Hoopfesters Take To The Hardcourts Parental Control Just A Bribe Away

Hoopfest weekend is tough.

As a player, one must equip oneself for the rigors of playing anywhere from five to 10 games (provided you play on just one team) on pavement where the temperature rises 10 to 15 degrees above normal.

Mental preparation is a must because, at any point, a five-point lead late in a game can be eliminated with three 2-pointers, sending the defeated to the loser’s bracket - where it becomes necessary to embark on a trek of having to play what feels like 35 games to get a shot at the championship.

Hoopfest is tough on court monitors as well. The machismo a lot of people save for events like this usually ends up being dealt with at some point.

However, there’s a task many people are performing this weekend that makes playing and monitoring look like a walk through Riverfront Park.

That job is parenting.

At 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, just to the right of the STA Bus Station, Spokane mothers Cheryl Winkler and Mardell Sours sat on the sidewalk looking like they had spent all morning moving grand pianos up and down stairs.

Keeping an eye on eight children will do that to people.

Winkler and Sours have seven kids between them, with the eighth being a good friend of the families.

At this particular juncture though, Winkler and Sours were taking a little break.

They only had three children to attend to because the other five were with their respective husbands, waiting in line to get into that funny looking inflatable castle - a real effective tool to get children to use up seemingly endless energy reserves.

How do you control kids in this environment? “You don’t,” Sours said. “You bribe them.”

“You tell them that in order to get more ice cream, they have to watch one more basketball game,” Winkler said. “Then you let them play the games with the understanding that they are going to have to watch a few more games.”

Keeping up with them and making sure all are accounted for is another task in itself.

When walking from one site to another, Winkler and Sours arrange the group where an adult takes the lead, three children follow, two more adults secure the middle, and three children follow them.

Finally, the last adult, the caboose of the human train, keeps up with the last two kids.

Sometimes, though, even the best-laid tracks have a hitch or two in them.

“They (Hoopfest organizers) have a great lost and found here,” Sours said. “We lost one last year.”

Rodmanesque

The Chicago Bulls’ Dennis Rodman has left his mark - make that hair color - on Spokane.

Because of that, Derek Hershey’s parents will probably now give their son a hard time about his hair for another reason.

Hershey and his buddy, Seth Shurtz, had just come from the Great Clips booth where Hershey, 16, was sporting a brand-new ‘do that was shaved around the sides with green coloring, and a closely cropped top that had been colored orange.

“Well, they didn’t like my hair when it was long,” Hershey said.

Rodman’s ever-changing hair color has had its impact on children ages 9 to 16, according to Aimee Hatfield, a stylist for Supercuts, which also has a platform in Riverfront Park.

“Since the playoffs, some kids have gotten outrageous with it,” Hatfield said. “Business has been really good.”

Though Supercuts isn’t doing full coloring at Hoopfest, Nike Swooshes and other assorted symbols can be carved into your head if you so desire.

In search of …

The “Seekers” is a team of 9-year-olds in search of a championship. But after a few hours on Saturday, it seemed as if they’d forgotten why they were participating in the 3-on-3 tournament.

“Umm, oh yeah, we’re seeking a championship,” Alissa Lanker said.

“Why are you asking these questions?” she followed up.

When told her comments were going to be in the paper, she immediately responded, “Well, I think I’ll just have to read it this time.”

The other Seekers who may or may not read the paper are Hillary Boyden, Racha Smith and Elizabeth Hackney.

We know what it’s like

A dejected little boy came off the court after his team had lost in one of the 10-year-old divisions.

When he finally broke his silence, he said to one of his teammates, “I thought we were going to win. None of us missed during warmups.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 color photos