RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Children are lacing up their sneakers and practicing their jump shots as the start of the Randolph Youth Center Nite Hoops basketball season is fast approaching.
Base youth ages 13-18 have until May 30 to register for Nite Hoops at the Youth Center front desk Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registration is free and open to Youth Center members, who need to provide identification such as a birth certificate or Department of Defense ID card, immunization records and a physical.
The Nite Hoops league starts in June and is expected to end in early August. Randolph Youth Center teams will compete against teams from Lackland Air Force Base, Fort Sam Houston and Boys and Girls Clubs from San Antonio.
League games will be played Wednesdays and Thursdays at the base Youth Center, the Rambler Fitness Center, Lackland and Fort Sam Houston.
Nite Hoops will start its fifth season this summer and is an extension of the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs Drug-Free Youth Basketball League. The team's charity organization, the Spurs Foundation, sponsors Nite Hoops.
According to the NBA Web site, children who participate in Nite Hoops not only learn fundamental basketball skills, but life skills and the importance of staying drug- alcohol-and tobacco-free through talks with their coaches. Through the program, volunteer coaches receive training on how to talk to the youth about these subjects.
Rey Salinas, youth center sports and fitness assistant director, said Nite Hoops benefits children in various ways.
"Nite Hoops is set up primarily to keep teens off the streets and to give them something to do so they will be active, sociable and fit," Mr. Salinas said.
Adults who are interested in being a volunteer coach must fill out an application, return it to the youth center and go online to do their mandatory training through the National Alliance of Youth Sports. Those interested in being a league referee can contact Christopher Woods at 471-1144.