Henning Happenings

Chad Koenen

The older we get the more we forget about how big of a deal events like youth night and playing at halftime of a varsity basketball game can be in the life of a kindergarten or fifth grade child. There are sleepless nights, planning what to wear before and after the game, making sure the jersey is pressed just right, and of course, ensuring everyone gets you to the game on time.

Looking back at things, I think some kids get just as excited for eight minutes in front of a large crowd at a home basketball game as they do for an actual game or tournament during the winter months. The games go by quick at halftime, but  in the eyes of a youth basketball player time almost comes to a standstill. After all, seeing all these young Hornets playing with one another is quite entertaining for the hundreds of people who fill the stands of local gyms each night. 

Sometimes I wonder if the parents are just as excited to have their kids play at halftime as the actual players themselves. Of course, if it’s been a while since you have had a kid go through a youth program, or if you are one of those “cool teenagers,” you sometimes forget how big of a deal it was for you to do something similar.

That leads me to Friday night’s boys basketball game that featured youth in grades K-6 playing at halftime of the varsity, JV or c-squad game where those in attendance couldn’t help but smile to see the excitement on the faces of these kids playing and waiting for an autograph after the game. 

The boys basketball team has hosted an autograph night for a few years now and it seems like every year it grows more in popularity. To see how each child waits in line for an autograph, who ironically many are related to or see on a nearly daily basis at school, is quite remarkable. 

Members of the basketball team, even though they may not want to admit it, seem to enjoy taking time to sign a some autographs for the next generation of Henning Hornet basketball players. It’s nice to see so many people at the game and is a nice reminder that win or lose we are a small but mighty community of basketball fans.

In addition to autograph and youth night, the girls basketball team has also put a nice spin on ways to get youth excited about the sport of basketball by hosting several bag tag nights throughout the basketball season. These are giveaways in which Henning youth basketball players simply show a Henning basketball bag tag to receive a bag of goodies from a representative from the basketball program. The bags include everything from some candy to a game and other small gifts. The basketball players are also encouraged to wear their basketball jerseys and show their school spirit.

It’s been a delight to see how excited these kids get when talking about going to a girls basketball game and what will be in each bag as part of the giveaway. Like wrote earlier, sometimes even the smallest of things can provide a big smile on the face of local youth.

All of this is to say it has been fun this season to see such an interest in Henning basketball. Our youth numbers have been strong this year at the elementary and junior high level and one has to think this additional work and promotion has gone a long ways to making basketball relevant for our youngest students.

A good 20 or 30 years ago, kids played sports because that’s simply what you did. That’s not the case anymore as our youth are stretched thin with time constraints and an infinite amount of opportunities in our digital world. Rather than sit on their hands and say “oh well I guess kids don’t want to play sports anymore,” our local coaches have been proactive in recent years to reach local youth to get them excited about basketball and keep the sport that has such a deep tie to our community alive. 

We know that having bag tag nights, youth and autograph nights take a lot of work and planning on behalf of the coaches and local volunteers, but we also thank those involved for taking a proactive approach to keep Henning basketball at the forefront of the minds of local youth. These events can go a long way to sparking an interest in not only playing the sport at the youth level, but as they get to the junior high and high school level as well. 

Seeing all of the children who have turned out for these events, and Saturday morning practices, one has to be excited for the future of Henning School basketball. 

In addition to basketball, the Otter Tail Central youth wrestling program has also done a great job of recruiting kids and encouraging them to give the sport a try. I don’t know if there are more than a handful of kids who aren’t already out for a winter sport who don’t get approached about giving wrestling a sport.

We are happy to see so many of our Henning youth involved in winter athletics and are looking forward to seeing the work of coaches and volunteers pay off as these kids go through the program for the next decade or so.