LAURINBURG — When COVID-19 started rapidly spreading throughout the United States, people were asked to stay inside their homes, to not leave, and, if they needed to leave, to protect themselves and others by wearing masks. It hurt restaurants, stores, and other public places, but it also affected non-profit organizations; those such as Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball, a traveling basketball club.
Team Unified, an AAU basketball club in Scotland County, hasn’t played since the summer of 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their head coach Andre Reaves, who is also an assistant coach for the Scotland High School varsity basketball team, said “we couldn’t get into a gym anywhere.”
“We didn’t have anywhere to play,” Reaves said. “So, a lot of kids turned to football; I think football started back up before basketball did. Most of the kids we were dealing with, especially the younger kids…once they turned to football, they were playing football almost year-round.”
After nearly four years, however, Reaves said the club has returned to help kids progress their basketball skills.
“This year, coach Jermey Baker (an assistant coach with Team United) came to me and said we had a lot of kids interested and wanted to know when we were gonna do AAU basketball again,” Reaves said. “So, we decided to bring Team Unified back.”
Team Unified consists of multiple teams for both boys and girls that vary by grade level. For the boys, a combination team of second and third-graders, a fifth-grade team, a sixth-grade team, and a seventh-grade team have all been put together, while a girls team of both second and third-graders has also been formulated. Eighth-grade and ninth-grade boys’ teams are in the process of being available in the near future, as well.
The coaching staff for Team Unified includes Reaves, Baker, St. Andrews basketball players Brodie Clark and Garrett McRae, former Scotland JV men’s basketball coach Megil McLean, and assistant Scotland men’s varsity basketball coach Chandler Herndon.
Teams have already started practicing at Unionville Missionary Baptist Church Recreation Center in Laurinburg and will begin tournament play soon, according to Reaves.
“We are practicing now,” Reaves said. “I think that our (first) official tournament that we’re looking at is gonna be in March. We haven’t got a date locked in yet, but I know we’re gonna try to do something close by, like the Fayetteville area, since it’s gonna be a lot of the kids’ first time playing traveling ball.”
For more information on Team United or how to join, contact Reaves at (910) 217-0462 or Baker at (910) 706-1982.