UPWARD BALL

Saturday morning I attended my first “Upward” basketball game. The draw was my six-year old grandson Ethan and his coach, my son Seth. Three-year old grandaughter Merrily wore her Georgia Tech cheerleader uniform. The slogan for Upward is:
“Every child plays. Every child learns. Every child is a winner.”

Upward is a sports program that started in 1986 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The mission of Upward is to introduce children to Jesus Christ by creating opportunities to serve through sports. Currently there are Upward programs in almost every state and over forty countries. Last year there was close to a half million participants. Besides basketball there is flag football, soccer, and cheerleading. The Upwards philosophy is that sports are a great way for children to learn about teamwork, respect for authority,and sportsmanship.

This morning after warm-ups the boys returned to the locker rooms. Parents formed a greeting line “tunnel” from the locker room to the floor as the name of each player was introduced by the public address announcer. A prayer was made before the game. At half-time, while the boys were back in the locker room, one of the referees shared a personal testimony with the fans.

After the game, the coach had a huddle with his players and their parents. Each player was awarded a little star based on his actions and attitudes during the game. The stars are later applied to the uniform. There are five colors of stars, and each color stands for something different - Best Effort, Best Sportsmanship, Best Offense, Best Defense, and Christ-likeness. Instead of the outcome of the game, the focus is shifted to the attitudes and efforts of each child on the team or squad.




I learned that during each weekly hour practice the coach has a Chalk Talk when he talks about God’s game plan for each person. Players can earn a star for learning a Scripture verse.

When I took a photo of Seth with Ethan after the game it felt like dejá vu. About 25 years ago I took a picture of Seth with a green jersey wearing #7 also. At the time we were living in Brazil. Seth's name tranlated in portuguese is "Sete" which is also the word for the number "seven." Brazilians asked why in the world we would name our son with a number. We would show them in the Bible that the third son of Adam and Eve was named "Sete."