3 on 3 Tournament for Zero

In urban ministry, sometimes you just shoot an 'air-ball.' 

For all the non-hoopers out there, this is when your basketball doesn’t make it in the goal, hit the backboard, touch the rim, or even graze the net. It’s a bad thing in hoops.  It's embarrassing when people see it.   Adding insult to injury, opposing crowds often chant, "Air----ball!    Air----ball!" to draw painful attention to the blunder.

It happened to me this past week. And before you start chanting, allow me to describe.

A month ago though, I was confident about facilitating a 3:3 basketball tournament in the park. I called it "Asphalt Jungle" and reserved the four outdoor courts at Colina Del Sol Park.

I had all kinds of good logic to back up my plan.

-       It’s incarnational.  It sends me into the world of my students.  ‘Chilling’ and hooping at the park.

-       Kids will be out of school with nothing to do.

-       It will be a perfect momentum-building event the week before camp.

-       Keeping them in organized activity, keeps them out of unorganized crime.

-       Students love to compete, and be called champions, even if it is “Champion of the outdoor park in the 92109 area code on a Tuesday in 2013.”

-       The court, with 4 outdoor hoops, costs only $10 an hour to rent.

It didn’t go down so well.

At 10am, I pictured swarms of students breaking into teams and signing up.

There were zero.

I envisioned 4 courts of games, teams battling simultaneously.

I chose the hoop with the best net and shot 10 free throws alone.

I thought I’d be settling score disputes and refereeing foul calls.

I never had to flip the scoreboard past 00.

I prepped a full tank of Gatorade to keep the boys hydrated in the hot sun.

I ended up sharing a glass with a 5^th grader that rode up on his bike.

I planned to crown the victors at a local pizza joint.

I ate my sack lunch back at the UrbanLife office.

In the end, I am not all that disappointed.  In fact, I still think this event has potential to be one of the most fruitful street-level outreach efforts we can possibly do.  I am even going to try it again in a month or so. 

Next time, the best of my energy and voice will not be lost on recruiting for summer camp.   Next time, I’ll realize that students aren’t getting to the park by 10 am on a lazy summer morning.  Next time, I won’t be working on my own jump shot.  And next time, I will actually need that Gatorade to make it through the day. 

All basketball shooters throw up air-balls from time to time.  The great shooters block out the crowd's heckling and move on to the next shot.  That's what I intend to do.

Just pass me the ball now.