Nine-year-old Haley Jenkins has the lofty goal of one day playing for the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team. If the fourth grader does join the perennial NCAA Division I champions, the Dartmouth Girls Athletic League will be proud to count her as an alum.

“I’ve been playing since I was five,” Haley said. “I love it because it’s lots of fun and I’m really good at it.”

Since the early 1970s, the league, known as DGAL for short, has given girls in kindergarten through eighth grade a place to play basketball, field hockey and softball.

If high school athletics are considered the big leagues in Dartmouth sports, DGAL is the farm team where girls hone their skills in a fun, healthy environment.

“It’s a lot of fun, but competitive as well,” said Basketball Commissioner Rob Tetrault. “We try to make the teams as evenly matched as we can and focus on teaching fundamentals. We want every player touching the basketball during the game.”

In Haley’s case, she’s developed a flashy crossover and between-the-legs dribble playing point guard for her team; Maine, coached by her mom, Brooke, and dad, Tony.

Friday night marked a match-up between Maine and another team, Baylor, for the third and fourth grade championship title.

Earlier in the week, Maine defeated Baylor by one point. Another win Friday would have made Maine league champions, but it couldn’t overcome Baylor who won 26-8.

The game was played in front of a packed gym at the middle school where parents and friends enthusiastically cheered on the girls.

Remy Barber, 9, was on the Baylor team. She’s been playing in DGAL for three years, said her father Scott.

“She loves it. She’s so excited to be playing,” Scott said. “It’s her favorite. Actually, I better not say that or her soccer teammates will get mad. Basketball is one of her favorite sports.”

According to Tetrault, who coaches a fifth and sixth grade team, the league has experienced an upswing in interest recently.

“It’s growing in popularity, which is good for us. We’ve had more girls joining this year, and that means more teams and more talent,” Tetrault said.

As the father of three daughters, Tetrault has been involved in DGAL for 12 years. His youngest currently participates in the league, and his two older daughters are previous members. Both are now in high school.

Tetrault said DGAL has been forging a new partnership with the high school for the girls’ benefit.

“We’re trying to promote the league better and have been working with the high school coach to that end,” he said, adding efforts include getting the DGAL players to high school games to see their older counterparts.

Friday night Tetrault’s team, North Carolina, staved off an elimination with an exciting come from behind win. Down 11-4 at halftime, the North Carolina players launched an offensive attack that tied the game 14-14 with 4:22 left in the fourth quarter.

The game ended 21-16 with Tetrault’s team beating out Providence.

Bob Benoit, who coordinates DGAL’s website, noted that in total the league has 340 players across all sports and teams. Involved with DGAL for six years, Benoit said the nonprofit is proud of the role it has had in players’ lives.

DGAL wraps up its basketball season on Monday night with championship games between the third and fourth, fourth and fifth and sixth, seventh and eight grade teams.

Games start at 6 p.m. in the middle school gymnasium. The basketball season typically begins in early November and ends in March.

For more information on DGAL, visit dgal.leag1.com.