PROSPERITY — The Upward Basketball League at Zion United Methodist Church in Prosperity includes 165 youths from the Pomaria, Chapin, Silverstreet, Newberry and Prosperity area and represents 30 churches in Newberry County.
Children in grades kindergarten through sixth grade participate in Upward Basketball, a way to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to people through sports.
The upward basketball league, now in its ninth year, had 99 youths join the first year.
Thirty-five coaches are involved with the teams and cheerleaders. High school assistants participate in coaching for the leagues.
Twenty people help run evaluations before the league begins. Evaluations in early November consist of children being run through a series of basketball drills. It is also where they get fitted for their uniform.
“We bring the kids in and rank them and try to evenly divide the kids onto teams. It’s even to kids and they will have a better chance to be successful in winning its really cool,” said Ty Fellers, who is the director along with Clint Shealy.
Upward basketball league games began Jan. 16 and end March 5.
“About nine years ago we decided to start an upward league here. We realized we have a gymnasium. The church wanted to do something that can serve the community in a unique way, where no one else was able to. We had parents of kids that were playing in upward league at Riverland Hills Baptist Church in Irmo. The church was looking for a community ministry,” said Fellers.
Eight people from Zion United Methodist Church help organize the upward league. Score keeper director Ed Green makes sure the score keepers are present every Saturday, Julie Barnes is the director of cheerleading and Brent Richardson is the director of officials.
He organizes the schedules for the eight referees who volunteer for the league. Gina Fellers is the coordinator for the awards celebrations.
An awards celebration will be held at the church on March 6. All teams will attend this event. Videos will be shown that have been compiled throughout the year. Also, every upward participant gets a season ending gift.
“It’s a good ministry, we have up to 800 to a thousand people coming to watch on Saturdays. That’s not including the kids,” said Green.
The teams play against a competing team on Saturdays at Zion United Methodist Church. The first game starts at 9 a.m. and the last game starts at 3:15 p.m. There are 10 games in one day.
Six different sets of games are played based on the grade the child is in. Each half has 18 minutes and each shot is worth two points. Also, there is three game periods per basketball game.
During half time at the games a volunteer gives a devotion to the spectators.
The league stresses character development in addition to athletic development. Kids improve their basketball skills and they are taught sportsmanship.
During the basketball games, grades kindergarten through fourth play basketball using only half of the court.
Two games are being played at the same time on either side of the court. The players sit in between the court, to divide the games up from one side to the other. Two opposing teams play a game on the left and two opposing teams play a game on the right.