WS Chronicle

Since 2011, the Elite 8 Alumni nonprofit has been holding a flag football and basketball tournament annually for the men.  After years of not having something for the women, Nakeeba Orr decided it was time, and after some thought, a kickball game was formed.  For the initial tournament, the Demons of Reynolds were victorious over North Forsyth 1-0 in the championship game.

The tournament included all eight schools in the Elite 8: North Forsyth, Mount Tabor, Reynolds, West Forsyth, East Forsyth, Parkland, Carver and Glenn high schools.  Harry Harris of the Elite 8 nonprofit says when Orr came to him about the kickball game, he instantly thought it was a great idea to include the women.  Orr also thought this would be a great way to gather gently used or new coats to donate to the less fortunate.

The coats will be donated to West End Ministries and the Battered Women’s Shelter.  Orr says she was so pleased that the kickball game received just as much attention and donations as the Turkey Bowl game did for the men.

“I am just so blessed to have had some good representatives from each school help me put this together,” said Orr.  “I am just overwhelmed with joy and I could not have asked for a better turnout and I hope next year is even better.”

“I decided to do this because I wanted the women to be involved,” she continued.  “We always support the men but at this current time I feel like we need to show them what we can do to give back to the community and to make us as a whole for the city understand that this is not just about what school we went to but about helping someone in need and having a good time.”

Orr says they decided to gather coats for the kickball game because the men always gather donations for their football and basketball tournaments.  She felt it was only right for the women to do the same, especially with the temperature continually dropping as winter quickly approaches.

“The men always do a toy drive and a canned food drive and I am in the human service field, so we see a lot of less fortunate kids that go without,” she continued.  “We also see women who come from battered women shelters and families that have lost everything, so we just wanted to give back.  A coat may not be much, but it’s something during the colder months.”

The Reynolds Demons were the toughest competitors throughout the kickball tournament.  The championship game against North Forsyth was not as easy as previous games for the Demons, however.  Reynolds escaped with a 1-0 win to capture the first kickball championship.

“When I say I’m excited I mean I’m really excited and when I first put this out on Facebook, I had everybody with me and we showed up and showed out by winning,” said Meeme Ross, coach of the Reynolds Demons.  “I am so glad Nakeeba thought about this idea. It’s about time for the women to get together and do something positive.”

Reynolds player Nikki Davidson says she was just glad to see the black community come together with no violence so the people could enjoy the game along with good food and vendors.  Davidson says she was thankful for all of the people coming out to support the event because she feels black women don’t support one another as much as they should. 

Following the success of the Turkey Bowl, organizer Harry Harris says he was hopeful people still had the spirit to come out and support the ladies for the kickball game.  He feels this event could snowball into more events for the Elite 8 going forward.

“This was another great event and just for the ladies to come together like the guys during the Turkey Bowl was great,” he said.  “Just for me to be able to bring my whole city together as one and show love is what this is all about.”

“Just look at all this love. They try and say the city of Winston-Salem never have people come together peacefully but that’s exactly what I wanted to do.  Nakeeba and I working together as a team to bring the ladies together was special to me.”