Registration for the Kaua‘i Police Activities League 2011 spring basketball for boys and girls will start this month, said Bill Troutman, volunteer coordinator for the program. The North Shore Basketball League is open to boys and girls in kindergarten through
Registration for the Kaua‘i Police Activities League 2011 spring basketball for boys and girls will start this month, said Bill Troutman, volunteer coordinator for the program.
The North Shore Basketball League is open to boys and girls in kindergarten through the seventh grade with games being played at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center gym April through May.
Troutman, a 12-year veteran with the program, said last year the league featured 28 teams with about 300 players, primarily on the North Shore, participating. This total includes many home schoolers, he said.
This year, as in the past nine years, Troutman is asking for community help for scholarships for the young players who have difficulty meeting the registration fees of $25 and $35.
Recently, the North Shore Lions Club came forward with a $1,000 contribution to help launch this year’s scholarship fund.
“For the last nineyears, we have had a community-supported scholarship program for North Shore children whose families have difficulty with the registration fee,” Troutman said in a letter. “Last year, though community donations, we were able to scholarship more than 90 children from the North Shore.”
Contributions came from community organizations and businesses, Troutman said.
As he prepares to open registration for the 2011 season, he said there is a need for the scholarship program.
“There is more need,” Troutman said. “We would like to scholarship all children on the school’s free and reduced lunch program, again.”
Troutman said a child on the schools’ free and reduced lunch program certifies them federally as “in need.”
“With more than 40 percent of Kilauea and Hanalei schools’ students on this program, we are challenged,” Troutman said. “But we can greatly benefit those in most need of a program like this.”
He said most of the scholarships go to the youngest players with all scholarships treated with confidentiality.
Troutman said the K-PAL Basketball League emphasizes social interaction, sportsmanship and teamwork, teaching the fundamentals of the basketball game with the overall objective being for the young people to have fun.
To demonstrate this point, the K-PAL program has featured exhibition games between the Kilauea Seniors team, which includes players up to 95 years young, and the league’s Mighty Mite players, students in kindergarten and first grade.
“We have excellent coaches, some teachers, a school principal, and police officers from the community who serve as role models and promote the goal of a positive place for kids,” Troutman said, noting that over the 12 years he has served as a volunteer, there have been improvements in students’ behavior and schoolwork. “We have had excellent support from Kilauea and Hanalei School staff as well as from the Kaua‘i Christian Academy and Kula School.”
Troutman said contributions are tax deductible and checks should be made payable to the Kaua‘i Police Activities League and mailed to Bill Troutman, P.O. Box 595, Kilauea, HI 96754.
Call him at 828-2844 for more information.
