On Wednesday, January 29, 23 competitors between the ages of 9 and 14 participated in the 5th annual St. Gabriel Church Knights of Columbus Basketball Free Throw Championship hosted at Our Lady of Wisdom School.
The championship is set up to have the contestants compete within their own gender and age group. All competition starts at the local level. Winners move on to the regional, provincial, and international championships.
The contest, which was open to all youth aged 10 to 14 from the Chestermere area allowed each contestant 15 free throws attempts in the first round, called the Council Competition. Ties were settled by successive rounds of five free throws per contestant until a winner emerged.
The top three winners from that round moved onto the next round held the same evening, called Districts. At the Districts level, contestants are allowed 25 free throw attempts. Each of these winners will go on to compete at Regionals. The date for the regionals is yet to be set.
Congratulations to the following winners who will move onto the regional challenge: Boys age 10- Andrei Albia; Girls age 10- Jenae Papke; Boys age 11- Harry Wijaya; Girls age 11- Bless Anne Tono; Boys are 12- Jared Madayag; Girls age 12- Tiana Herchak; Boys age 13- Ty Davidson; Girls age 13- Hannah Papke.
The Basketball Free Throw Championship is one of many community activities supported by the Chestermere Knights. Earlier in January, the local council received the Star Council award from the Knights of Columbus headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding achievement in membership, insurance and service program activities.
Since the council’s inception in 2008, the St Gabriel Church Knights of Columbus have donated over $100,000 to local, national and international groups and initiatives, as well as volunteering at local activities such as the Chestermere Waterfest and Winterfest.
On Saturday, April 26th 2014, the council will host its 5th annual Surf n Turf fundraiser at the Chestermere Rec Centre. Please contact Patrick Watson at (403)923-0099 or patrickwatson97@hotmail.com for tickets and sponsorship opportunities.
There are 52 members of the Chestermere Knights Council. They meet on the second Thursday of each month at the St Gabriel school library from 7-9:00PM. For more information about the Chestermere Knights of Columbus please contact Daren Farnel at (403)471-5061 or farnel1@hotmail.com.
The Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest Catholic service organization with more than 1.8 million members in nearly 14,000 local councils. It provides members and their families with volunteer opportunities in service to the Catholic Church, the community, families and young people.
In 2012, Knights of Columbus at all levels of the organization raised and distributed a record $167 million to charitable causes and volunteered more than 70 million hours of service. With over $92 billion of insurance in force, the Knights of Columbus is rated A++ (Superior) by the A. M. Best Co. There is no higher rated company in North America.
