Monday, June 20, 2011

The 2011 Warm Up for the Nationals Comes to an End - The Trophy Earners.

The Second Annual Warm Up for the Nationals concluded with the crowning of four new champions but honoring all participants who made the tournament a towering success. With activities for the boys in the Tenth, Eighth, Seventh and Sixth Grades at two locations (Action Sports Academy and Redan High School), teams from Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and throughout the metro area played their hearts out. Atlanta Select would like to thank them all and invite them back for Warm Up III in June 2012.

Earning the championship in the Tenth Grade Division was the West Georgia Xpress.  With maybe only one player six feet tall the team demonstrated that height is not everything. Head Coach Kevin Jones indicated during the pool play that what his team lack in height they make up in speed and teamwork. Similar to the African proverb "When spiders work together they can tie up a lion", they ran, trap, out rebounded and of course out scored their opponents. They lost one game in pool play by one point. Congratulations to the West Georgia  Xpress. 
Atlanta Select RED took Runner Up honors in the Tenth Grade Division. The team is ready for the Nationals. Head Coach Dionne Mason has made sure of that. Atlanta Select is honored to have this national championship team from last season prepared for the events in July.

Top honors in the Eighth Grade Division was earned by "The Laurel Jones County (LJC) Elite from Laurel, Mississippi. Coach Randy Pettis brought his team to Atlanta for Warm Up Number I in 2010, earning a second place finish. With a core of the same players from last year and a few outstanding additions, the team, most definitely, is ready for the nationals. We appreciate this team taking the six hour ride to participate in our tournament.

Kudos goes to the RC Blackhawks from Huntsville, Alabama for their outstanding performance during the tournament and earning the Runner Up spot in the Eighth Grade Division. Coach Lesley Ford has thoroughly prepared his team for events in July.

Atlanta Select SILVER, Head Coach Carpenter, took home the championship trophy in the Seventh Grade Division. This team has been on a roll all season qualifying for several national tournaments. Coach Carpenter is pictured presenting the team Championship trophy to Greg Ringer. Atlanta Select can be proud that this team will be among the group of Atlanta Select teams participating in national tournaments in July.


The West Georgia Xpress earned Runner Up honors in the Seventh Grade Division. This is a testament that the Xpress is rather strong, sending two teams to the tournament and both teams earned trophies. Pretty sure that these two teams are prepared for the nationals. The team's next trip is to Chicago, IL prior to going to the nationals. Good luck to Coach Zachery and his mighty team from Villa Rica, GA.


Top honors in the Sixth Grade Division was earned by the Georgia Spartans. The Spartans out of the Eric Snow organization has been a force in every tournament they have participated in this season. Countless trophies. Enough Said. They are ready for the nationals.


Rounding out the Sixth Grade Division and finishing second was the Atlanta Select Sixth Grade SILVER. Coach Baskerville, the tournament director for the Action Sports Academy, gave the coaching responsiblities to his assistants and they did an outstanding job. We are confident that this team will represent Atlanta Select extremely well in Florida in July.


Again Atlanta Select would like to thank all the teams and organizations that participated in the "Warm Up for the Nationals". A special thanks goes out to Head Coach Jesse Baskerville (Actions Sports Academy) and Head Coach Wallace Lanier (Redan high School) for their hard work in coordinating and supervising the events. SYNERGY at work.

Just a note. Atlanta Select had several teams participating in other tournaments in other organizations this weekend. Many earned trophies and will be profiled separately. This article highlights the "Warm UP". For more information and highlights of the events this weekend check out the blog on "Coaches and Teams".

Hope that all Fathers had a great weekend and that all of us paid tribute to those who first recognized and honored Juneteenth. 

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