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Beginning next Thursday, and running until July 4, they will be ambassadors from Kâ€"W and area in the International ~Word of Lifle Basketbal} Fournament at Schroon Lake, N.Y. They are the First Baptist Church Bible Hoop junior boys, junior girls and senior Todd Smith dumps off a pass as he‘s closely guarded by Mark Hackett _Schroon Lake, NY. Three Kâ€"W and area teams, the junior boys and junior during Saturday‘s scrimmage at WCI as the First Baptist Church Bible girts as well as senior boys will be competing with squads from ail over Hoop squad prepares for the upcoming international tournament at â€" North America June 25 to July 4. Fulfillment the name of the game It appears, to the visitor‘s eye as he opens the gym door to a gaggle of young athietes and as many if not more bouncing balls, to be your basic basketball pracâ€" tice. k And to a certain extent, it is. But the two d%en or so players who are gathe with their coaches on a Saturday afte n in the dim, humid WCI gym, sce f many past cage glories, are there for a dress rehearsal of what they hope will become their own ultimate glory. boys basketball teams and through their talents on the court, they have qualified to répresent this area of the country in the continent wide competition. It will be, as it always has been, a funâ€"filled 10 days at Schroon Lake, a chance to learn about basketball, about God, and most important, about themâ€" selves. Gary Stairs, Bible Hoop coâ€"ordinator at to begin with and it takes a year or so to First Baptist Church, planted the seeds of make them feei comfortabile, but we‘ve ali success for the program in 1976 when he seemed to jell this year." gathered six players together to compete _ He is referring, at the time, to onâ€"court ©By Rick Campbeill â€" _ Chronicle Sports Editor Dsl LA-QI~‘ .'!'Ew'u.-'f l. 1 This past year, thanks to greater development in the winter program, some 175 youngsters allowed for a 13â€"team setâ€" ‘‘The senior boys will have some changes in their roster, for example some guys are working and a player like Evie MacDougall can‘t go because the Canaâ€" dian track and field trials are that same time. But I‘m cqnfident the junior boys can be in the top three and the junior girls may even win it." . And out of that group, the senior boys team went on to an undefeated season and the regional championship May iâ€"2 in Syracuse, the junior girlis also won the regionals, and the junior boys were regional runmersâ€"up., Stairs is confident, albeit guardedly, about their chances at Schroon Lake. o ‘‘They (coaches) come from ali over, some from the universities, some from the high schools, some from the church, a lot of them don‘t have that much experience to begin with and it takes a year or so to make them feel comfortabile, but we‘ve ali seemed to jell this year." as local representatives in the district Word of Life tournament. . Theg are a handful of reasons, of course, for this unprecedented level of success, in what Stairs refers to as "the best year ever‘‘ of the organization, not the least of which is the dedicated guidance of the 13â€"plus coaches. SJME 17 other. It all goes to reinforce the goals we mu'yln{l;oputacms. ‘"Actually the kids have taken on a real loyalty to the program, they wear our tâ€"shirts to school, tell their friends about success, but also could be talking about the offâ€"court reward, seeing a youngster discover himself, fulfilling voids in his/her life, becoming a more complete person. ‘‘‘The goals of our program are related to the whole person and to personality, yes we do have standards we operate by and we make our kids aware of them right off the bat â€" so right away they can take it or leave it." Cynically perhaps, the visitor admits past visions of oneâ€"dimensional athletes hiding snickers or desing off during mandatory religious instruction, but Stairs indicated the opposite is true. ‘*Yes, there is Bible instruction based on Christian principles, our kids know that every time they come to practice there will be some form of instruction, but it is based entirely on present principles, and experiences the kids share with each When the goals of the Bible Hoop program are achieved, the thrill of a oneâ€"point double evertime victory pales in comparison. ‘"I always thought there was a need for this type of activity in the community, and when I started working with young people at the church, that‘s how I got involved," said Stairs. "It‘s a great learning experience," he says. ‘"When you can learn about basketâ€" bail, and learn about God at the same time, that‘s what it‘s all about." as he rises to rejoin his group. Obviously, that is what it‘s all about. ‘"Oh, at least 100%,"" he says in a break from practice Saturday. "I‘m very imâ€" pressed with the program, we get good coaching, everyone gets a chance to play, and the coaches are very patient. You get to learn while you play, and with these (international) tournaments, you also get to see teams throughout the U.S. and Canada, and how you compare. Last year when we had those three games go into overtime at Schroon, that had to be the biggest thrill for me so far." And the religious aspect, asks the visitor, do the kids really enjoy it? Entering into grade 11 next September, Tuckett says his skills onâ€"court have improved at least 100% because of the two years he has spent in the program. Like many who have passed through before him, and like many who have come back for more, WCI‘s Sean Tuckett is a staunch supporter of the Bible Hoop proâ€" gram. * what we‘re trying to do, the idea to them that they‘re fulfl&ng a need, and the fact that they‘re even able to recognize that need, is as important as success on the basketball court. _ A big smile crosses Sean Tuckett‘s face