We are a couple of weeks into this year’s NABA season and students are getting ramped up. The North Allegheny Basketball Association (NABA) is an intramural basketball league in which students are put into random teams and play against each other. It has always been one of the most popular activities among the student body and this year is no exception.
When asked why he likes NABA so much, Nico Varlotta said, “I like the competitiveness. There’s lots of trash-talking during the school day. You always have players on your team that you didn’t know before. You become friends with them, and everybody gets hype on game days.”
Varlotta played school basketball in middle school, but switched to NABA in 9th grade. Focusing on school baseball made it hard for him to balance back-to-back varsity seasons.
“My favorite NABA memory was beating Brady Meyer’s team last year in the championship,” he said.
NABA is open to every grade in the high school and is a way to meet new people, play with or against your friends, get better, and, above all, have fun. While it is mostly popular among the high school boys, there is also a girls NABA league.
There are about seven to eight players per team and they have games once or twice a week. Many people look forward to watching these games as they are extremely competitive, yet laid back. One player from each team has their parents coach their team. While sometimes the parents get heated, it is all a part of the fun of NABA. Although you have to pay roughly $100 to participate, many players say that it is all worth it in the end.
Senior, Chris Hoffman, has been playing since ninth grade.
“I started because I wanted to play with my friends and not have the stress of being on the varsity team,” he said.
Similarly, EJ Walters said, “I really like playing basketball and it’s cool to be able to play on a team without having to be on the school team.”
Mia Jones, also a senior at North Allegheny, plays on a girls’ NABA team. Her favorite memory from her time playing was beating everyone last year and becoming the NABA champions. She loves being with her friends and having fun playing basketball at the same time.
“Not everyone knows each other and it’s so fun to meet new people and play on the same team together,” she said. “It is also so fun when it gets really competitive between the friends that you are playing against.”
Reilly Gabos, a friend of Jones, also plays girls’ NABA. She has been playing for a couple of years now and has enjoyed every second of it.
“I really like being with my friends,” she said. “It is also a great way to keep me active during the week while also having fun.”
NABA is a long-standing tradition, and the North Allegheny high schoolers clearly continue to love it.
