A different flavor of basketball
I’d like to talk NCAA and the state of UK basketball, especially all the rumors flying about Tubby and his replacement. According to some rumors Calipari is the next UK coach. I heard today that Travis Ford was the next man and also the coach from Texas A&M.
Why don’t we wait and watch UK and hopefully they can put it together and make a run. Of course to satisfy most he will have to win it all.
They say he can’t recruit, but this junior class was the number one class in the nation. That is just part of it; they have just not panned out yet and may not, but the season is not over. I will blog more when the tournament gets going.
I have a better topic that is way more important than the NCAA or Tubby and it is basketball! Take a look. Enjoy and we welcome any comments.
Upward Basketball
As I promised my brother when I agreed to this, this week’s article will be about a passion of his for the last 4 years: Upward Basketball. My brother, Greg, attends Harrodsburg Baptist Church. They began the Upward program 4 years ago and saw approximately 165 kids from 1st Grade through 6th Grade enroll in the basketball and cheerleading program. Incredibly, the program has swelled to almost 400 kids participating in basketball and cheerleading and added Kindergarten plus 7th/8th Grade age groups.
So what’s so different about it?
Isn’t this just like any of the other little league basketball program? The answer quite simply: No. For starters, teams are grouped based on skill level which are evaluated per player at the beginning of the year. No “loading up” or recruiting is permitted. Responding to a call made by the referee from a player, a parent, or the coach is strictly prohibited and enforced. (An area we all could use a lesson in — especially me!) Each game has someone from the community deliver a brief devotion at halftime. Lastly, and maybe most surprisingly, the score is not kept in any game. Huh?
Some not-so-wonderful stats
Sadly, a USA Today poll from a few years ago revealed that a staggering 70% of kids polled wished their parents would not come to watch them play. How can that be? After all, isn’t a wonderful part of being a parent going to watch your child play? Ahhh, therein lies the possible problem. It’s not about you — it’s about your child. Unfortunately, many of us parents (me included) dream of our children reaching the athletic heights we were never capable of for whatever reason. So, many times, that (selfish) desire for our children to succeed gets off balance. What’s the new NCAA theme advertised now: “Most likely your child will become a professional in something other than sports” — or something like that. It’s true. In all my years of coaching I have only had 2 players become professionals — only 2 and they played football.
That was a foul!
At one time or another each of us watching a game have exclaimed in varying degrees of emotion what area of play the referee may have missed. Yelling at the official’s has become commonplace. In fact, it’s now become accepted and almost indirectly taught to challenge any ruling. The Upward approach to this is “what does the official represent on the floor?” He represents authority and we are to respect this role. Do we allow our children to object to the call of them doing a chore in our homes? No. Ultimately, the authority in our lives is God.
Every Child is a Winner
Since my brother has been on the Upward staff one of the rules he hasn’t been too crazy about is no score being kept. After all, aren’t there some lessons to be learned from winning and losing and how to handle both respectfully? This changed for him last year. While watching a game once, Greg noticed some interesting things. 1) The kids in this particular game weren’t playing with any less effort due to their being no score kept and 2) Maybe most importantly, the kids weren’t having any less fun from not keeping the score. Again, ultimately God is really the only one that needs to worry about keeping score. Our lesson is to play hard and keep playing hard.
Competition
Lastly, the most frequent statement the Upward staff folks hear as a “knock” on their program is it just isn’t competitive. No score, no debating with officials, no Championship at the end of the season, no MVP’s handed out, no titles period. C’mon dude. How do you have any kids interested at all? Suppose the best way might be to ask the almost 400 kids in it now. However, the Upward Staff answer is simple: the game strategy is to be the most competitive program available to win the soul of your child for Christ there is. Along the way, we’ll play a little basketball, learn a few cheers and have some fun. Not a bad game plan.
Upward Information
If you’re interested in your child participating in Upward Basketball & Cheerleading, contact Harrodsburg Baptist Church at 859-734-2339. Or Chad & Leanna Barnett via email at upwardguy@adelphia.net.
Chris,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the HBC Upward Program. As you know your long time friend and my husband David, has coached for Upward since it began 4 years ago (unlike me who had to check it out for the first year before coming on board as a cheerleading coach). From the beginning David understood the need to teach children the fundamentals and in that process make them feel that “You Are A Winner” wasn’t just a saying, he wanted them to feel it. I have seen him take children that had no clue how to dribble a ball much less make a basket and by year end they could bring the ball down the court and score. Of course me being a competitive type I asked him why did you let that child bring the ball down if he is just learning how to dribble. His response…How will he every learn if he is never given the opportunity or encouraged that he can do it. Sharing devotion time with the children was an extra bonus because he could share his love for Jesus and invite them to ask Jesus to come into their hearts. I agree with Greg about keeping score and agree that it doesn’t change the children’s intensity. Where it does make a difference…you see the parents and spectators at the games watching the children and their efforts not the scoreboard. So thank you Chris for your thoughts and a big THANK YOU to all those who helped with the Upwards program. I would challenge more adults to take the opportunity to change a child’s life and make them feel like they Are A Winner! (you never know it just might make you feel like a winner too)