Sports
High Life Wednesday, January 30, 2002
11
n the beginning there was church ball
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Sophomore Nathan Blocker (#10) defends the lane against a Westminister Church player, as the Jew
Crew holds for a win. The games take place every Thursday throughout February at First Baptist
Church.
05
The Church Basketball
League has grown into a
popular, mainstream
event for student athletes
who are involved in a
respective church.
By Ashish Sharda
Reporter
You are not good enough to
make the school basketball team.
You are too lazy to practice every
day after school. But just like most
people, you want to be active, have
fun, and be with friends at the same
time. If any of these statements
pertain to you, then the solution
may be Church Ball.
Church Ball allows teenagers
throughout the city of Greensboro
to proudly represent their
churches, and many Grimsley stu
dents participate. Teams such as the
Jew Crew, First Presbyterian,
Westover, and First Baptist cur
rently have numerous players who
attend Grimsley.
Senior Chris Ritter said, “An
other reason why so many
Grimsley students play Church
Ball is because we all enjoy the
game of basketbaii and like play
ing against our friends. A good
number of students come to the
games, and all the support and par
ticipation allow the league to have
a unique and exciting atmo
sphere.”
The Church Basketball League
is far less time consuming than a
school sport, but it still stresses
the same positive messages such
as moral conduct, teamwork, and
companionship. Teams practice
once a week at their respective
churches, but all games take place
at First Baptist. A person of any
faith is welcome to participate, and
it is free to join.
Senior Josef Salami likes other
benefits of the league. “In my eyes
the Church Ball league promotes
and encourages diversity. I play for
the Jew Crew, and we have a vari
ety of races such as African Ameri
can, Asian, and Caucasian, and
different religions like Hinduism,
Catholicism, and Judaism. People
should just think of our team as the
United Nations of basketball.”
Church Ball is a competitive
league. Sometimes, however, the
importance of games is blown out
of proportion by vexed parents or
dishonest coaches.
For example, the league has
strict rules about the number of
guest players (those people who do
not belong to the specified church)
a team is allowed to keep. The
league rule specifies three outside
players per team. Some teams have
far more than the “legal” amount.
just in hopes of winning games.
Many question whether coaches,
who are supposed to teach hon
esty, should be so success-hun
gry in a Church Ball league.
Junior David Senter said, “Many
people take Church Ball too seri
ously. It is supposed to be about
having fun and playing with friends,
but coaches and even players turn
it into an NBA style competition.
When the coaches do this, they are
going against everything they prom
ised to do at the beginning of the
season which was to teach good
sportsmanship and ethics while in
corporating how we should live our
lives as God wants us to.”
Despite minor controversy.
Church basketball has remained a
popular recreational sports activity
for Greensboro’s high school stu
dents over the years. Through the
simple game of basketball, teenag
ers learn more about themselves and
those around them in an overall posi
tive environment.
Water polo waves in newcomers
Water polo has been a
pastime in America for
hundreds of years, but the
recent trend has made it
popular with Grimsley
swimmers.
By Emily Durham
Staff Writer
What do twenty Grimsley stu
dents, one yellow ball, two goals,
and the deep end of the pool have
in common? They are the elements
for a demanding, fast-paced match
of water polo—the only sport
where you can work up a sweat
and still stay cool.
Water polo has quickly become
a Saturday morning tradition for
members of the newly-founded
water polo club at Grimsley. Sopho
more Ross Martin said, “I play
water polo because it gives me a
chance to have lots of fun and
hang out with my friends while par
ticipating in an exciting sport that
is very competitive.”
When the referee throws the
yellow ball to the middle of the
pool, players swim to the center
vying to be the first in possession
of the ball. Once in play, shouts of
“I’m open” and “Go up, go up!”
ring out as the ball is passed above
water from teammate to teammate.
Each team then attempts to swim
with the ball and throw it in the
opposing team’s goal.
The rules of water polo are
simple and easy to learn. Keeping
the ball above water and throwing
with only one hand are the most
important rules of the game. A vio
lation of these regulations results
in a turnover of the ball to the other
team.
The demands high school stu
dents have on their weekends
leaves little free time. That students
would be willing to give up their
Saturday mornings to play says a
lot about the game. “It’s a very
unique and exciting sport. You
obtain great exercise from it. Since
its introduction into the Olympics,
water polo’s popularity is growing
in the United States. We hope to
enlarge the club in the future,” said
junior Ben Thompson.
The appeal of water polo comes
naturally for swimmers and those
who enjoy the combination of the
water and a competitive ball sport.
“I’ve swam for over eight years and
the idea of a water sport that in
volves a goalie and a ball and is
similar to lacrosse or soccer inter
ests me. The guys on the swim
team decided to form a water polo
club at Grimsley and we got huge
turnouts so it became a weekly
thing,” said sophomore Ross Mar
tin.
Once a person has seen the
game played, its excitement draws
many back to play. “I’ve seen
people playing it and it looked like
fun, so I wanted to give it a try,”
said junior Matt Guttentag.
The origins of water polo can
be traced back to the Native Ameri
cans who played a sort of rugby
football on the lakes and rivers.
Later the sport was played in Brit
ain where it was an all-out game of
brute strength. A favorite trick of
the British players in the late 1800s
was to swim underwater with the
ball hidden under their swimsuit
and emerge as close to the goal as
possible. Often they were jumped
on by the goalie who was permit
ted to stand on the pool deck.
When the game was brought to the
United States, players engaged in
underwater battles, fighting until
one passed out.
Water polo at Grimsley has
evolved a long way from the brutal
games of the British and early
Americans. Although turnout for
Mi
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Durham photo
Juniors Cason Dwyer and Colin Jones struggle for the ball to score
in the competitive and rigorous match. The players meet at
Grimsley’s pool Saturday mornings to compete in the newly-founded
water polo club.
the games is usually predomi
nately male, there are always a few
girls who share in the excitement
of the game. Freshman Lila
Cummings said, “After watching
the guys play on Saturday I
thought I’d give it a try and it
turned out to be even more fun then
it looked.”
With constant swimming to gain
possession of the ball, players
leave the pool exhausted after the
one-hour matches on Saturdays,
but eager to return next week for
another game. Its surprising
growth and popularity has cer
tainly made a big splash here at
Grimsley.
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