Stella Buness lining up a shot at the Elks Hoop Shoot contest last year's Hoop Shoot.
The event is a month later than most years and COVID-19 safety rules will make it different too, but the goal is the same: Wrangell youth trying to score in the annual Elks Hoop Shoot on Saturday.
The competition is set to start at the community center gym at 10 a.m. for 9-year-old boys and girls, 11:30 a.m. for 10 and 11-year-olds, and 1 p.m. for 12 and 13-year-olds. Event organizers are asking kids to arrive 15 minutes early to register.
Every participant will be given his or her own basketball to shoot and to keep, said organizer Jeff Jabusch. Not sharing basketballs during the event is one of the many accommodations to keep people COVID safe, said Jabusch, now in his 40th year coordinating the Hoop Shoot.
The event usually is held in December, but it seemed better to delay it past the holidays and hold it during the normally slower month of January, he said. "We're trying to do something" for the community's youngsters.
In addition to everyone taking home a free basketball, winners in each category will be awarded trophies immediately after their age group is finished shooting.
Due to COVID-19 safety concerns, there will be no national Hoop Shoot this year.
All participants, spectators and volunteers will be required to wear masks and sanitize their hands before entering the gym. They will also be required to remain 6 feet apart. Competitors will be required to keep their masks on at all times except when they are shooting.
Spectators will be limited to two per shooter, and will need to register when they enter the gym, Jabusch said.
A parent or guardian will be required to sign an Elks Hoop Shoot COVID-19 acknowledgement form for each competitor as well as for themselves. The form will be available at the gym. If a parent or guardian cannot attend, the form is available on the Wrangell Parks and Recreation website, or by calling Jabusch at 874-2083.
The Stikine Sportsmen Association and Wrangell Elks Lodge contributed toward the basketballs, which were provided by Angerman's, Jabusch said.
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