These Grannies Are Amazing!

The Georgetown Recreation Center was a hopping, dribbling place to be Saturday when the Fire Ants, joined by the Old Glories, took on the Louisiana Crushers in a a fast-moving game of Granny Basketball.   To learn more about the sport click here, but in a nutshell, granny basketball is meant for ladies of a certain age who want to stay in the game, in this case on the basketball courts around the country.  Their league was founded in Iowa in 2005, but has grown, with  teams all over the country.   For Saturday’s event, the Crushers team drove 6 hours, from DeRidder, Louisiana to take on their opponents.   The Crushers prevailed, winning 49-33, but everyone had a grand time, score aside.   To join the league, women have to be at least 50-years-old, but most of the ladies I saw were well beyond that.   The Fire Ants’ oldest member is 81, for instance.   Nationally, there’s an 89-year-old taking part.   How cool is that?  Now in my sixth decade, I recall, growing up in Texarkana, girls were cheerleaders, pep squad members, or in the band, but didn’t get to take part  in organized school sports activities.   Thank God  for Title 9.  I like the last photo a lot.  That’s Crushers player Ruby Washington, getting a hug from her grand-children, including 3-year-old Darius Washington.   Ruby’s son lives just up the road, at Fort Hood.  He brought the family to town for the game.   It was a sweet thing to see.   These are photos I took for the Williamson County Sun.