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| See the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdOFpusVnPE |
At the culmination of months of planning, hard work, team
practices, and basketball games the athletes of Upward Basketball at Paddletown
St. Paul’s UMC wrapped up their winter season with worship songs, awards, and a
very special guest.
Pastor Jane Keller Rosborough brought a love for Upward
Basketball along with her when she was appointed to Paddletown St. Paul’s in
July of 2018.
“I was fortunate to be director of Upward at my home church
in Carlisle. Wwhen I was appointed to
Paddletown, my children and I came to visit in January, 2018, and walked into
their beautiful gym. Both of my kids
looked at me and said, ‘This is Upward.’
My first response was, ‘Ok, we can’t push this, we’re new.’ After we arrived, I started going over to the
gym and praying, , ‘OK God, here’s this space, where are you leading us?’ So, I proposed it to the administrative
council, with the caveat, ‘in a year, I really think we could do this.’”
“’And their response was ‘if we are going to do this, let’s
just do it.’”
And so began the task of getting everything ready for the upcoming
season.
Rosborough needed some help in getting St. Paul’s first
Upward season off the ground. She asked
the congregation for volunteers, and Michael Cline began thinking about the
ways he could support the new ministry.
“She was asking for volunteers,” Cline said, “so I walked in and said,
‘I’d like to volunteer some time.’ She said ‘Well, I really need a
director.’ I was a little shocked, so I
really prayed about it and realized that it was probably the perfect spot for
me to be in. I took the lead and started
putting out flyers, and getting things out to the schools.”
The challenge of starting their first Upward season in 2018,
instead of waiting until 2019, added some pressure.
“Along with our UPWARD Leadership Team and other church volunteers, we did 6 months of work in about two months
to get it up and running,” said Rosborough.
They wondered if all of their hard work would pay off, and
if they’d have enough basketball players and cheerleaders to participate in the
first season.
Cline knew that something special was in the
works. He said, “You know what, God’s
got it in his hands. We will have enough
kids.’ And I was just confident that
we’d have enough kids. When it was all
said and done, we had over 60 kids signed up for our first season, which is
amazing.”
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| Special guest Seth Franco get a photo with Upwards kids at Paddletown St. Paul's UMC |
All that planning made it all worth it. “Everything went
really smoothly, and lots of people from our congregation came to see what it
was about. And we had a lot of
volunteers from our congregation, as well as from the community and the kids’
parents.”
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| Seth Franco shares some basketball tricks with Upward kids at Paddletown St. Paul's UMC |
The end of season celebration brought together all of the Upward
players and cheerleaders, and featured a special guest, former Harlem
Globetrotter, Seth Franco. Franco played for the Harlem Wizards and the Harlem Globetrotters
throughout his basketball career.
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| Seth Franco shares some basketball tricks with the kids at Paddletown St. Paul's UMC |
“Today, I had the chance to be at Upward Basketball and to
share my story. I was born with hip
dysplasia and had both of my hips replaced.
The big challenge for most of my life hasn’t been basketball, it’s been
more of a health issue.”
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| Seth Franco, former Harlem Globetrotter |
Bringing his basketball tricks to Upward made this
celebration even more special for the athletes of Paddletown’s first Upward
Basketball season. Franco shared an inspiring message, amazed everyone with his
tricks, and wanted all of this season’s players to know that they can do
anything, as long as they trust in God.
“It’s been a great journey, God’s been a big part of my
story. He is my story, giving me the
strength to get up and try again every day.” Franco said.
| See the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdOFpusVnPE |
