Local AAU select basketball team qualifies for Nationals

Best of Luck to the Air Jam Ballers at Nationals! Pictured at their bake sale fundraiser on Saturday are: (Front row, L-R) Jalen Petty, J.T. Gales, Cain Hayes, Chris Titus, Saxton Sims-Randle and Jordan Canady, (Back Row) Coach Errol Jones with his sons Jaxon (left) and Jaylen (right), soon-to-be-Kindergarteners at Buffalo Elementary. Not pictured: Team members Braylon Vazquez, Curtis Yates, Emmett Moffet and Kirby McNair. Van’Go’photo Basketball may be considered a winter sport, but some local athletes approach it as a year-round game, and roundball is definitely alive and well this summer for one group of local guys. An elite 18-U AAU team known as the Air Jam Ballers, coached by Errol Jones and composed of players from Buffalo and Fort Worth, has been competing very successfully.

In April, the Ballers took second place in the G.I. Soldiers Innercity Tournament in Dallas. In May they placed fourth in Temple at a tournament hosted by the national organization, Prime Time Sports. Earlier this month they took second place in Waco at another Prime Time Sports tourney. With their tournament success, the Ballers have qualified for the Prime Time Sports AAU Nationals which will be held in Lewisville, Texas at the I.A.D. Center on July 22-26.

Coach Jones, a certified pastoral counsellor, considers his involvement in the team to be a mentorship program, and sees the sport of basketball as a way to help teens learn important life skills. “Basketball is the vehicle to teach core values: The ability to work in a small group, achieving their success through teamwork, and understanding the value of being a part of something that is larger than yourself.” Of his Ballers, he shared, "They never quit. They persevere through adversity."

Last week the Air Jam Ballers held a bake sale at the Buffalo Sale Barn on Saturday, (and hey-- whoever made that buttermilk pie -- it was DELICIOUS!)

The Ballers’ fund raising efforts will help fund travel expenses for the young men. They are also selling tickets to raffle off an open grill barbeque pit made by the BHS ag department. It holds up to 30 steaks. Raffle tickets are available through the 18th of July for a donation of $2 each or three for $5. If you are interested in helping this team reach their goal, tickets are available at Pruitt Cleaners or contact Coach Jones at (903- 390-0473).