Tigers take AAU Div. II national championship
At Bartlett United Methodist Church, this week marked the excited reception of communitybred national champs. The Tigers, an area Amateur Athletic Union men’s basketball team, won the Division II National Championship tournament for high school freshmen on July 14 in Little Rock.
Coach Steve Chandler couldn’t be prouder of his team. “They worked their butts off for this,” said Chandler. “And, they’re the smartest group I’ve ever had.” The players attend school throughout the area with Houston, Bartlett, ECS, and St. Benedict forming a large contingent.
Assistant coach Gerald McKinney is a longtime resident of Bartlett and has attended Bartlett United Methodist Church throughout those years.
“The church kind of adopted these boys,” said McKinney. He explained that the church staff and members not only gave them a free place to practice, but eagerly followed the team’s success throughout the summer season. McKinney remembered, “And when it came time for us to leave for this National Tournament, the ladies’ Stretch Aerobics group even gave up their night in the gym so that the boys could squeeze in one last practice before leaving town.”
The strong support of the small community that surrounds this team is one of the main factors in their success in the coaches’ estimation. “Most of these guys have been playing for me for the five years that I’ve been doing this,” said Chandler.
Assistant coach and team parent Troy Robinson expounded further on the strong team atmosphere that they’ve cultivated despite the pressures of Memphis basketball.
“Memphis basketball is so competitive,” he said. “A lot of these elite teams are more like a business where the main goal is just to land top players, but ours ... our team is like a family.”