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Home > Archive > Mar 22, 2007

Santa Clara Boy Takes Hoop Shoot Regional Championship
By Dixie Weekly News
Brendan Truman, 11, captured first-place at the Elks “Hoop Shoot” Western Regional Championship March 3, wowing the crowd with an accuracy from the penalty line not often seen.
Brendan sank 25 of 25 free throws in the 10- to 11-year-old boys division, standing out among more than 3 million boys and girls, ages 8-13, who have participated in the contest since fall.
Before winning the regional championship, Brendan won local, district and state competitions. Now, he will travel with his parents, Tammy and Lonnie Truman, to Springfield, Mass. – the birthplace of basketball – to compete against 72 other youths vying to claim one of six national trophies awarded at the Elks Hoop Shoot National Free Throw Contest, April 19-22. The Trumans will travel to Springfield courtesy of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (Elks-USA).
Placing in the national championship will earn Brendan a place in Elks Hoop Shoot history, and his name will go on a plaque in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. This would be the second time for Brendan, as he won the National Hoop Shoot contest two years ago, in the 8- to 9-year-old boys division.
Now in its 35th year, the Elks “Hoop Shoot” Free Throw Contest has had more than 101 million participants since its inception, making it the largest coeducational youth sports program in the nation. Funded entirely by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Elks “Hoop Shoot” Free Throw Contest has served as a testing ground for sports legends Cleveland Cavaliers’ Trajan Langdon, WNBA 2001 Rookie of the Year Jackie Stiles of the former Portland Fire, Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Steve Alford, Olympic gold medallist and former Golden State Warriors Chris Mullin, former North Carolina State star Jennifer Howard, and former Chicago White Sox third-baseman Chris Snopek.
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is a patriotic and philanthropic fraternal organization with nearly 1.2 million members in more than 2,200 communities.

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