committed to joining the board. Laura works in major gifts at Win, New York City's largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for families with children, and I am grateful to have her experience on our side. | | Golf outing. Our golf outing in August brought out 88 golfers and netted $7,778.30 for the program. Thank you to everyone who played, sponsored, or helped that day. | | |
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| Tryouts | | Sunday, November 8 | | We are holding a supplemental tryout for 4th through 8th grade on Sunday, November 8. It is for players who missed our September tryout, and for spots that open up once the season is underway. The location and time will go out to everyone who registers. | When
Sunday, November 8
Location and time to be announced
Who
4th through 8th grade
Cost
$20 tryout fee
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| | | If you know a family whose player should be in our program, please pass this along. | | |
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| Charity Poker | | Work a shift, earn $40 | | We have two charity poker events coming up, and we need one family worker on each shift. Every shift you work is a $40 credit toward your season fee. | Dates
October 15 to 18
October 29 to November 1
Shifts
3:00 to 6:00 PM
6:00 to 10:00 PM
10:00 PM to 2:00 AM
Credit
$40 per shift toward your season fee
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| | Sign up for every shift you are able to work, and I will confirm yours by email. Workers must be 18 or older, and you will work alongside me or a member of our board. | | | |
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| Upcoming Dates | | Mark your calendar | | October 15 to 18 | Charity poker. Each shift you work is a $40 credit toward your season fee. | | October 29 to November 1 | Charity poker, same shifts and the same $40 credit | | Saturday, November 7 | Last preseason session | | Sunday, November 8 | Supplemental tryout, 4th through 8th grade | | Monday, November 9 | Winter practices begin at Bessie Hoffman Gym, 50700 Willow Rd, Belleville. Your coach will share your team's schedule. | | November 9, December 9, and January 8 | Payment plan due dates, depending on your plan | | Sunday, December 6 | Media Day, 3:00 to 5:00 PM at Bessie Hoffman Gym, for Elementary and Middle School teams | | January | Our next issue of The Bond |
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| For Parents | | The Ride Home | | After more than 25 years of coaching, the moment I think about most is not the game. It is the car ride home. | | A player walks off the floor still carrying everything that just happened: the missed free throws, the minutes they did or did not get, the play the coach pulled them for. The car is the first place they get to set it down, and what they hear in those first few minutes shapes how they feel about the game, and about themselves, more than anything I say in the locker room. | | I have watched good players lose their love for basketball one ride home at a time. It almost never comes from a bad parent. It comes from a parent who cares, who saw something they want to help with, and who brings it up while the game is still raw. | | Here is what I would ask of every family this season. | | Give it time. Let your child bring the game up first. Some kids want to talk right away and some need until dinner. Either is fine. | | Lead with something simple. Bruce Brown and Rob Miller of Proactive Coaching spent years asking athletes what they most wanted to hear from their parents after a game. The answer they heard most was "I love to watch you play." It tells your child that your enjoyment does not depend on the score or the stat line. | | Leave the coaching to the coaches. If your child hears one thing from us at practice and something different in the car, they are stuck choosing between the two people they most want to please. If you have a concern about playing time or a role, bring it to the coach a day later, away from your child. | | Ask questions instead of giving answers. "What was the most fun part?" or "What did you think of your defense today?" lets them think it through and tells you where their head is. | | None of this means pretending a tough game did not happen. It means letting your child own their game, with you beside them rather than in front of them. That is how young people stay in this sport long enough to get good at it. | | |
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| Alumni Spotlight | | Felicia Stewart |  | | Felicia with Monica and me during her senior season at Alfred University | | Felicia Stewart played in our program and graduated from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor in 2021. She went on to play college basketball at Alfred University in western New York, where she wore number 23 as a guard for the Saxons and studied marketing. In November of her senior season she was part of the team that won the Alfred Tournament title. | | Felicia graduated in 2025, and today she is a tri-brand station manager for Enterprise Mobility at the Rochester airport, working across the company's Enterprise, National, and Alamo brands. When I asked her to look back on her years with Common Bond, this is what she said: | | “ | | The program was such a fun experience. It was a family away from home. Taught me how to handle adversity, hard work, and pushed me to be better every day. | | Felicia Stewart, Class of 2021 | | This is what we hope for every young person who comes through Common Bond. The game carries them to school, and school carries them into a career. Keep doing big things, Felicia! | | |
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| Congratulations | | Kaden Johnson |  | | Kaden in action at the Playmakers Invitational | | Congratulations to Kaden Johnson on graduating from Lamphere High School in Madison Heights. He is spending this year at Hyde School in Bath, Maine, for a postgraduate year. We are proud of you, Kaden! | | |
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| Coach Wanted | | 4th and 5th grade | | We need a coach for our 4th and 5th grade group this season. If you know someone who would make a good Common Bond coach, or you are interested yourself, let me know. Basketball knowledge matters, but what matters most to me is someone who will invest in young people. | | |
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| Thank you to our 2026 supporters | | Our Sponsors |  | | Wolverine Fire Protection Co. · Bank of Ann Arbor · Edward Jones · First Merchants Bank · R&D Enterprises · Silver Line Entertainment · Rysenia Capital Solutions | | Our thanks as well to Ryan Team Real Estate, Troy Clogg Landscape Associates, Great Lakes Oral Surgery, Game One, and Seale's Catering, and to every golfer and family who supported our 2026 Golf Outing. |
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Common Bond Basketball
Follow along all season and tag us in your photos from the gym.
4007 Carpenter Rd #261, Ypsilanti, MI 48197
commonbondbasketball.com |
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