’Hawks began in YCB

PEA RIDGE — Two of the three seniors on this year’s Blackhawk basketball team began playing basketball in the Youth Competitive Basketball program.

Kasey Cooper and Cameron Thompson began their basketball careers with the YCB program in Pea Ridge.

Larry Walker, former Blackhawk senior boys’ coach and current athletic director for Pea Ridge High School, said the program has been an asset to Pea Ridge.

“For kids that really love it, it’s great,” Walker said. “It’s like anything else, if they start young and it’s in a good program, there’s no catching up.”

Walker, who coached both boys and girls basketball in Pea Ridgefor 14 or 15 years, before becoming the coach of the boys team only, said YCB has had a “huge impact really.”

Recalling that Mike and Kerri Kelly began the program later carried on by Kevin and Ronda Hall, Walker said: “In the total league, for all the communities, it’s been great for everyone really.

“It’s been a great benefit for us,” he concluded.

Coaches sometimes refer to junior high teams as “feeder programs” for the varsity teams where young athletes can learn about the game and perfect their skills. Beginning young, with the right instruction, can only enhance that.

Both Thompson and Cooper work with the YCB helping to coach, keeping score and doing whatever they can to encourage the younger athletes.