The Warhawks Youth Basketball Association (WYBA) is a community based, travel basketball program in Westerville, Ohio. We offer youth basketball players in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grades, the opportunity to develop their individual and team basketball skills. We strive to prepare these athletes to eventually compete for the Westerville Central varsity basketball programs. Our program is a member of the Central Ohio Basketball Association (COBA, visit https://www.cobachampionship.com). We compete against top competition from around the Central Ohio area. WYBA strongly encourages a competitive atmosphere that will promote a culture creating hard work, prepared, and positive student athletes.
The WYBA is overseen by a Board of volunteer parents, see WYBA Board page for more details.
The Warhawks Youth Basketball Association is primarily formed of students from the Westerville Central High School District, and our preference is to form teams with kids who will continue to play together over the next several years, and eventually be part of Central’s high school programs.
Students who live within the Westerville Central High School District and any WYBA players from the 2025-2026 season are eligible to try out for the upcoming 2026-2027 season. See Westerville Schools Boundary map here: https://www.croppermap.com/westerville/
The Warhawks Youth Basketball Association was started in 2021 by a group of volunteer parents who wanted to bring a COBA team to the Westerville school district children. While being supported by the school district, Westerville Central High School athletic department and Varsity Basketball staff, these parents figured out how to form a program of teams that play in the COBA league, schedule gym time, recruit players and coaches, and elevate the program to be have a community focus (see Community page).
Timeline:
Cost for the upcoming season TBD. For reference, the 2025-2026 travel season cost remained stable at $375. The player cost goes towards: customized uniforms, practice jerseys, warmup shirts, insurance, league dues, referees, tournament fees and gym rental fees.
Players may receive a discount on registration fees when they have a family member approved to coach.
Our goal is to keep costs low for our players, which is why the Board seeks program sponsorships. See more details on our Sponsorship page including different sponsorship tiers, and a list of program Sponsors.
Any of our community members and program families are encouraged to identify sponsors! If you're interested in supporting our program with one of the sponsorship packages OR if you'd like to support the team in another way, please feel free to contact us at your convenience. WCYTB3456@gmail.com
All teams will use the TeamSnap app for schedule and team level communications. Your coach will send out details on how to download TeamSnap. Program level communications will be sent via email and Facebook/Instagram.
Westerville Central Athletics has a website with more information on Central High School Sports, see here. The Athletic website includes links for Winter Sports schedules.
Feel free to contact us at WCYTB3456@gmail.com for more information
No, the tryouts are closed tryouts (players and staff only). Parents should plan to drop off and pick up their kids at the above times. Parents are not permitted to wait around the gym or in the check-in area during tryouts. New parents with questions may email or attend a New Parent Q&A at one of the skills sessions (TBD).
No, the practices are closed (players and coaches only). Parents should plan to drop off and pick up their kids at their scheduled practice times (see Practice FAQ below). Parents are not permitted to wait around the gym or inside the school during practice. New parents with questions may email or attend a New Parent Q&A at one of the skills sessions (TBD).
Players are evaluated each year during the tryout process. Participation on a team the previous year does not ensure selection for the upcoming season.
Yes, and the program appreciates all of our coaches! If you are interested in coaching, please indicate interest on the registration form and view details on the Coaching page. Families with approved coaches will receive a discount on registration fees.
See Registration page for details.
Practices will likely start in late October/early November and the season generally runs through the middle of February. See the "Tournament" FAQ for additional details.
All teams will use 28.5", Size 6 basketball and play on 10' hoops, per COBA guidelines.
Regular season games are scheduled between late November through early February, with generally 2 games every weekend. Each team will play between 14 and 18 regular season games in the COBA season (pending the team's grade level).
Home Games will be played at the Westerville Central High School on Sundays during the season against other grade based teams from the COBA (Central Ohio Basketball Association).
Away Games The team will travel to other Columbus area school based teams for away games on Saturdays and/or Sundays.
We want each player to have a great gameday experience. Every player will play during games, but it is important to note that this is a travel basketball team and playing time during games may not be equal. Playing time will be determined by what is seen in both practice and in games. If players show up late to practices or games, this can result in decreased playing time. Playing time can also be impacted by the strengths of the opposing team. The coaches will determine playing time as the game unfolds.
Playing time during competitive tournament games may be different than playing time during regular season games.
There will be 2-3 weekend tournaments - a COBA preview weekend in mid-November, a COBA championship in February spanning 2 weekends, and based on interest/availability, certain teams may play in a holiday tournament over Winter Break. Teams who qualify can also go on and compete in the State Championships if they are interested in doing so. See https://www.cobachampionship.com for details.
Tournaments for 2026/2027 COBA Season
COBA has informed the WYBA Board of a few calendar changes to the COBA Holiday Tournament and the year end tournament, from the past few years. Please note these are set by COBA and not WYBA and subject to change, but we wanted to give our families as much notice as possible of the current COBA plan.
Yes, regular season games may be scheduled over Winter Break or MLK weekend in January. The COBA championship tournament often falls over President Day weekend in February.
Historically, practices have been 2 nights per week (Mon-Thurs), held at various Westerville elementary schools around the district, and scheduled between hours of 6:15pm-9:00pm. Historically, two teams have practiced in one gym, with practices lasting approximately 90 minutes within that time frame and staggering the start time so each team would have the court to themselves for a portion of practice. Exact locations and times will be determined once the teams and coaches have been identified.
We encourage all players to attend all tryout dates if possible. In some extreme circumstances, the WYBA program may have to hold supplemental tryouts. Email WCYTB3456@gmail.com with unique circumstances.
ADDITIONAL TRYOUT DATES ARE TBD
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