WS Chronicle

For the past 17 years, Bryant McCorkle has been bringing his elite basketball league to the W.R. Anderson Community Center.  This year over 500 children will participate in the league, divided up into 32 teams. 

Cook, Sedge Garden and Hall Woodward elementary schools are participating in the league as well.  According to McCorkle, kids from all around the Triad have come to participate in the league.

The kids are separated by age groups: 8 and under, 11 and under and 15 and under.  Sign-ups for players and coaches began back in October of last year.  Elite then, the teams have been practicing in preparation for the beginning of the league.

The league will run for eight weeks and the teams will play on Saturdays.  Last Saturday, Jan. 6, marked the opening day for the league and the gymnasium was packed to capacity.  It was literally standing room only, with all of the parents and friends in attendance to catch the games.

“The best thing for me is just to get the kids off the street and give the parents something good to watch during the winter months,” McCorkle said of why he enjoys bringing the league back year after year.

The parents seem to enjoy the league just as much as the children do.  Kisha Robinson says her family has been participating in the league for the past 12 years.

“We love it because it’s like family and everyone knows each other,” Robinson said.  “We all have a good time and we love it.”

Robinson says it’s good to have the kids in an environment such as the Elite league because of the sense of community it gives them.  For her, the biggest attraction to the league is the commitment of the coaches along with the development of the young kids.

“You can see the gradual growth of the kids because my nephew started when he was 6 and now he is 13 playing with the bigger boys and you can see how far he has come,” she went on to say.

Latoya Webb says she has been bringing her son to the league for the past two years.  She says she enjoys having her son in this league versus others because of the organization the league displays. 

Everyone had high praise for the work McCorkle has done putting the league together.  Robinson said the parents bring their kids to W.R. Anderson year after year because of McCorkle.

“Bryant is the best, and everyone knows and he has a sense of respect from all of us,” said Robinson.

Once the regular season is over, the qualifying teams will then enter the playoffs, which begin on March 10.  McCorkle says “if you think the gym was packed now, wait until the championships start.”