The Mariposa Aces program is giving back as athletes receive scholarships

The Mariposa Aces are back on the court as players seek to enhance their basketball skills during the offseason.

The Aces are a local girls’ AAU basketball program (youth, middle school and high school) in the Mariposa area, dedicated to developing athletes and enhancing their basketball IQ during the off-season.

In its second year, the program was started and continues to be developed by Mariposa County High School girls varsity basketball coach Joe Lewis.

“The Aces are a place for youth to develop while getting them involved in sports,” Lewis said.

“Sports are just a good way to show kids how to deal with challenges and grow. It’s a good place for them to learn how to deal with things while staying active.”

Lewis has coached youth basketball for several years and became the MCHS girls varsity basketball coach two years ago.

“I started this program mainly for the high school group and we’ve been able to open it up to the younger kids,” Lewis said.

“It helps so much. I have goals during the summer that help transition into the school year.”

The program involves youth girls ages 8-18 who want to hone their basketball skills during the summer.

“Getting started there were a lot of unknowns,” Lewis said.

“We saw the dream early on and now it’s really starting to grow as more kids have been getting into it. We’re really staring to branch out.”

With a wide variety of ages the way the teams are divided depend on how many kids join the program and where the teams travel.

“For the most part we stay pretty close when we play,” Lewis said.

“We usually travel to places like Merced and Fresno.”

As the program grows, Lewis is always looking for leagues and tournaments to join.

“Next year I’m looking at putting the younger kids in a youth spring league in Madera,” he said.

“It’d be fun for us to join that league. They aren’t super teams but they’re there to try and develop their programs for the next few years and I’d like to get involved in that.”

The high school girls travel more extensively.

“We’ve been to places like San Diego and Pismo,” Lewis said.

“It was really cool, we won a tournament there last year. The high school kids do a lot more.”

For the first time, Lewis has been able to provide scholarships through the Aces as each of the seniors on the MCHS varsity girls basketball team received a scholarship through the program this year.

“It was a nice way to start things off this year. We want to give back to kids who come through the program and promote going to college,” Lewis continued.

“We just want to be able to help in the ways we can to give kids a chance to go to college and pursue dreams or goals that they have.”

One goal Lewis has for the Aces program is to have even more scholarships available as things progress.

“My ultimate goal would be to have scholarships available for both girls and boys basketball and try to help them go further,” he said.

“It’s important to provide that support for kids to go to college.”

The league is providing more than just basketball skills.

“I started the league mainly for the high school kids. The idea is to have them come back and contribute,” Lewis said.

“I want them to also have gratitude and provide leadership for the youth. That’s where each of them started at one point and I like to give them opportunities to help out.”

The younger kids look up to the older kids.

“They get really excited when they see the high school kids,” said Lewis.

“It’s like they’re seeing their heroes up close.”

Along with the high school athletes, Erica Marlin is assisting with the program.

“It’s just us right now,” Lewis said.

“We’ll have more of the older kids coming to help as their schedules open up.”

The Mariposa Aces are having open gym right now, which is free until early June when official registration and fees are due.

“It’s not a money grab,” said Lewis.

“The money is to pay for tournaments and to keep the league going.”

The league is for ages 8-18 and includes a one time fee.

Sponsorships also come from businesses and members in the community.

Each player is required to have an AAU membership which can be acquired at aausports.org/join-aau-2025/

The Club Code for the Aces is UBJ7VA47P

For more information and to register, visit the Mariposa Aces on Facebook or contact Lewis at joelewis4999@gmail.com or by phone at (209) 628-7763.

“The girls who commit during the offseason are able to pick up where we left off and things aren’t so new when the regular season starts,” Lewis said.

“We’re able to build on it and we’re a few steps ahead of some of the teams we end up playing because of what we do here.”