St. George kids take their shot at Utah Jazz home floor glory

Written by Chris Reed
January 22, 2020

ST. GEORGE — Whether on the makeshift hoop above the garage, the playground blacktop or the park gym, plenty of kids in St. George have held on to a basketball imagining themselves taking the home floor of the Utah Jazz.

Kids from grades three to 12 took part in the first night of the Utah Jazz Fun Shot competition Tuesday, January 22, 2020 at Fossil Ridge Intermediate School in St. George. | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

For three days this week, local kids are getting a free chance to make that dream a reality by participating in the local qualifiers for the Utah Jazz Fun Shot competition.

Fossil Ridge Intermediate School hosted the first night of the competition Tuesday. Boys and girls in grades 3-12 compete in two one-minute rounds where they get points for scoring baskets from various points on the floor. 

The top two boys and top two girls in each grade over the three days in St. George will move on to the February regional in Richfield, Utah. Get past the regional, and they will get a chance to compete on the Jazz home floor of Vivint Smart Home Arena in March and perhaps rub shoulders with their NBA heroes.

“I want to go to Richfield and eventually to Vivint Smart Home Arena, so I know I had to make shots so definitely more pressure,” 13-year-old George Washington Academy seventh grader Macclane Worth said.

Kids from grades three to 12 took part in the first night of the Utah Jazz Fun Shot competition Tuesday, January 22, 2020 at Fossil Ridge Intermediate School in St. George. | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

Worth was among nearly 100 kids at the first night at Fossil Ridge racing against the one-minute clock and themselves. The competition, which is free for kids to enter, will continue starting 5:30 p.m. Wednesday night at Fossil Ridge Intermediate, while the last night will be held Thursday at Dixie Middle School, also at 5:30 p.m.

The Jazz Fun Shot competition has been going on long enough that St. George Recreation Supervisor Jordan Bird can count himself as a past participant.

“I actually remember doing this as a kid,” Bird said. “It’s pure joy. It’s fun to see how these kids compete in a competition that’s free for all age groups.”

Eight-year-old Bryle Radford was happy to have the chance to develop her skills as well. And for her, it was not just about scoring baskets.

“I like the dribbling part,” Radford said. “I would like to be a good dribbler.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Reed serves as a reporter for St. George News, where he has been honored with several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for his work, including first-place accolades. He started his journalism career as a sports reporter and editor in Southern California where he once compared shoe sizes with Shaquille O'Neal and exchanged mix tapes with members of the Los Angeles Kings. After growing up in the San Fernando Valley learning karate skills from Mr. Miyagi and spending a decade in Las Vegas mostly avoiding the casinos, he came to St. George for love and married his soulmate, a lifetime Southern Utah resident. He is the proud father of two boys, his youngest a champion against both autism and Type 1 diabetes.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGNews

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