GAME DAY Youth Sports Magazine Upstate SC - February 2012 : Page 13
UPWARD HAS ExPANDED TO INCLUDE OvER 2,400 CHURCH-ES THROUGHOUT THE U.S. AND CANADA. MORE THAN HALF A MILLION CHILDREN NOW PARTICIPATE IN SPORTS LIkE BASkETBALL, FLAG FOOTBALL, SOCCER AND CHEERLEADING. included values such as integrity, sports-manship and respect as integral parts of the sports experience. As the league grew, McCaslin formed Upward Sports in 1995. The organization has expanded to include over 2,400 churches throughout the U.S. and Canada. More than half a million children now participate in sports like basketball, flag football, soccer and cheerleading. Despite its growth, Upward continues to be headquartered on Spartanburg’s west side, just off of Hwy. 29. “Our goal was to create a league that would honor Christ, allow kids to have fun and experience healthy competition, and where we could incorporate biblical principles into the sports experience,” Mc-Caslin explains. “A lot of people are looking for an opportunity for their young children to play a sport in a fun environment. Upward Sports guarantees that they will not only learn the sport through equal playing time over the course of the season but also learn virtues such as courage, joy and respect,” he adds. For Cory Wall, student minister at Green Point Bapist Church in Inman, this sets Upward apart from other leagues. “We’ve all been to ‘those leagues’ where coaches and parents lose their tempers and things are said that aren’t exactly G-rated. With Upward, we take that out of the picture and replace that
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