March 17, 1999

A HALFTIME DEVOTIONAL at First Baptist Church of Richardson is led by Pastor Brian Harbour while first- and second-graders and their parents gather around. First Baptist of Richardson was among 33 Texas Baptist churches with Upward Basketball leagues this winter.

Upward Basketball scores in Texas
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___AMARILLO--Kids often idolize the trappings of professional sports, but one young participant in this year's Upward Basketball league in Amarillo found an even greater treasure.
___The elementary-age boy was so proud of the "Upword" version of the Bible he had been given by his coach that he slept with it under his pillow at night. The special paperback publication of the Bible included photos and Christian

A GAME DAY IN THE LIFE of an Upward Basketball team, illustrated here by the first- and second-graders on the Cardinals team at First Baptist Church of Richardson, includes competitive play...

testimonies from prominent basketball stars like A.C. Green of the Dallas Ma-vericks.
___"I really like this," the boy told his mother. "I don't know what's going on, but I think I want to be a Christian."
___This story, recounted by Mark Neal of Coulter Road Baptist Church and Jordan Cox of First Baptist Church in Amarillo, illustrates what they and others leaders of Upward Basketball believe is the purpose of the fast-growing franchise based in local churches. That purpose is not only to teach first- through sixth-graders the fundamentals of basketball but to use basketball as a means to teach children and their families about God's love.
___Cox, minister of recreation at First Baptist, recalls the eureka moment when he first realized the need for a league like Upward. He was listening to Upward's founder, Caz McCaslin, ask a series of questions about the existing basketball programs in most communities.
___"Are the kids in those leagues getting good quality coaching?" McCaslin asked. Cox and others in the room said they assumed so.
___"Are the kids in those leagues learning basketball?" Again, the crowd muttered their assumption that was true.
___"Is anybody in those leagues sharing Christ with them?"
___At that moment, "you could have heard a pin drop" in the room full of recreation ministers and youth leaders, Cox said.
___Now, after his first season leading an Upward Basketball league in Amarillo, Cox said he has seen first-hand the need for a church-based league with the qualities offered by Upward. His church's joint effort with Coulter Road Baptist Church attracted 400 kids, including perhaps 80 who don't go to church anywhere.
___"We know for sure we've had five families join our church" as a direct result of the

...the coach's distribution of colored stars at the end of each game as a way of acknowledging each player's strengths that day....

basketball league, Cox said.
___The same has been true at North Richland Hills Baptist Church in Fort Worth, where Gregg Wisecarver is minister of activities.
___"God is working through this," he said. "It has swept through our church, and the excitement is here."
___Wisecarver said there's "no doubt in my mind" that Upward has helped his church reach children and families they would not have reached otherwise.
___"The doors to the gym are the least threatening in the whole church," he explained. "People will come in the gym who would never come to church.
___"If you approached the average family on the street and said we as a church want to be able to come into your doors twice a week and share God's plan for you, most people would say you're crazy," Wisecarver continued. "But you throw a round leather ball in the mix, and they give you permission."
___This combination of sports and salvation is what makes Upward Basketball unique even among other church-based sports leagues.
___Churches that participate in the Upward program receive step-by-step instructions for recruiting players and coaches, teaching kids the game and recognizing each child throughout the season. They also are coached on how to present an effective awards service that will build self-confidence in the players and give a clear presentation of

... and handshakes between teams when the game is over. The Cardinals coach is Mark Williamson.

the gospel.
___The awards program is the high point of the season--and the culmination of eight weeks of ministry. Most Upward Basketball awards programs include lots of awards for players, sports entertainment for the whole family and a keynote speaker who spells out what it means to be a Christian. Players, their parents and guests are given opportunity to register spiritual decisions.
___In many cases, the results leave even league organizers astonished.
___Every Texas Baptist church interviewed for this story recorded several--and in some cases dozens--of spiritual decisions through their Upward leagues. Lakeland Baptist Church in Lewisville, for example, saw 156 children and adults give written affirmation of first-time decisions to profess faith in Jesus Christ at the church's Upward awards night.
___At First Baptist Church of Round Rock, 88 children and 16 adults made professions of faith in Christ at

THE PLAYERS work hard, but the emphasis in Upward league play is on spiritual values rather than competition.

the Upward awards night.
___Upward Basketball was created in 1986 by Caz McCaslin, who at the time was recreation minister at a Baptist church in Spartanburg, S.C. After growing that program to involve 700 kids each year, in 1995 he began packaging the training and materials so other churches could run Upward leagues of their own.
___Upward Basketball has grown from seven churches reaching 1,300 that first year to 253 churches reaching 50,000 kids this year, said Shane McKenzie, director of communications for Upward Unlimited. He predicts 500 churches will sponsor Upward leagues next winter and will draw in 100,000 players.
___This year, 33 Texas Baptist churches sponsored Upward leagues, and that number is projected to grow next year, he said. Upward Unlimited has scheduled two training events for church leadership in Texas this summer.
___The Texas leagues ranged in size from fewer than 100 players to more than 800. Church leaders who've run the program say it works well in churches of all sizes regardless of whether they have an existing recreation ministry or not.
___"You don't have to have a big church and a recreation program to do Upward Basketball," said Stan Cole, a lay leader at Lakeland Baptist Church who heads the basketball league there. "We don't have a recreation minister. And all our leadership is laymen."
___Although Lakeland is a larger church, the same story is told by Tom Hawk, associate pastor for youth, singles and activities at First Baptist Church of Buna in far Southeast Texas.
___The Buna church, which averages 300 in Sunday school attendance, enlisted 83 kids in its Upward league this year, the majority of them from outside the church. Three hundred children and adults attended the awards night, and church leaders currently are following up on a number of people who indicated they wanted to make spiritual decisions as a result.
___Similar results have been achieved at churches across the nation, with 3,500 people making spiritual decisions as a result of Upward leagues last year.
___McKenzie offers this simple explanation as one major factor in why the Upward concept works so well: "Somebody once told me, 'If you want to do something good for me, do something good for my kids.' That's what we're trying to do."
___

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