The more I attend and report on the games at the Dwight Harris Boys Club Basketball League (DHBCBL), the more amazed I am at the talent that I see.

From kids as young as seven years old all the way to the high school level, there is a plethora of talent in this league.

For the past two summers now, it has been a joy to watch and to cover the players and coaches in this well-run league. The talent is outstanding. The games have been exciting and the players, coaches and fans are well behaved. The games are fun to watch and the atmosphere is exciting to be a part of. Dwight Harris, the founder of the league, deserves much, if not all, of the credit for this.

As long as the players in this league continue to work hard both on and off the court, there is a very good chance that a player or players will emerge from the DHBCBL to go on to play for a major NCAA Division I school, or even the NBA. The possibility of that happening, in my opinion, is quite high.

The kids playing in this league are improving their basketball skills day in and day out because of the fact that games are played six days a week during the summer. The players are also getting top-notch coaching from coaches like Rundy Foster and Eric Hall. As everyone knows, Foster coaches the boys’ varsity basketball team at Southland Academy. Hall was a standout point guard at Americus-Sumter High School and now plays for Georgia Southwestern State.

Most importantly, however, the players in this league are being taught life lessons. They are learning what being a part of a team is all about. They are learning the value of having respect for their teammates, their opponents and the officials. In other words, they are learning sportsmanship. They are in an environment where unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated and the consequences for such actions are severe.

This is part of the process of training young boys into becoming men who will lead productive lives in society whether or not they play basketball at the college or professional level.

Again, it has been a joy to watch the DHBCBL games and to write articles on them. If you haven’t yet been out to Americus-Sumter County Ninth Grade Academy to see a few games, I would encourage you to do so. Including this week, there are three weeks left in the season. Come on out and support these kids.