By Staff Reports
(Honolulu) Granny Basketball is coming to Honolulu. This friendly tournament, a Hawaii first, is being hosted by The St. Andrew’s Schools Priory for Girls and promises to be entertaining – and it’s for a good cause.
The Priory Girls’ Varsity Basketball team (grades 9-12) is using the Granny Basketball Tournament to raise awareness and donations for APON, a drug rehabilitation center located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. APON serves women and children, between the ages of 10 and 30. What is the connection between APON and Granny Basketball? Granny Basketball is a vehicle for charitable giving and one of Iowa’s Granny Basketball players, Lori Neblung’s, brother is the founder of APON. And the option of a tournament in Hawaii in January, kind of a slam dunk!!
The Granny Basketball League was created to provide fun, competitive and sometimes humorous exercise for women over the age of 50. It is also intended to support charitable giving, while preserving the history of six-on-six basketball. The players, referees, scorekeepers and other staff are volunteers and do not receive compensation for their time or expenses.
Fifteen Granny Basketball players from Iowa will hit The St. Andrew’s School’s basketball court to play some friendly ball with the Hawaii All Stars, a team formed just for this tournament, under the guidance of Missy Kilbey, The St. Andrew’s Schools Athletic Director.
The All Star team is made up of former basketball players and athletes, students, coaches and parents. The team includes:
Tita Ahuna, former UH volleyball player and HPU volleyball coach
Shelley Fey, five time champion basketball coach and head of Punahou physical
education
Jeaney Garcia, former Kansas State Division 1 basketball player and Executive
Director of Positive Coaching Alliance
Bobby Perry, Olympic volleyball player
Delcy Saito, former Priory teacher and assistant athletic director
Dana Takahara-Dias, former UH Women’s Basketball coach and current Kaiser High School basketball coach
What: Granny Basketball: Iowa vs. Hawaii All Stars
When: Sunday, January 10, 2016
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Where: The St. Andrew’s Schools Gymnasium
Cost: Free