Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Going into only its fourth season, Upward Basketball in Warsaw is a model program.
The nondenominatal, community-based program was conceived five years ago after Len Morris heard about it elsewhere and thought it would be a great program to bring to Kosciusko County. It took about a year to get the program started, said current chairman Joe Moore. In that year, Moore and Morris approached various community members to help get the program started. An advisory board was formed.
In the first season, Moore said he and Morris went door to door looking for portable basketball hoops because the program didn't have enough. People agreed to let Upward Basketball use them.
"It really kind of started on a shoestring (budget), more or less," said Moore.
In the first year, the program had approximately 150-200 children involved. This year, as many as 900 children are expected to be involved in the program, including the cheerleading program. It had 740 last season and 534 children two years ago.
The program isn't limited to Warsaw or Kosciusko County, as it has children from South Whitley, Bourbon, Plymouth and beyond participating.
"The goal starting out was to raise the spiritual awareness of the community. One kid at a time. One family at a time. That's still our goal today," said Moore.
Director of basketball Troy Hershberger said one of the reasons the program is growing by leaps and bounds is because it is nondenominational. "We're everybody's organization," he said.
Upward Basketball is for children in kindergarten through sixth grade. Early registration deadline is Nov. 1, with evaluations Nov. 9 and 16 at Eisenhower Elementary School. Applications are available at local elementary schools, Reneker's Sports Shop, by calling 267-0123 or at Bourbon State Bank.
League play begins Jan. 29 and there again will be eight weeks of play. Games will be on Saturdays, except kindergarten league, which will be on Monday after practice.
This is the second year the cheerleading program also will be offered, with Mindy Jones again as the director of cheerleading.
The awards program will be March 22. Last year, 2,300 people attended the awards ceremony. For this year, the ceremony will be held at the high school because they anticipate a larger crowd. Moore said there will be bigger surprises for the kids this year.
"Awards night will be bigger and more spectacular than ever before," he said.
"It's probably the biggest production most of those kids (will be) associated with and they'll remember it," said Hershberger.
Cost per child for either basketball or cheerleading is $55 this year, or $50 per child if a family has more than one child participating. Cost includes a jersey, a shirt, materials and awards. Cheerleaders will receive a shirt, pom pom, Spiritoos and skorts. Girls may choose to play basketball and be involved in the cheerleading program for $100. If a girl chooses to do both, some conflicts may be unavoidable.
Financial assistance is available for those who can't afford the program. Moore said the program never turns a child away regardless of circumstances. In the past, the K21 Foundation made a contribution to the program to help children who needed financial assistance.
"K21 has been pretty good to us," said Moore. "The whole community has been good to us."
Volunteers are always needed and welcomed, Moore said. The program keeps going, he said, because of the volunteers who see the kind of positive impact it has on all those involved.
This year's board members are Jeff Grose, Dr. Steve Hollar, Perky Plumlee, Larry Long, John Boal, Scott Reinholt, Tim Ziebarth, Jim Haller, Ken Olsen, John Elliott, Terry Shepherd and Brad Mason. "Chief logistics officer" is Andrea Hunter, or as Moore said, "She who does it all."
