Southern Tier Rage Mission and History

 

The Southern Tier Rage is guided by a strong mission with the end result of all of our work being the benefit of young men and the community as a whole.  The mission statement below is the basis of what we do.

 

 "Founded to provide quality learning experiences for youth. We hold firm the belief that more than just basketball is taught on the court and in the gym. To that effect we are committed to producing self-motivated, quality citizens who understand the values of respect, sportsmanship, commitment and understanding. While on this path we look to provide a caring environment where the foundation of basketball skill can be laid to allow athletes to set goals and realize dreams."

 

In 1999, fourteen young men embarked on a journey to play more basketball.  They had no idea as to the level of competition they would be facing, they just knew they wanted to play more basketball.  The team, coached by Tony Lindsey, decided on Southern Tier Rage as their name and on to tournaments they went.  It was a challenging year but one that saw every player improve a great deal as a result.  Each year since it was created, the program has grown in some way.

 

While we go out to win as many games as possible THAT is not our primary goal.  We do not play in low level tournaments simply to get wins, we do not care about our win-loss record.  We do not just roll the ball out at practice.  Our goal is to TEACH the players such that they improve every time they step on the court!   Success in terms of wins and losses is a direct result of how well we do there.  However, if we are winning too many games, we are not playing good enough competition because in order to improve you need to constantly push yourself to be at higher levels.  Much more is learned through failing than succeeding so it is important to realize aiming high and failing just short still puts you above aiming low and acheiving a goal that was never in question.

 

Our program offers something that no other program in the area can, a commitment to teaching the game of basketball.  We are now into our 22nd year because we are not a team centered around one kid or in existence simply because a players dad wants more opportunity for his son, we are here for all of the athletes of the Southern Tier.