In The News

from The Telegraph
August 16, 2007

The Telegraph/JOHN BADMAN

Capt. Scott Waldrup of the Alton Police Department runs young participants in a police-sponsored basketball clinic at Hellrung Park through drills Wednesday morning. Alton’s Weed and Seed program also helped sponsor the event, which held a morning and afternoon session staffed by Alton police officers, including Police Chief Chris Sullivan.

Hoops clinic held despite heat

By LINDA N. WELLER
The Telegraph

ALTON — The basketball court at Hellrung Park was hot, hot, hot Wednesday from the unrelenting sun beating down on the asphalt and by the friction of dozens of feet rushing about.

“Stay positive; don’t be afraid to tell your teammates they’re doing a good job,” instructed Sgt. Shane Gibbs of the Alton Police Department, evoking a burst of applause from spectators in the bleachers at a two-session basketball clinic.

The clinic was the first that the Police Department has held at the recently renovated park, midtown between Central Avenue and Union-Brown and East Seventh streets.

Despite the choking humidity and glare of the sun, 40 youngsters mostly between the ages of 9 and 11 showed up for the morning session. Another dozen or so youths ages 12 through 14 registered for the afternoon session.

The boys and girls showed up even though Wednesday’s temperatures reached a record high of 105 degrees. The area is under an extreme heat alert until 7 p.m. today. The previous record high in the St. Louis area for Aug. 15 was 104 degrees, set in 1936.

In the morning, the young athletes raced back and forth on the court, dribbling the sometimes-elusive basketballs while winding between orange plastic cones, passing the balls to teammates and tossing them at the nets dangling high above their heads.

The boys and girls were divided into five groups, under the direction of police officers who played the sport in high school or college. A dozen officers, including Chief Chris Sullivan, Deputy Chief Jody O’Guinn and Capt. Scott Waldrup, along with four cadets, helped out at the clinic.

“Each group of officers is teaching skills sets — dribbling, how to move and pass and do lay-ups,” Sullivan said.

The instructors also covered defensive moves and held scrimages.

“Some came with pretty good basketball skills; others came to learn how to catch the ball,” Sullivan said. "We wanted to see how it would go. We wanted to utilize the park as much as we can and find ways to interact with kids in the community - other than as police officers - in a good, positive manner while they are young.

"We hope for better weather next year," he said.

Rhonda Lewis, deputy director of the Alton Park and Recreation Department, fabricated a popular feature, a "mister" resembling a soccer goal. The contraption, which is more than 6 feet high, is composed of white polyvinyl chloride pipe with a soaking hose attached on its underside. The soaking hose was connected to a garden hose and emitted a gentle, cooling mist when the water was turned on.

The ball players eagerly lined up for a turn in the mister, then soaked up the soothing moisture.

Police held the clinic with assistance from the Alton Weed and Seed neighborhood revitalization strategy and the Park and. Recreation Department.

Tami Cardenas, 10, of Alton, a sports enthusiast who completed last weekend's triathlon in Wood River, held her own against the large number of boys during the morning session.

"I like sports," Tami said. "I play at my school and for Park and Rec; I like basketball."

Her mother, Elizabeth, watched the drills from the bleachers.

"She loves sports; this was something close to our neighborhood," Cardenas said, citing reasons Tami came to the event. "It's a little hot, but we made it nonelheless. It is nice they are having this; there are a lot of activities. It is nice the Police Department took time out for the kids."

Regarding Tami being outnumbered by boys, Cardenas said confidently, "She'll take them on."

Edith McDonald of Alton was perched high on the bleachers watching her great-grandson, Charles Teague Jr., 9, learn the basketball moves.

"He likes to do sports; he is in soccer and just got done with basketball," McDonald said, as the boy concentrated on the court activities within earshot.

linda_weller@thetelegraph.com

Video clip on thetelegraph.com

Alton Weed & Seed Strategy
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