Marion league helps players and businesses
Staff writer
On Saturday, the Marion Recreation Commission Basketball League started.
The league is made up of 39 teams from southeast Kansas and includes several teams from the third through sixth grades at Marion Elementary School. Teams from as far away as Newton and McPherson are participating in the league that has regular season games Saturday through Jan. 30. The teams play in the middle school and elementary school gyms.
A postseason tournament will begin Feb. 6 for the fourth- through sixth-grade teams.
Margo Yates has been organizing the tournament for five years, although the first year all she did was try to call schools within an hour drive of Marion asking them if they were interested.
Marion Elementary School basketball players were driving to Newton to play in leagues. Yates thinks it is ironic that Newton teams are now coming to Marion.
“We were sending several teams down to Newton because they just wanted someplace to play basketball,” Yates said. “My other job being the chamber (executive secretary)—that’s not easy to swallow.”
Instead of losing business on the weekends, Marion is gaining new exposure from families coming in for games. Restaurants and convenience stores should directly benefit because there are purposely no concessions at the games.
“It’s good for business,” Yates said. “It’s good for the town.”
The league has also been good for the players. Yates said that she has seen a general improvement in the play of Marion students every year of the league.
Marion Elementary School Principal Rod Garman coaches his twin fourth-grade sons in the league. Garman has seen the improvement in basketball fundamentals that each player is acquiring over time.
“Basically you’re teaching them the basic skills of dribbling, passing, and handling the ball,” he said. “You try to incorporate fun into it.”
Including girls and boys teams, there are nine Marion fourth-grade teams. As the league has grown from a high point last year of 32 teams to 39 this year, Marion has increased involvement at every grade level.
“A lot of the parents, their first question is where do we play the games,” Yates said. “When we tell them it’s in Marion, their eyes light up.”
Last modified Dec. 10, 2009