BLANCHARDVILLE - Doreen Feller has helped the Pecatonica athletes from their infantile stages in basketball.
"I've tied their shoes," Feller says. "I tied their shoes many times when they were little."
That's because Feller has headed up the Little Vikings youth basketball program that is in its 10th season. All but one player from this season's boys and girls teams are graduates.
Feller - who also is an assistant coach with Pec's varsity girls squad - co-founded the group in 1998 with former Pec boys coach Dan Fink after being inspired by the Little Badgers program in the Madison area.
She wanted to get the young Blanchardville kids involved with roundball at an earlier age. Feller took the reins over in 2001 when Fink left to teach and coach at Stevens Point High School.
The Little Vikings work on all the basics of basketball from dribbling to passing, but Feller puts a fun spin on the game and works out routines for the children, a la dance or instrument recital. The group showcases its learned traits in front of the Vikings' fans at selected home games during the season.
Then in 2001, when both the boys and girls varsity teams qualified for the state tournament in Madison, the 21 Little Vikings got to take the big stage at halftime. That attention got the wheels churning for Feller's vision. She had just two squads at the time - one of first- and second-graders and one of third- and fourth-graders. She then fielded a group of fourth- through sixth-graders.
"Our attendance just really went up," Feller said. "This fundamental stuff doesn't stop at fourth grade. Why do we stop our program here?"
Feller doesn't water down the drills for the future varsity stars and role players. She hopes that in due time first-graders will have a first-rate knowledge of how to handle the ball and use the glass on layups.
"We just make it really challenging. I know when our first-graders come in every year it can be tough for them," Feller said. "We're trying to get them to dribble between their legs and it's tough when they're really small. But, they work through it and you wouldn't believe it, at the end of the year they can do a lot of the things. At a pretty good level, too."
Former little Vikings, and current big Vikings, like seniors Ashley Gant and Brandon Meudt will assist Feller and the program that helped them grow as players when they can. Gant - a starting guard for the 17-2 Pec team - enjoyed her first experiences under the lights as a kid; it helped her confidence in the sport.
"You know what? I just love attention," Gant said with a laugh. "It was good to get out in front of people. Then it psyched me up and I felt like I was doing better even though I probably wasn't."
Gant knows the lessons taught from her time in the program still subconsciously seep into her games.
"When I hold onto the ball, we've been taught from when we were so little to pin it," Gant said. "I do that and so do my teammates. It's definitely been brought into my high school career."
Meudt didn't shy away from the bright lights when he was in the Little Vikings. He was a member of a group that got to perform in front of huge crowds, like at the Bradley Center during halftime of a Milwaukee Bucks game.
"All the opportunities we had to go and perform at these big spots (was great)," Meudt said.
Meudt - a senior guard for the boys team that faces Benton tonight in a Division 4 WIAA regional semifinal - can score inside and from beyond-the-arc; he thanks Feller and the program for his basketball I.Q.
"All the things I know, I was taught at Little Vikings," Meudt said.
"I've tied their shoes," Feller says. "I tied their shoes many times when they were little."
That's because Feller has headed up the Little Vikings youth basketball program that is in its 10th season. All but one player from this season's boys and girls teams are graduates.
Feller - who also is an assistant coach with Pec's varsity girls squad - co-founded the group in 1998 with former Pec boys coach Dan Fink after being inspired by the Little Badgers program in the Madison area.
She wanted to get the young Blanchardville kids involved with roundball at an earlier age. Feller took the reins over in 2001 when Fink left to teach and coach at Stevens Point High School.
The Little Vikings work on all the basics of basketball from dribbling to passing, but Feller puts a fun spin on the game and works out routines for the children, a la dance or instrument recital. The group showcases its learned traits in front of the Vikings' fans at selected home games during the season.
Then in 2001, when both the boys and girls varsity teams qualified for the state tournament in Madison, the 21 Little Vikings got to take the big stage at halftime. That attention got the wheels churning for Feller's vision. She had just two squads at the time - one of first- and second-graders and one of third- and fourth-graders. She then fielded a group of fourth- through sixth-graders.
"Our attendance just really went up," Feller said. "This fundamental stuff doesn't stop at fourth grade. Why do we stop our program here?"
Feller doesn't water down the drills for the future varsity stars and role players. She hopes that in due time first-graders will have a first-rate knowledge of how to handle the ball and use the glass on layups.
"We just make it really challenging. I know when our first-graders come in every year it can be tough for them," Feller said. "We're trying to get them to dribble between their legs and it's tough when they're really small. But, they work through it and you wouldn't believe it, at the end of the year they can do a lot of the things. At a pretty good level, too."
Former little Vikings, and current big Vikings, like seniors Ashley Gant and Brandon Meudt will assist Feller and the program that helped them grow as players when they can. Gant - a starting guard for the 17-2 Pec team - enjoyed her first experiences under the lights as a kid; it helped her confidence in the sport.
"You know what? I just love attention," Gant said with a laugh. "It was good to get out in front of people. Then it psyched me up and I felt like I was doing better even though I probably wasn't."
Gant knows the lessons taught from her time in the program still subconsciously seep into her games.
"When I hold onto the ball, we've been taught from when we were so little to pin it," Gant said. "I do that and so do my teammates. It's definitely been brought into my high school career."
Meudt didn't shy away from the bright lights when he was in the Little Vikings. He was a member of a group that got to perform in front of huge crowds, like at the Bradley Center during halftime of a Milwaukee Bucks game.
"All the opportunities we had to go and perform at these big spots (was great)," Meudt said.
Meudt - a senior guard for the boys team that faces Benton tonight in a Division 4 WIAA regional semifinal - can score inside and from beyond-the-arc; he thanks Feller and the program for his basketball I.Q.
"All the things I know, I was taught at Little Vikings," Meudt said.
