Fun, respect, sportsmanship more than catch words in Looking Up Sports

By John Peters
Editor

It’s every basketball player’s worst nightmare. A quick steal, followed by a moment of disorientation and a drive to the basket.
The wrong basket.
That’s exactly what happened during the opening game of this season’s Looking Up Sports program at Lake Gaston Baptist Church near Littleton.
The player, participating in the kindergarten through second grade league, didn’t score for the wrong team, though, because a coach -- the other team’s coach -- waved him off.
That is a major difference between Looking Up Sports and some of the other more traditional recreation leagues in the region -- coaches aren’t so much interested in the final score of a game as they are in having the kids on both sides of the court learning the game and having fun.
In the youngest league no score is kept, and the other divisions keep score but don’t keep team standings during the season.
That doesn’t mean they take competition any less seriously. They walk on the court to win, and they give it their all to come out on top.
But, at its heart, the Looking Up Sports program is about learning the fundamentals of the game, extending good sportsmanship and respect to opponents and referees, and having fun. A loss isn’t the end of the world, a win isn’t the be-all and end-all of the competition.
Even more than that, Tommy King, sports ministry director at the church, said the league is designed “to build the person up. Not just their basketball skills.”
Associate Minister Todd Stout adds the program is a way for the church “to share Christ, just like everything we do here.”
Whatever the purpose, with more than 140 children and teens this year’s league, it seems the church is on to something that’s grown far beyond a program for the kids and youth who attend the church.
“Probably two-thirds of the kids involved are not church kids,” Stout said. “They’ve heard about the program through word of mouth. Tommy’s taken information to the schools (and) other community groups.
“We’ve become a recreation league for the area,” he continued. “For parents who can’t drive to Roanoke Rapids, or to South Hill, we’ve become their recreation league.”
More and more though, in large part because of the league’s philosophy and atmosphere – absolutely no profanity, or arguing with the referees is ever tolerated – parents are driving from as far away as Roanoke Rapids for their kids to play in Looking Up Sports
The league has twenty teams this season, the third year of its existence, with coed teams in the first grade through the second grade and third through fourth grade division. The squads are split between male and female in the fifth through seventh and high school levels.
The church also sponsors a soccer league in the fall and winter, run along the same principles, though the actual age divisions and number of teams might be different.
Practices are held once a week and adhere to a strict schedule – 20 minutes of skill development with the coaches, 20 minutes of devotions and teaching, then another 20 minute segment of either additional skill development or informal scrimmaging with another squad.
On Saturday, contests start at 9 a.m. and last until well in the afternoon. Each game is split into eight five-minute segments, with the clock running continuously, meaning even when the ball is out of bounds or there is a foul called, the clock keeps moving.
In all but the high school division kids are promised equal playing time. At the high school level a few of the coaches are a bit more competitive. While some try to keep playing time equal, others might require players to sit out half a game while some members of the squad will play the entire contest.
“Even at the high school level, kids are going to play,” Stout said. “They know if they’re sitting on the bench this period, they will be playing next period,” he said, adding that gives players of all skill levels a chance they might not otherwise have, especially at the high school level.
“Most high school basketball teams are pretty selective,” Stout continued. “You might have 15 kids on a team out of 500 in the school. That’s not much chance for a kid to make the team.”
King said several of the youth in the high school league, people who either are home-schooled or who would never have a chance to make a high school team, have developed into fairly decent players.
“All they really need is a chance to play, and someone who is willing to teach them,” Stout said. “I was one of those kids when I was growing up. I didn’t play until I was a senior in high school and someone took the time to teach me things about the game I didn’t know.”
But, Stout said, it’s important to remember the league really isn’t about competition. “At the lower level, even our referees try to help and teach the kids.”
David Nida, one of a number of volunteer officials for the league, was overheard recently explaining with a spectator – in a somewhat jovial manner – some of the finer points of the youngest division.
“You get three dribbles to every step,” he laughed with a fan. “And traveling isn’t really traveling if it looks like the player is thinking about taking a dribble.”
Though jovial as he said it, Nida and the other referees are often found stopping play for a few seconds and explaining to the contestants what they did wrong, or how to look for open players for a pass, rather than just calling a foul and handing the ball over to the other team.
“That’s what we do here,” King explained. ‘We teach the kids and build them up.”