The elementary school basketball teams headed down to Busan Foreign School (BFS) for their SKAC Elementary Basketball Divisionals on April 20th. A total of six groups gathered and participated in a number of games. Athletes were surprised to see that some of the matches would be played on an astroturf court.

Mr. Rouse, the boys team coach, commented on the fake grass, “It was definitely something I had never seen before. I think the players adapted well, and I am interested to see how different it will be on a normal basketball court for the championship.”

5th grader Sean added, “When I first looked at it, I was like, ‘Oh no…’ But when I started playing, I was able to manage it.” 

Even with the rather unusual turf as a court, the DIS athletes adjusted quickly and learned a new batch of skills. Mr. Rouse commented, “We improved a lot from the first game, all the way to the last game. We started to play more as a team, and overall, I think we are going to do pretty well in the [final] tournament.”  

With the finals coming up, kids still need to pick up a set of core abilities. Mr. Bergan, the girls coach, explained, “One of the biggest things girls have to learn is that basketball will have a little physicality.” 

The boys also have room for improvement. Mr. Rouse added, “Two main things we saw at the tournament were defending and rebounding.” It sounds like Mr. Rouse set the agenda for the next few weeks. 

Aytlet in 5th grade said, “Our team is really hoping to win, but the games are very competitive. So we are practicing hard. I think we are good at communication, and we are practicing shooting in order to win.”

With this work on fundamentals before the finals, the teams will hone much-needed skills to earn more victories. The players look forward to the SKAC Elementary School Basketball Championship on May 16th.

Gallery • 19 Photos

Abraham chucks it up for a quick bucket. Photo by Yugi Ahn.