Breckenridge Texan

The annual Elks Hoop Shoot free throw contest for kids ages 8 to 13 is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 7, at the Breckenridge High School gym (auxiliary gym), on the corner of Second and Live Oak streets. The local competition will be hosted by Elks Lodge No. 1480.

Participation in the Hoop Shoot is free for boys and girls. The contest is divided into three age groups: 8-9, 10-11 and 12-13. The age groups are based on the participants’ ages as of April 1, 2024.

Awards will be presented in each category, and the winners will be eligible to participate in the upcoming district contest in Arlington. The Elks Lodge will provide gas money for that trip. The winners from the district contest will go on to the state competition in Carrollton in February. The regional hoop shoot will be held in Dallas in March, and the national contest will be in Chicago in April. Everything above the district level will be an overnight trip, and the participants and their parents will get to attend the events as guests of the Elks.

Six national winners — a boy and a girl in each age category — will be named. The national winners will each receive a trophy and have their name inscribed on a plaque in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The top-scoring boy and girl will be named the national champions and will receive the Getty Powell Award.

According to the Elks Lodge organization, the contest gives kids the opportunity to participate in spirited competition, develop relationship with peers and travel statewide, regionally and nationally at minimal expense to their parents.

(Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)