SARANAC LAKE — With the popularity of women’s basketball skyrocketing in recent years, a new youth girls travel basketball team was recently created for aspiring hoopers to improve their game.

The Tri-Lakes Yetis basketball team is a group founded and coached by Saranac Lake native and local youth basketball coach Justin Garwood, who hopes to create a way for girls from grades three to six to continue honing their skills after the youth basketball season.

“It’s really is a chance for girls, who are interested in basketball, to have a chance to play more than just during basketball season,” Garwood said. “Girls who are interested in improving their skills. Around here, girls don’t really have options for competitive play until seventh grade, typically. So I’m trying to target that younger group and if girls are interested, there’s a chance to come together and improve their game and engage in some tournament play.”

Following the Saranac Lake youth basketball season — which runs from November to February — some of the boys will play for an after season team, according to Garwood.

“They keep playing year round and that (has) led to a lot of our boys programs being successful,” he said. “The girls program there hasn’t been as many options for whatever reason it was. It could’ve been lack of interest or girls not knowing it was an option. So I felt like there is all this moment right now around college women’s basketball.”

The rise in popularity, predominately at the college level, has been thanks in part to an Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who is now the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer for both men and women basketball.

Arenas have been sold out for her games, home and away, and television ratings have never been higher, according to the Associated Press. Now, the “Caitlin Clark Effect” is having an impact in the Tri-Lakes region.

“I’ve been coaching the group now for a couple years now, so a lot of the girls that I see are the same ones that I’ve been seeing come back every year,” Garwood said. “Before, a lot of the girls showed up because they wanted to stay active and do the next thing. ‘Soccer season is over lets do basketball.’

“Now these girls are coming in and they’re asking, ‘Did you see the game last night,’ because Iowa had a big game,” he added. “They’re coming in and they’re talking with their friends or they’re wearing Caitlin Clark shirts or they have sneakers that she buys, kind of like how when I was growing up in the ’90s and how everybody kind of looked at Michael Jordan. I’m seeing kids respond to Caitlin Clark that way. It’s really cool to see.”

Garwood said he planned on forming the Yetis for a couple of years now, but the “Caitlin Clark Effect” just happened to be at its peak around the same time the team was formally created.

There are currently available spots for girls in third through sixth grade in the Tri-Lakes area and surrounding communities. Practices begin April 18 and run through June 22 at the Saranac Lake Middle School gym. Practices will be twice per week, including a Tuesday or Thursday practice and a Saturday practice.

“The plan is that we’ll start practicing after the district spring break and we’ll be practicing two or three times a week depending on the week. Girls can really learn the game and work together. We’re planning to play a team in mid-June.”

Garwood said there are various road tournaments that he plans on having the Yetis attend in the summer.

“I’d love to eventually organize something close to home where we would host a tournament here,” he said. “Whether it’s in the district or North Country or Paul Smith’s, just finding a partner to help us host a tournament. That’s sort of the long term plan.”

Garwood added that the Tri-Lakes Yetis is not intended to replace any other sports, such as lacrosse, softball or track.

“I’ve got girls who expressed interest, but they also play lacrosse. It just so happens to be that the time we get the gyms now overlaps with lacrosse,” he said. “So what I said is, ‘If you want to revisit us in the summer, we can talk about that.’ It’s something where I don’t want to replace any other sports. I just want this to be an option for girls who want to be apart of it.”

For those students who have prior commitment in April-June, Garwood encouraged their families to reach out to him to discuss the possibility of joining the team in the summer.

Those who sign up will receive an official uniforms, warm-up hoody and an officially licensed NCAA women’s basketball. Tournament and games will take place in the summer at mutually agreed upon times with participants’ families.

Despite being a Tri-Lakes based team, Garwood said girls from further away are more than welcome to sign up.

Those interested, or those with questions, can contact Garwood at trilakesyetis@gmail.com. For more information, visit https://agar716.wixsite.com/tri-lake-yetis.