The facility hosted its first practice on Dec. 1 and will be regularly used by NUBBA for the foreseeable future.

“We’re currently renting the space from Kristi Andersen-Loose,” NUBBA board member Trevor Slette said. “We started talking about it last May in a year-end meeting for NUBBA as a whole. Started to talk about what are some of the things that can help kids develop in the offseason. This facility was not, at the time, quite certain where things were at with it, but coming around the end of June we really started to formulate a plan with how we were going to move forward with it … This was a perfect match for us.”

NUBBA offers a way for New Ulm youth to develop their basketball skills, and the new facility will make it so that NUBBA has more space and time to work on drills and teamwork.

“Basically we are [grades] two through eight, boys and girls,” Slette said. “We organize teams and organize coaches and basically anyone that’s in the ISD 88 school district can participate. We organize volunteers, coaches, board members that are excellent at getting us through it. Basically just providing opportunities to learn and develop basketball and life skills on and off the court. Ensuring that they represent the community with pride.”

Submitted photo The NUBBA fifth-grade boys basketball team gathers for a breakdown during a practice at the new facility at 318-326 N. Valley Street.

The space offers five separate basketball hoops on a nearly-full length court, and NUBBA has been in need for more space for some time.

“Ever since we started, we talked about getting a space devoted just for the NUBBA boys and girls,” Slette said. “It was too much to build or take on a place, so right now we’re using it for team practices. We’ve had nothing but great feedback … Just have the opportunity to get another place to practice.”

NUBBA previously held practices at the various gyms in the New Ulm school system, as well as the New Ulm Recreation Center. NUBBA will continue to use those spaces along with the new facility as it looks to work with about 160 second- through eighth-graders.

While the space is currently only being used for team practices, eventually Slette said that individuals would be able to work on their own time on different skills.

“The end-goal is to have it as a skill development location,” he said. “So any NUBBA kid will be able to go eventually to save the space for an hour. We’ll have — they’re called Doctor Dishes that we’re still trying to raise funds for, where the Doctor Dishes feeds the ball to you no matter where you want to be on the court. It has a lot of dribbling programs on it. So it’s not only team-oriented, but it’s also going to be open for kids to develop individual skills.”

Slette hopes those individual sessions will be available soon.

“Hopefully by the first of the year we have enough funds raised so we can get the kids in their individually,” he said. “Mostly during the basketball season they have a lot of basketball on their plate, but by this time or by spring for sure, even late winter we’ll have the ability for kids to use it, book some time and go down their with a parent and work through different drills.”