Youth summer league crowns six basketball champions

by | Sep 4, 2021 | Uncategorized

By JEFF OLIVER

MVI Sports

When Yancey Taylor was putting together his We Care for Kids Sports Summer Basketball League, he admitted he was pretty much winging it.

“I didn’t know all the ins and outs of how it would turn out, I just wanted to do something for the kids,” Taylor said. “When I was a kid, I was given an opportunity and I tried to make the most of it. It was important to me to give these kids an opportunity and an experience they would never forget.

“Once we started planning, things really took off.”

For two months, Taylor’s league brought over 350 boys and girls in grades 3-8 together to compete.

On Thursday, at Ringgold Middle School, six champions were crowned for winning their respective divisions.

Now that it’s over, the former Ringgold and European basketball star said he just feels humbled and blessed.

“Things could not have gone any better,” he said. “From the first day at Highland Terrace court in June when I saw the amazing crowd for the games to our last championship games, it was really smooth sailing.

“To see how hard these kids competed and worked through the summer, we didn’t lose one kid. Nobody quit. That says a lot about these kids and my staff. What an experience this has been.”

Taylor emphasized that the league wasn’t about him, but about the kids, his staff, and sponsors.

“We preach working as a team to the kids and this was a total team effort,” he said proudly. “This wasn’t ever about me. It was a team effort from the kids, team effort from the staff, team effort from the parents, and team effort from our sponsors.”

Taylor praised his sponsors for their generous financial support, his staff of volunteers who gave of their time graciously, and the parents of the players who were so supportive. 

“I can’t name everyone who helped, but they know who they are. They were the real stars,” Taylor said. 

He again mentioned the support he received from the Ringgold School District, Washington County Commissioners, and the Washington County Housing Authority. Without their help, this doesn’t happen. Everyone I went to was a huge help. People behind the scenes just came through large. he said. It’s nice to see so many people care about our kids, our future athletes, leaders, business people. Taylor said after games during the season, he made it a point to chat with the parents to get their take on how things were going. The response he got was very satisfying.
I can’t tell you how many parents said this has been the best thing for our kids, for our community, he said. They all said they can’t wait to come back next year if we have the League. So the question needs to be asked will there be a We Care for Kids SportsLeague next summer?
Taylor didn’t hesitate
“God willing, if I’m blessed to still be here next year we are going to do it again and next time it will be bigger and better. That, I promise you.”
One of the compliments Taylor received the text him the most come from Mike Ghilani Superintendent of the West Jefferson Hills School District.  Ghilani wrote on Taylor’s Facebook page Yancey, “The league was a huge success. You should be proud. Your vision became reality.” Things like that let me know it was worthwhile, Taylor said. That and watching the kids enjoy themselves.