Any high school coach knows that having a solid feeder program in place can only help the prospects of future success.

Bethlehem Catholic boys' basketball coach Mike Frew hopes that will pay off for him and the Becahi program with the Little Hawks basketball team gaining more of a foothold over the past three years.

With seventh and eighth grade teams coached by John Glass and Michael Gehringer respectively, the framework of putting players together that attend St. Anne's, Notre Dame, Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Nitschmann, has brought an influencing program to the forefront for Frew and his staff, which he hopes will pay dividends in the future.

"We really use it to help develop kids," said Frew. "It helps them get ready for what to expect in high school, as well as what to expect from Bethlehem Catholic.

"Every year it gets stronger and bigger. We had 45 kids try out this year and we want to keep making this as solid as it can get."

The teams compete in the Lehigh Valley Knee-Hi Basketball League against programs from across the area that act as feeders for many schools.

The Hawks cadet team was 3-4 as of last weekend, while the Knee-Hi team was sitting at 8-0.

Last year the eighth grade team was regular season champs and the seventh grade team finished as playoff champs, but as important as wins and losses are for coaches, development is the name of the game.

"To be involved with the kids early really helps," said John Glass, who is in charge of handling the seventh grade team. "We want to develop them and have them run similar things that they do at the high school level. It helps familiarize the players with stuff they'll be introduced to in the future."

Frew will be waiting to see the fruits of this pay off, as players from the program are just starting to filter into Becahi this past year, but all parties involved are excited about the growth of the program moving forward.

"We basically had double the turnout this year for tryouts, so we know that we're building something here," Glass said. "It starts with these young guys and we want to help grow the program as well."