South Hills Summer Basketball League Wraps Up Second Season at Baldwin Borough Municipal Courts

As the old adage goes, it's not about winning or losing but how you play the game.

That's not a statement that you'd hear often from a longtime competitive basketball coach such as Mark "Knobby" Walsh, who was hired in May to head the boys varsity hoops team at .

But if you're coaching grade-schoolers in the offseason on a pair of outdoor courts, perhaps it's best to be more instructional than competitive.

That's the crux of the South Hills Summer Basketball League, which wrapped up its second season at the on Wednesday night.

"Knobby" has run similar camps in the past but has rented space on Baldwin's municipal courts for the past two years. The league is big on fun and even bigger on instruction, and game scores are never kept.

"This league is really unique," Walsh said. "There are two courts, so four teams come to play at a given time.

"The nice advantage is if one team has a few kids missing and the other team has all of its kids, we trade before the game to make the teams fair numbers-wise. Plus, we make trades each game, so the teams are balanced skill-wise.

"We referee and instruct on actually how to play—how to cut, screen, block out, rebound, etc.

"Tons of parents come watch."

Every South Hills League game is 45 minutes long with a running clock.

"We don't keep score," Walsh said. "Nobody loses. Everyone plays equal. We do call fouls and violations. There are no coaches.

"But," he said emphatically, "the league goes so well, and kids and parents love it. Lots of kids from the area play."

The league draws most of its players ($55 each for the whole season, which runs from early July to mid-August) from the South Hills area, but players are welcome to come from anywhere, as long as they are entering a grade between third and eighth that coming fall. Registrants will play approximately twice per week.

Walsh said that he advertises his summer league in a number of places, from media outlets to YMCA branches to just word-of-mouth.

He expects his league to return to Baldwin next year under the same format.

(View the video to the right of this article to enjoy interviews and some action from Wednesday night's games.)