Moral, Welfare & Recreation (MWR) on each base provided intramural sports leagues and tournaments for the sailors to participate in friendly and competitive games throughout the year. For the sailor-athlete with upper level basketball skills, who did not have the opportunity to go directly to college after high school due to money, grades, or a plethora of other reasons, the MWR Intramural Sports program does not meet their needs. And, with no one to give them direction, few find or get the opportunity to participate in the wide range of opportunities outside the base gates. Together, we can fix that.

 

The purpose of the West Sound All-Navy Basketball program is four-fold:

 

1. to identify the top sailor-athlete stationed in the area and help them find basketball opportunities off-base.

 

2. to help our sailor-athlete develop a personal training regiment and get the necessary assistance to take their individual basketball skills to the next level.

 

3. assist each WS All-Navy Basketball player prepare a package and get it approved through their command in order to be selected to participate in the annual All-Navy Basketball Training Camp, the highest level of military competition outside the U.S. Naval Academy.

 

4. to help each sailor-athlete develop an individual marketing plan and provide them with the resources and connections to attend college and play basketball at the completion of their time in the Navy.

 

REGIONAL COMPETITION

 

The Puget Sound area is uniquely qualified to provide the level of competition and college recruting opportunities for WS All-Navy Basketball program athletes. It contains four (4) naval bases - Bremerton, Wash. (naval shipyard), Silverdale, Wash. (subase), Everett, Wash. (carrier base), Whidbey Island (naval air station) - the largest Army base on the West Coast (Fort Lewis), an Air Force Base (McChord), and two Coast Guard facilities (Seattle & Port Angeles, Wash.).

 

 

It also has access to sixteen (16) community colleges and eight (8) four-year colleges (NAIA, NCAA Div. I, II, III) basketball programs, all with-in a two-hour radius.

 

Additionally, it is home to four (4) ABA and three (3) IBL semi-pro basketball teams.

 

But, the WS All-Navy Basketball program IS NOT a new active duty/reservist/dependent/retiree program. It is being built on the heels of the highly successful Puget Sound Military Sports program of the 1990's, that sent a head coach and six (6) West Sound sailor-athletes to the All-Navy Basketball team over a four year span and opened the door for five (5) West Sound sailor-athletes to attend Olympic College and play on the OC Men's Basketball team.

 

ALL-NAVY TRAINING CAMP 

 

"The U.S. All-Navy Sports program allows sailors who possess the athletic skills to compete above the intramural level, in team or individual sports, and represent the U.S. Navy at higher-level athletic competition.

 

All-Navy Basketball, which was established in 1975, particpates in the Department of Defense's Sports program and compete in the Armed Forces Championshp against teams from the Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force. Sailors who are selected to attend the annual basketball trail camp compete for roster sports available on the All-Navy Basketball team. Following completion fo the Armed Forces Basketball Tournament, higher-level playing opportunities exist for a select few to represent the United States in the Conseil International de Sport Militare (Military Word Championship)." - www.navyfitness.org/all-navy_sports/

 

COLLEGE RECRUITMENT

 

Although not highly publicized, many two-year and small four-year colleges throughout the United States are specifically looking to recruit former military-athletes. First, because miltary-athletes are older and physically more mature than players right out of high school. Second, the education benefits available to veterans permits a college athletic department to more effectively utilize the education resources at their disposal.

 

To help local military-athletes get recognized and recruited to play college basketball at the end of their time in the Navy, the WS All-Navy Basketball program is continuously developing connections to local, regional, and national basketball programs. By providing college coaching staffs with a stead stream of information - player contact information, game statistics, and video - about current members of the WS All-Navy Basketball team.

 

Training, experience, and publicity are the essential ingredient needed for a military-athlete to go on to play college basketball.

 

 

THE TEAM

 

Founded in 2014, the West Sound All-Navy Men's Basketball team is the top military team in the Puget Sound area.

 

Home based in Kitsap Co., Wash., the team draws its players from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (Bremerton, Wash.) Subase Bangor (Sivlerdale, Wash.), and Naval Weapons Station Keyport (Keyport, Wash.)

 

Competing year-round, the team regularly plays in the Olympic College Men's Summer League, Bremerton Park & Rec. Men's League (Fall, Winter, Spring), Native American & Military tournaments, as well as against teams from Fort Lewis (Lakewood, Wash.), McChord Air Force Base (Lakewood, Wash.), Naval Air Station Everett (Everett, Wash.), and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (Whidbey Island, Wash.).

 

The team is funded by generous donations from Kitsap Co. Military service organiations - Navy League, SubVets, Fleet Reserve Association, VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), and the American League - as well as from the Bremerton Student & Alumni Association, and from individual donors.