The Seward Sonics Middle School Basketball Team received a $950 mini-grant in October 2019 for their Middle School Basketball Club. The Seward Middle School Basketball Club is the first-ever traveling basketball team that is not school affiliated in Seward.
The Seward Middle School Basketball Club is part of the World Basketball League, which visited Seward in 2019 for their middle-school tournament league. After asking if Seward had a team, seven middle school students joined together to play in the tournament. The newly formed Seward Sonics team lost their first game, but after some last-minute studying of plays and positions, the team came back the next day and won an exciting game by one point. Inspired by the potential to play off-season basketball against other participating World
Basketball League teams in Anchorage, the Seward Sonics used the grant money to help pay for gym rental and traveling fees.
“The youth participating built a good player bond that enhanced their teamwork,” said Rhonda Hubbard, a founding member of the Seward Middle School Basketball Club. “The program introduced them to different levels of play that helped motivate their desire to practice, induced confidence, and improved their game significantly.”
The team’s hard work in the World Basketball League paid off. The same youth who participated in the League played in their regular-season basketball program and won the Borough Championship! Though the team’s season hit a roadblock when the pandemic began, they plan to continue with club basketball in the future, with the hope of including a girls’ team as well.
Funding for this grant came from the Seward Community Foundation Fund.
Written by Teal Hall, SCF Advisory Board Member