About 30 children from schools across the county came to Holy Trinity Catholic School in Olds on Feb. 20 to participate in the annual Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship.
"It's pretty fun. I only just started playing basketball this year," said Isaiah Macdonald, a Grade 7 student from Hugh Sutherland School in Carstairs.
The competition had categories for boys and girls in each age group, from nine to 14 years old.
Boys and girls aged nine to 11 use a women's sized regulation basketball and shoot from a 12-foot foul line.
Girls and boys aged 12 to 14 move back to 15 feet. The boys use a men's sized ball.
On this day, there were two rounds. The first was the "council level," where contestants had 15 shots. The top-three shot-makers advanced to the "district level," where they had 25 shots.
The Knights of Columbus holds a regional and state competition in Red Deer in March.
Before entering the event, area schools held their own competitions and sent their best shooters to Holy Trinity.
Two teachers helped organize, Cremona School's John Templeton and Holy Trinity's Joe Faught.
Templeton said the turnout this year was about half of what it usually would have been because the date coincided with the school calendar's winter break.
However, there was still plenty of good competition, according to 13-year-old Chase Rock from Deer Meadow School in Olds.
"You want to do well but there are a lot of others who are good shooters as well," Rock said.
Faught said the children pick up on what the good shooters do: concentrate, use their legs and hold their follow-through. They imitate each other and become better shooters, he said.
Richard Bodnar has been the competition chair for the last 15 years. He himself played high school basketball in Calgary and at the college level at Mount Royal. He enjoys organizing the event for the kids, who get snacks throughout the day and medals for their achievements.
"As the Knights of Columbus, we want to involve the youth of our community," Bodnar said.
"As the Knights of Columbus, we want to involve the youth of our community." RICHARD BODNAR, Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship chair
