What is a Masters Player?

Men age 40 plus and Women 18 plus... are both 'Masters Players'- we have found that women players play very similar to over 40 Men- in that they typically play smart- good basketball with good ball movement- and both play 'below the rim' and less fast than our typical (mostly men) leagues. Ever since we 'added' women to 'Masters players category' we have found a home for both and the fit has been perfect. Restated, the programs you will read about below is for Men (40+) and Women (18+) and the fit/ball movement/pace of the Masters type game is very unique, these are wonderful games; come join us!

There are 2 products for Masters players-

Below you will see information about LEAGUE and separately you will see information about PROGRAM. Note- if you are 'recreational' or on the 'slow side' of the Masters type players (& recreational in nature), you will enjoy the 'program' much more than the league.

About the MASTERS 'LEAGUE':

 Yes we do run a Masters league on Wednesday nights. This is for TEAMS who compete in 7 games (with 2 referees and against other Masters teams). Team fee is $693; Text 503-380-4539 if you have a team you want to put in this league. Games occur in various gyms  in Portland and at game times typically ranging from 6:50pm to 9:40pm (at the very latest).

About the MASTERS 'PROGRAM':

We have 3 Masters games- that we run for Masters players; these 3 games are like 3 clubs that you can join where you show up and play a basketball game. These are not league games but they are Masters basketball games. These 3 games occur on Sundays at 11:05am, Sundays at 12noon and the 3rd game option is on Wednesday nights 7:40pm. Location of all 3 games is- Columbia Christian School - 205  NE 92nd (Portland). These 'Masters program' games have a supervisor- we use a scoreboard- teams wear black/white jerseys- but it is really 14 players showing up- getting divided onto 2 teams and playing a game. Restated- these 3 games are league style games but it is more of a CLUB of 14 players- playing at the same time and place every week. The point of this game/program is to play at a Masters pace (a slower game- a smart game). If you want to join 1 of these 3 (games), text Mikal 503-380-4539 with something like 'Id like to join this program and play on (choose a day), how many games are left and how much would I owe?'- and from your text, Mikal will immediately text you back with the price (it is very common for players to join- not at the official start date). If you did join on time, the cost is $122 for 10 weeks of basketball.

Note: there is an option to join for just 1 week (1 game at a time). Restated: yes you can choose 'week by week' (single game); to do this- from the main page of Portlandbasketball website- you will see a link titled- 'PicktoPlay'- click on that link and scroll to find the 3 'Masters games' options.

WHY you should join this Masters Basketball program for the FULL 10 WEEKS? Answers: A) when you pay for a lot of Sundays, your payment 'forces' you to get that weekly/ongoing workout and B) knowing you are playing 'every week' gives you incentive to get your other workouts in. The Players who do the 'single game option' play less as you are not committed, whereas the players who pay for 'full season' are forced to keep playing, forced to stay in shape- and bottom line- ten weeks later- these 'full season players' are in better shape (than those who choose the individual game option); the best way to illustrate my point is a quote that a player said to me one random Sunday- "I am glad I did full season because if I did not (do full season), I would have skipped today and Im glad I came and got this great workout in".

 Side notes:

Masters Program note 1: the price we charge for a full season (10 weeks) assumes you will 'miss 3 games out of 10' with being busy, out of town or due to injuries. If you miss a 4th game- you can ask Mikal to play an extra game on the other day (for example- you play Sundays and you miss a '4th game', feel free to ask Mikal 'can I run on Wednesday night in a free one since I missed 4 games').

Masters Program note 2: Masters age players can play in non-masters games as well, if you choose; text 503-380-4539 for info about 'other games' that you can play in (basically- the PicktoPlay page described above with the 3 Masters game options- well that page has 25 'other' game options as well (25 games that are NOT Masters games- and you are welcome to play in those games).

Masters League note 1: Masters teams in the league will play against other Masters teams; however, there are two scenarios where you would play OUT of division (meaning- your Masters teams will play against a NON-masters team). Scenario 1 is 'Summer season' because it is the ONLY season out of SEVEN seasons where we do not have a lot of teams playing, so we ask you to show up, play the game, take the loss and go home. Scenario 2 is if you blow out a fellow Masters team, we will view you as 'straying' from the Masters slow/recreational tone- and while blowouts (25 points or more) do happen- expect your next game to be against a non-Masters team (this is meant to discourage blowouts). Now this all said, let me explain a bit of history... for the recent 2 years this entire Masters program has been working great BUT did you know- this version of Masters is actually our 8th attempt (in 29 years) and historically all of the other attempts failed when we did 'out of division' games b/c Masters teams would pick up some 'young guy' and then 'keep the young guy' (and our Masters program would unravel)... so in 2023, I am explaining to Masters teams that for this division to work, you need to keep your roster 'true Masters' every single week. Restated: do not allow this very very rare 'out of division' game to change your roster and in turn, destroy the Masters league. Conclusion/Summary: the league will do our best to not have you play out of Masters, but in scenario 1 & scenario 2 (above) it will happen but your team needs to continue to stay true to your 'masters roster'.