Beauty (SALON) by J. LYLE LTD. Happy to announce Johnny and Elie Maalouf have joined our team! $20 BLOW OUTS Tuesday thru Friday Beauty (SALON) by J. LYLE LTD. fits Alley • Birmingham MI • 248.540.00A , beautysalonbyjlyle.com 23 Steve Stein Contributing Writer I riendship Circle teamed up with a national sports company this winter to offer an inclusive basketball league that broke ground for both organizations. Youngsters with special needs from Friendship Circle played on the same teams with other athletes in a league that had three age divisions. Friendship Circle worked with Tampa, Fla.-based i9 Sports in organizing and running the 72-player league, which was held on seven Sundays in Friendship Circle's Florene Elkus & Edward Elkus Memorial Gym in West Bloomfield. From all accounts, the league was a success even though it was a first-time effort for both organizations. Friendship Circle, which provides assistance and support for more than 3,000 families of children with special needs, is approaching its 20th anniver- sary. Launched in 2000, i9 Sports focuses on children who want to play sports but not at a highly competitive level. According to the company's website, it has more than 600,000 members in 500 communities from New York to Hawaii, and its core principles are fun, safety, convenience and good sportsmanship. "We decided to work with i9 Sports because they have the same values as we do. We want sports to be inclusive and fun, with the emphasis away from the scoreboard," said Catie Quinn, Friendship Circle's program manager. Chris Novak, area developer for i9 Sports, said the company was looking for a gym in the West Bloomfield area it could rent for a basketball league when the partnership with Friendship Circle was formed. The one-hour-and-15 minute session each Sunday began with a half-hour of drills in areas like passing the basketball and man-to-man defense, then conclud- ed with a 45-minute game. During games, players received equal playing time and at least one opportunity to bring the ball up the court. And there were other rules like requir- ing three passes in an offensive posses- sion before a shot. There were 35 children in the PeeWee Division for ages 4-6, 20 in the Youth Division for ages 7-9 and 17 in the Senior Division for ages 10-13. About 20 players with special needs were involved in the three divisions. F WE HAVE THE PRESCRIPTION... Metro Detroit's Premier Asphalt and Pavement Enterprise 1 10% OFF CALL D.S.G. TODAY! PAVING AND SEALCOATING Expires: (248) 877-6678 6.30.14 Also Available: Line Striping • Crack Filling Pothole Repair v rimpoilpro We come to you. Our fully trained staff can come in as little as 24 hours to service your pavement needs. The Doctor is on call! 248.877.6678 190241 SPRING HAS 111:4111 ■ Er JN DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 'WM GET THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOR '59 FOR 1 YEAR FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS! Or renew your subscription for The Detroit Jewish News $75 for the month of April. Offer expires 4/30/14. In state only for the Month of April. :all to subscribe, 248.351.5120 38 JN Novak said there was an 80-20 split in favor of non-special needs athletes on teams in the PeeWee Division and a 60-40 split in the Youth Division. Senior Division teams were split evenly. Parent and high school-age volunteers and i9 staff organized and ran practices and officiated games. The score of each game was kept, but not on the scoreboard. "We want to teach kids the right way to win and lose Novak said. Quinn called the league a wonderful program. "It provided our kids with a serious sports experience, and an opportunity for skill development and growth:' she said. "Some amazing friendships were formed between the kids — they invited each other to family events — and every- one was a true teammate:' Bassie Shemtov, Friendship Circle director and co-founder, applauded the league. "The idea of the league was to promote inclusion and compassion:' she said. "Both groups of children benefited. The more typically abled kids learned empa- thy, teamwork and other life lessons:' Novak said from talking with i9 Sports staff, the league functioned so well that forming another basketball league next winter with Friendship Circle is a dis- tinct possibility. There's even talk of a fall league, perhaps volleyball. i9 Sports is involved in many sports, including coach-pitch baseball, tee-ball, flag football, lacrosse and soccer. Salute These Golfers Thanks to the generosity of two spon- sors, wounded U.S. soldiers will play in the Hank Greenberg Memorial Golf Invitational presented by the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation. The 24th annual invitational will be held Monday, June 9, at Franklin Hills Country Club in Farmington Hills. The sponsors for the golfers from the nonprofit Salute Military Golf Association are Peter Karmanos of Mad Dog Technology and Stephanie and Jared Miller. For more information, visit www. michiganjewishsports.org or contact David Blatt, executive director of the Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation, at dblatt@michiganjewishsports.org or (248) 592-9323. ❑ Send news to sports@thejewishnews.com .