Elks Hoop Shoot offers burgers and free basketballs

The nationwide Elks Hoop Shoot has been around for more than 50 years, but it’s aimed at a much younger crowd than that. Contestants in the annual free-throw shooting event set for Saturday, Dec. 9, at the community gym can’t be older than 13.

For 8- to 13-year-olds, it’s a chance to take aim and sink as many free throws as they can. There will be medals and, if their scores qualify after they are measured against regional and state competitors, the kids could go to nationals.

Regardless, everyone at the Hoop Shoot will get a hamburger and a free basketball. “You don’t go home empty-handed, no matter what happens,” said Jeff Jabusch, who has volunteered for the event since the 1980s.

The burgers are served and medals presented after the last group shoots.

There will be separate categories for boys and girls, broken down into three age groups: 8- and 9-year-olds will shoot at 9 a.m.; 10- and 11-year-olds at 10 a.m.; and 12- and 13-year-olds will walk onto the court at 11 a.m.

Eligibility is determined by the kids’ age as of April 1, 2024, meaning a 13-year-old with a birthday in the next four months is too old to compete.

“That’s usually one of our better groups,” both in turnout and skills, Jabusch said of the 12- and 13-year-olds.

Girls will shoot a smaller ball, as will the two youngest categories of boys, with the older boys sending a full-size basketball toward the hoop. Though the smaller ball is just a couple of ounces lighter, and an inch smaller in circumference, “it’s noticeable,” Jabusch said.

The net will be at the usual height — 10 feet — but players in the 8- and 9-year-old bracket will shoot from four feet closer to the basket than everyone else who will stand at the free-throw line 15 feet away from the net.

Turnout in the 1980s exceeded 100 players, back when the sawmills were running in Wrangell and the population larger, Jabusch said. Since then, participation generally has been running close to 50 — not covering the pandemic year of 2020 when shooters had to wear a face mask and attendance was down.