Jaihline ‘Cha Cha’ Ramirez from Warm Springs has really worked on her basketball free throw technique.
A goal for Jaihline is to have her name in the Elks Hoop Shoot National Hall of Fame. She has made great progress toward this goal, with another challenge coming up in February.
Elks Lodges across the U.S. sponsor the Hoop Shoot youth basketball free throw contests, starting at the individual school level. As many as 3 million students compete each year in this first level of the competition.
A student who wins the school competition then qualifies for the next level, the District, followed by Regionals, and then the State Hoop Shoot.
Jaihline won the Jefferson County Middle School Elks Hoop Shoot, and then took first in the Madras Hoop Shoot. Earlier this month she competed at Regionals, held in Prineville, where she again won first place in her age group.
Her next challenge will be the Hoop Shoot Oregon Finals, coming up in February. After this would be the National Finals, winners of which have their names entered in the Hoop Shoot Hall of Fame.
Besides her free throw skills, Jaihline plays for the Jefferson County Middle School basketball team, and the Central Oregon Basketball Organization, on a team coached by Tony Holliday, Fire Prevention officer at Fire Management.
Jaihline’s parents are Joy Ramirez, who works at the IHS clinic, and Jose Ramirez, who works at the mill in Madras.
Jaihline last year won her Elks Hoop Shoot school-level competition. This year she is in the 12-13 year age group, and next year will be above the age groups.
So this is her last year in the Elks Hoop Shoot competition, inspiring her to put in extra practice on her free throws.
This work paid off, as she is now getting ready for the State Finals, February 10.
