Last Saturday, Joshua's YBA (AAU) team had their free throw shooting fundraiser. All players shot 100 freethrows on regulation hoops. In the weeks prior to that day, the player's collected sponsors to raise monies to offset costs of tournament fees,club fees, uniforms, etc. Sponsors were given the choice to either donate a flat rate or a rate based on how many free throws were made.

Everyone who knows Joshua, knows that he's a sharp shooter! The team expected him to get a high score. Our family and friends who sponsored Joshua also knew he would score well, but I don't think ANYONE was expecting him to do as well as he did! Joshua made a total of 85 out of 100 freethrows!!! That's amazing and very difficult to do. That's 85% from the free throw line! Michael Jordan's free throw percentage is .835! Hehe. It was very impressive!

Joshua earned A LOT of money due to the extremely generous offers from his sponsors. Thank you to all of you who supported and sponsored Joshua. Sorry you had to pay him so much! Thank you to Ami & Papa, Grandma & Bumpa, the Nagahiros(Hawaii) , the Matsuuras(Hawaii), Suzanne, Seiji(Hawaii), Aunty Mimi(Hawaii), Donnie, Lisa, Alex & Marisa(CO), Kev, Tracy, Emma, Hannah, & Sarah(CO), the Laus(HI), the Itagakis, the Changs, and the Yoshimuras(HI).

Here's a breakdown of the scores for the team:
Joshua: 85
Nick: 66
Bryson: 61
Alex: 52
Grant: 52
Brendyn: 48
Andrew: 48
Jashon: 44

Great job to all the boys!!!

Moving On...

We're half way through the winter season of Hotshots and Joshua's 4th grade team remains undefeated. We've had a lot of fun and success with Hotshots but feel that now is the time to move on. The core group of players that we have are ready to take their game up a notch.

After the end of the season, Lance will be taking 7 of his players to the next level of basketball. They as a team are now officially an AAU (Athletic Amateur Union) sanctioned team. AAU is the highest level of competitive basketball.

Lance was personally recruited by the director, Ken Gee of the YBA DAWGS (Youth Basketball Academy -Defense Always Wins Games) to be the Head Coach of the 4th division in YBA. YBA is an AAU club organization who has a history of having the highest caliber coaches and players within the club. YBA is a highly respected organization with the reputation of having the best teams competing at the competitive level.

This is yet another exciting venture for Lance as a coach and Joshua as a player. We're proud to be a part of YBA and are looking forward to a successful season (which begins in the spring).