If you're interested in trying out basketball and want to meet some new friends on the Warriors team - come to open gym. It's FREE and open to all levels.  We have open gym for both girls or boys.  Refer to our Calendar.

We often hear graduating seniors and their families wish they had started earlier in the Warriors club. This is a program that emphasizes Christian character and sportsmanship, athletic development, leadership, teamwork, and fun fellowship for homeschooling families. It has been a blessing in the lives of many Central Iowa families for about 20 years.

High School is 9th – 12th grades, ages 19 or under.

Junior High is 7th – 8th grades, ages 15 or under.

Scout Team is 5th - 6th grades (4th grade space permitting)

Age is based upon the players ages on September 15 of the current season.

A player must be homeschooled.

Players must be receiving their primary (a minimum of 50%) educational direction through the home.

Educational direction through co-ops, such as The Network, Classical Conversations, Two Rivers, ACTS Academy and others are considered home-directed education.

At the varsity level, players may not play for any other public, private or homeschool teams during the Warriors season.

There are registration fees and uniform fees. Refer to our Registration page for detailed information.

Families provide socks, shoes, gym bag, and miscellaneous other personal items.

Practices begin in mid October.  First regular season games are in late November, and the  final games are in late February or first week of March.

Many games are against homeschool teams across Iowa.  The varsity teams play homeschool teams from surrounding states. We also play against some K-8 and K-12 private schools or academies. We have on occasion played junior high club teams run by parents of public school students.

High School

Trips may be to locations such as Boone, New Providence, Kalona, Mason City, and overnight trips to Bloomington, MN, and Omaha or Lincoln, NE. In recent seasons, our high school teams have greatly enjoyed a season-ending regional homeschool tournament in Kansas.

Home games are played in the Des Moines metro area at larger gyms. Most high school games are Fridays and Saturdays, though a few are on weeknights.

Junior High

Trips may be to locations such as Boone, New Providence and Williamsburg, plus one overnight trip to Lincoln for a tournament.

Home games are played in various Des Moines gym locations. Games can be weeknights (except Wednesday) and Saturdays.

Practices are usually held at churches with gyms and occasionally private facilities. Our church affiliates are gracious to offer the facility to the Warriors at low or no cost, which allows us to reduce costs to families. Practice locations can be variable from year to year depending upon availability.

The Warriors program goal is to limit team events (practices plus games) to three times a week during the season. Teams often practice on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (late afternoon or evening) and Saturdays (mornings).  Practice schedules vary by team.

In past seasons the following number of games were played:

• Varsity Boys: 25 games
• Varsity Girls: 22 games
• Junior Varsity Boys: 20 games
• Junior Varsity Girls: 12 games
• Development Boys: 10 games
• Junior High Boys: 20 games
• Junior High Girls: 15 games

Junior High

The emphasis is to develop basketball skills. Players will get minutes in games where their skill set is best matched (better skilled players will play in games against better opponents, lesser skilled players will play in games against lesser opponents). Playing time is not guaranteed in games against other programs. Intrasquad games are also used to provide game-time opportunities for lesser skilled players, and held during home events.

High School Junior Varsity (JV)

This is our second highest level of competition. We will schedule as many JV games as possible, though there may be limited number of opponents. Like varsity teams, this level also has significant travel involved. (See Playing Time in Games below.)

High School Varsity

This is our highest level of competition, and based on tryouts early in the regular season. Playing time is not guaranteed in games, and will be dependent upon situations and player performance and other criteria (see Playing Time in Games below).

High School Development (Dev, boys only)

This is the third tier of teams, currently for high school boys only. This is for players not selected for varsity and JV rosters. The focus is to develop each player’s skill so they can be prepared to play at higher level. Most games are full regulation intrasquad games played during home events, allowing players maximum court time.

There can be movement between any level, up or down, based upon player development and effort.

Warriors Basketball is a competitive program and equal playing time is not guaranteed.

Playing time is determined by the coach. Consideration is given to the following criteria, which are neither exclusive nor listed in order of importance.

• Attendance at practices and games
• Effort and character displayed in practices and games
• Athletic skill and talent
• Commitment to the team
• Attitude

A foundational value for the Des Moines Warriors is development of Christian character in our players. A specific component of this value is the program’s expectation that there is no open criticism of referees, coaches or players from our spectators.

If there are any player, coach, official or spectator sportsmanship concerns that arise during games, please feel free to discuss the matter with a member of the Warriors board.

1. Parents have responsibility of transporting players to all practices and games.
2. Parents are asked to volunteer or take a leadership role in the organization.  See our Volunteer page for more details.
3. Exemplify high standards of sportsmanship and Christian conduct during games – our program expects no open criticism of referees, coaches, players or opponents.