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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Monday, January 04, 2010

Lil' Canaries Dominate LV Basketball Courts


Do you think Allentown kids have no interest in sports? Think again.

Last Saturday, Allen's Lil' Canaries (4th & 5th grade) invaded Orefield to play Parkland. They faced a team of about 12 'Lil Trojans, magnificently festooned in red, white and blue. Three Under Armour®-clad coaches, who looked more like drill sergeants, barked out commands. These kids even had their own locker room.

In contrast, Allen's team consisted of just seven kids. Some had to pencil their numbers on the backs of yellow T-shirts. One forgot. The ref called him 00. No locker room.

Parkland's kids certainly looked the part, some of them bearing a close resemblance to the Jolly Green Giant. Allen's kids looked and even sounded more like little Munchkins.

Last year, when these two teams faced each other, the 'burbs crushed the inner city. But when the smoke cleared from the court on Saturday, Allen's 3-0 'Lil Canaries were suddenly 4-0.

The usually ebullient Orefield parents were very quiet, but the kids from both teams lined up and shook hands after a well-played game.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bernie, it took a child to warm your heart to Allentown. God bless that child! The truth is that there are many, many stories like this that never get covered by the Morning Call. Thanks for calling our attention to these kids' success. May they have many more in life!

Anonymous said...

Bernie, it took a child to warm your heart to Allentown. God bless that child! The truth is that there are many, many stories like this that never get covered by the Morning Call. Thanks for calling our attention to these kids' success. May they have many more in life!

Anonymous said...

Being an Emmaus fan I love it when Parkland gets spanked. Go Canaries!

Who is Dat playing basketball for?

The Banker

Bernie O'Hare said...

Banker, he's playing CYO (Notre Dame), Lil' Canaries and some team called Tri-City Tyranny or something.

In this game, I have a few seconds of him on video grabbing a loose ball, taking it down the court, passing it to Justin Rockmore, and Justin lays it up.

The kids for Parkland are pretty neat, too. They are used to winning, and handled a loss with class.

Anonymous said...

I hear ohare takes his "grandson" and his friends out for candy and ice cream after all the games. The kids refer to him as uncle Michael Jackson!

Anonymous said...

Bernie, how might one make a donation to get unis for those guys? C'mon people. 80% vote for Pawlowski. And then they can't come up with a few sheckels for shirts and shorts? Shameful.

I don't live near Allentown and want to help.

Sanctifying Grace said...

Bernie,

Is Dat a lefty? For his age, he moves really well with the ball. Is he a guard?

I hope he keeps growing in his skill. From just that little clip, he appears to be very talented at basketball.

Tell Dat that I say, "Hi!"

Peace, ~~Alex

Bernie O'Hare said...

Anon 8:24,

I think they like their look. They don't want to get fancy. They're there to play ball. They got that "we're tough" thing going.

But I will discuss your suggestion with the coach and see if he has any ideas. It is a very nice offer. Maybe some money could be used to defray the cost for kids from low or no income families. I think that is being done now, to some extent, but will look into it. There are some truly wonderful people who work the hearts out for the kids.

It blew me away to read your nice comment.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Fr. Alex,

Dat is a point guard primarily. He dribbles equally well both left and right handed, although he still favors the right in his shots. The other boy, Justin Rockmore, to whom Dat passed the ball, is just as talented. And there's a kid on Hockey's team named Mikey that blows everyone off the court. He could probably play high school ball now, and he's only 10. Mikey told me he started oplaying on a team when he was 3. Amazingly, baseball is Mikey's favorite sport.

These kids are awesome.

Anonymous said...

Who gives a shit?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Decent people. There are more of them than of you.

Anonymous said...

Yeah let us help the low income families even more. What, they can't get new uniforms with their Access card? Maybe they should trade in their rims and buy their kid a uniform!!