Granny Basketball Coalition Fundraiser Doubleheader
Can you imagine a basketball game where there is no running or jumping? Imagine no more and come see it for yourself! The players on one team, the “Grannies”, include women in their 70s wearing outfits from the 1920s (bloomers and long socks). The players on the other teams will be Jones County “Celebrities” also not showing any leg skin or upper arm skin! The Grannies have added another fun new twist by having a jail for anyone “speeding” or getting a “skin” violation for showing part of their leg!
That is what’s going to happen when a team of women ages 50 and older compete at 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 9, at the Anamosa High School. The Celebrity players for the Coalition two teams include a Police Chief or two, Anamosa and Monticello Chamber Directors, a Jones County Supervisor, the Monticello School Resource Officer, a Midland School Counselor, a Naturalist, a NAMI staff member, business owners, a Wyoming/Olin Pastor, the Public Health Director, LCC staff, ASAC staff, a HACAP staff member, and youth. The audience may be able to help get the Police Chief or others out of jail for a couple bucks!
Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. with a concession stand lunch. The game will raise money for the Jones County Safe and Healthy Youth Coalition, working to reduce youth substance use and promote mental wellness in the county. Admission is a Free Will donation. The Coalition wants to make this a community event that everyone can attend! The Grannies have made a quilt to be raffled off during intermission between the games. Tickets will be $1 or six for $5.
The Granny Basketball League follows rules created for women’s basketball in the 1920s. The teams are made up of women ages 50 and older. The rules not only include no running and no jumping but also allow only two dribbles before a pass. The game uses the full court but divides it into three sections. The six players on each team have to stay in their own sections. Three pointers can only be made with a “Granny” shot underhanded!
The Jones County Celebrities will be required to wear oven mitts. “The Grannies think they need to handicap us somehow because we are so young, but several of us are close to or over 50 as well!” said Jennifer Husmann, Project Coordinator for the Coalition. “Please come out and watch this fun event!” The Granny Basketball League started in Iowa in 2005. There are currently more than 600 Granny Basketball players on 52 teams in 10 U.S. states and one Canadian province, according to the Granny Basketball website.