Elks Hoop Shoot set for Jan. 16 at noon

EUREKA SPRINGS -- The Elks annual Hoop Shoot will be held at the Eureka Springs Middle School gym on Jan. 16 at noon.

The Hoop Shoot is a basketball free throw contest for boys and girls in the following age groups: 8-9, 10-11, 12-13.

Schools competing are Berryville, Cassville, Eureka Springs, Green Forest, and Huntsville. Each school holds their own contest to determine a winner in each age group.

Winners from the schools will compete at Eureka Springs to determine a champion in each age division, with winners and runner-ups receiving trophies.

The winners will advance to the State Hoop Shoot, held in Hot Springs on Feb. 6. Those winners will advance to the Regionals at Paris, Tenn., on March 13, with those winners going on to the national finals in Springfield, Mass., in April.

Winners there will have their names inscribed on a plaque hanging at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In the 2009 competition two local boys, Austin Carr of Berryville, and Ryan Logan from Green Forest, won in the state competition and advanced to regionals.

This is the 38th year the ELks have sponsored the Hoop Shoot program with more than 3 million boys and girls from all 50 states competing to reach the finals and become the champion in each division.

All expenses for the participants and their family are paid by the Elks from the state level through the regionals and national finals.

For further information, contact Paul Kiessling, Hoop Shoot Coordinator, at (479) 253-2584, or contact your local school director.