The annual Knights of Columbus free throw contest is back again at the Crookston High School gymnasium this Sunday, January 8, for all boys and girls ages 9-14.
The 51-year-old competition is a free event for all children to participate in to provide an athletic outlet and encourage the values of sportsmanship and healthy competition while testing their basketball shooting skills against students across the region and even the state. The competition will have each competitor shoot fifteen consecutive shots and try to make as many as they can. A line judge will monitor each shooter to ensure the children don’t step over the line when they shoot, a person catching rebounds, and a counter of how many each contestant makes. “Everyone gets a chance to participate. It’s open to boys and girls ages 9 to 14. We use the men’s balls for the older boys and the women’s balls for the younger boys and girls and older girls,” Knights of Columbus member John Bjorgo explained. “The younger boys and girls that are ages 9-11, we put a piece of tape on the floor at the 12’ line instead of shooting from the regular 15’ free throw line. This way, the kids will develop the proper form of throwing the ball.”
The contest will separate the contestants into their age groups, and the first-place competitors of each group will win a certificate and medal and have the chance to advance to the district-level competition. “We start out with our local level, which is this Sunday, and then all of the first-place participants will go on to a district level. In our district, we have Crookston, Ada, and East Grand Forks. Us three are the ones that are running this competition for now,” John Bjorgo explained. “If they do get to be first-place contestants, we have them go onto our next level, which is a district level, and after that is a regional level, and after regional, you’ll end up at state, which is at St. Cloud.”
If, in any case, there is a tie for first place, the two competitors will shoot another five shots to determine who the winner will be. Bjorgo noted that if a first-place winner cannot attend the district level of the competition, the Knights of Columbus will allow the second-place contestant of that group to stand in for the first-place winner to represent Crookston.
Once the contest begins, the 9-11 age groups will begin their portion of the competition in the High School gym, and the rest of the age groups will begin once those age groups finish. Registration for the contest will be in the Crookston High School Commons from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. and is free for all contestants to join and practice before the contest begins at 1:00 p.m. “We do it all right there at the gymnasium in the Commons area. We have the kids, and the parents help fill it all out so that everything is fairly legible, and we have good contact numbers to call them so that the first-place winners are able to make it to the next round.” This contest is sponsored by Crookston Knights of Columbus council 1216.
Stay tuned to KROX and kroxam.com for the results and pictures of the winners.
