Saturday, January 26th saw the inaugural events for the "Upward of Westmoreland Basketball and Cheerleading League". It wasn't the beginning of the Upward Sports ministry here - just the first games. What a great day it was! I have no doubt that the ministry is already a success.
Upward began in a Baptist Church in Spartanburg, SC over 20 years ago, and it has since spread across the country. I first became aware of Upward about 10 years ago when a United Methodist Church in Boyd County, KY sponsored a league. The league advertised that every child plays, every child learns, every child wins. Interesting stuff. A non competitive non threatening Christ centered sports ministry, directed toward younger children. The more I learned about Upward, the more interested in it I became.
First let me say that I am a great supporter of competitive youth sports activities. My kids played in youth sports leagues, and I was an active participant. I served as a coach and league officer in several baseball, basketball, and football programs in Ashland, KY - even after my own children had aged out of the programs. Most of us who have been involved in such programs will readily admit that there are upsides and downsides to each of them. The good generally outweighs the bad, in my opinion. I certainly don't advocate that competitive youth sports programs be disbanded. Absolutely not! But they are about competition and the emphasis is on winning. Upward is different. Upward is not meant to be in competition with other leagues. Upward is not "better" than other youth sports leagues. Upward is a Ministry of the local church.
My vision to do Upward sports here at Westmoreland began five years ago when I first arrived at the church and saw the beautiful gym facility. It was used frequently for dinners, parties, receptions, preschool play area, youth activities, AWANA, and practice site for some other community teams. But I thought it may not have been used to its maximum benefit for ministry. Upward would be a good fit, I thought. But with all the tasks a new pastor faces, and the challenges that lay before us, the Upward thoughts went on the back burner for a while. Along the way, I mentioned the concept to a few people, who showed some passing interest. Then came sanctuary remodeling, and my own two year health crisis, and the Upward concept continued to dwell in the background.
Last year, God began to open the doors to Upward Sports Ministry here at Westmoreland Baptist Church. Terry Perdue's son, Tim, who is pastor of First Baptist Church of Eddyville, KY shared what a success Upward had been at Eddyville. It rekindled the fire in my heart to do Upward here. Again, I began talking it up among some church leaders. Thamer Calhoun (one of our deacons) and his wife attended the funeral service of a friend in Findlay, OH. That service was in a church that did Upward Basketball. Thamer talked to some of the folks from the church and learned what they were doing in Upward, and he came home fired up. He walked into my office and asked if that was the sports ministry I had been talking about. When I acknowledged that it was, he said, "Preacher, we have got to do that here!"
In June, Thamer, Dino Dygert, and Jeff Lockhart attended a two day Upward Training session in Columbus, OH and the ball was rolling. These guys became the core group working with me to cast the vision of Upward in our church.Upward offers basketball, cheerleading, soccer and flag football. We felt led to offer Basketball (due to the availability of our gym facility) and spring Soccer (since most of the local soccer leagues are in the fall). To say we would have to operate on a shoestring budget is an understatement. This would be a faith ministry, and so far, the Lord has blessed us to be able to continue. It was decided that Dino would head up our Basketball and Cheerleading league and Jeff would direct the Soccer ministry. Immediately the core group began weekly meetings and recruiting other members of our congregation to fill key "commissioner" spots that Upward requires. Paul and Betty Clevenger agreed to serve as Prayer Commissioners. Dino's daughters, Ashley and Dina, volunteered to supervise the cheerleading ministry. Bob Moses agreed to recruit and schedule game officials, Thamer would find volunteers to man the concession window, and Randy Spurgeon would line up individuals to do the half time devotionals. It would be up to Dino and Jeff to recruit coaches for basketball and soccer.
Prayer is a key element in Upward sports ministries. Besides the regular prayer at practice and games, the training recommends that you begin a prayer ministry that would have one hundred people praying for one hundred days. I was somewhat doubtful that we would be able to recruit 100 prayer warriors, but thought that we might be able to get 50 or 60. Wrong! Paul and Betty signed up ten prayer captains, who in turn were each to recruit at least nine team members. Within a week we had 106 people who had volunteered to be involved in the Upward Prayer Ministry! The one hundred days of prayer began on December 9th, and, judging by the success of how everything came together for our first games yesterday, the prayer ministry is working well!
Although no one actually counted the people who attended, Jeff Lockhart and I estimated that between 150 and 200 fans (family and friends) came to watch the cheerleaders and players. The cheerleaders and players were introduced individually before each game, complete with loud music, smoke machine, and strobe lights. The kids loved it! You should have seen their faces. The gym was full of smiling parents, grandparents, and others who brought cameras and truly enjoyed watching the kids have a great time. The games were spirited and well played. Players were young and inexperienced. Their skill levels vary, but each team is selected to allow for a well balanced game. What the little guys may have lacked in skill, they made up for with effort and spirit.
Part of the weekly practice activity is a scripture memory verse, and each week the players and cheerleaders get a Bible lesson from their coach. The teams gathered at center court and held hands for the opening prayer, led by one of the referees. At halftime of each game, Joseph Spurgeon gave a brief devotional to the fans who were gathered in the gym. Jesus was lifted up, God was honored, the Gospel was shared with a couple of hundred people, and everyone had a great time. No booing. No technical fouls called. No behavior like that is allowed. Every child played. Every child learned. Every child won!
I believe that our league will grow. I believe that Soccer will also be a great success. Why? Because we are doing it as a ministry - to Magnify God - to Make Disciples - and to Minister to People. That's our focus at Westmoreland Baptist Church, and Upward fits it like a glove.
If you would like to know more about Upward, click on this link and explore their website. It's a wonderful ministry! http://www.upward.org/
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