Wednesday, January 24, 2024
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Serving Kosciusko County and parts of Elkhart, Marshall & Noble Counties Know Your Neighbor . . . . . 2➤ Nappanee Area News . . . 4-5 Good Neighbors . . . . . . . . . 6
Vol. 53, No. 31
Milford (574) 658-4111 • Warsaw (574) 269-2932 • Syracuse (574) 457-3666
114 W. Market, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
Vertical Basketball helps teach YOUNG HOOPSTERS — For many years, kids from around the area have participated in the Nappanee Missionary Church’s Vertical Basketball program. Prior to a change several years ago, the program operated under the Upward Basketball umbrella. Photo provided by Nappanee Missionary Church.
‘INDIANA’S GAME’
By KEITH KNEPP Staff Writer
Last March, the NorthWood Panthers boys varsity basketball team came home with the program’s first state championship in Indiana’s preeminent sport. Some of the team’s members had been playing basketball together since they were elementary students in Nappanee and Wakarusa. But how did many of those players get their start on the hardwood? For many years, Nappanee Missionary Church hosted the Upward Basketball program on its three gym floors. The program was open to kindergartners through the upper elementary grades, offering the opportunity for boys and girls to either play basketball or be a team cheerleader, complete with uniforms, pom-poms and megaphones. After many years of participating in the nationwide Upward program, which offered a complete package of jerseys and other top-end branded materials, church leaders decided it could put together its own version, based on the Upward model, which would be more affordable for families and would allow organizers to tailor the program to meet the church’s specific mission and goals. Former league director Jason Thompson said it was in 2016-17 that the change was made. “There was a lot of overhead cost that went directly to Upward,” he said. “We paid so much money to Upward for each player and that cost kept going up each year. Thus, the cost we had to
charge players kept going up and got to the point where we felt like we could do just as good a job of running the program as what Upward was providing to us, and at the same time lower the cost to participate.” From that vision, Vertical Basketball was created. It was pared down to include only kids in first through fourth grades. Initially, cheerleading was an option for those who wanted, rather participate from the sideline instead of on the court; however, that part of the program has since been discontinued. An assessment day takes place in October to allow the program’s administrators and volunteer coaches to evaluate the players in an attempt to create balanced teams. The season runs from January through early March, with games played on Saturday mornings at either Nappanee Elementary School or the Nappanee Boys and Girls Club. Before each game, all the teams come together for 25-minute, on-court ”Drills and Skills” session, led by former NorthWood basketball star Brock Flickinger and Wa-Nee Community Schools Superintendent Scot Croner. This year, the Vertical program has 268 players divided into 32 teams, separated by grades and gender. First and second graders play together, as do third and fourth graders. “We’ve partnered with several other churches and organizations in the area,” said Carlie Bearss, the program’s current director. Continued on page 2
TEACHING MOMENT — Volunteer coaches, referees and administrators make the Vertical Basketball program through Nappanee Missionary Church an annual success. Photo provided by Nappanee Missionary Church.
LEARNING THE GAME — In the Vertical Basketball league, players on the court are given a colored wristband when they are playing, which corresponds to the player on the other team who they are to guard. This helps to keep players of similar abilities together during the game. Photo provided by Nappanee Missionary Church.