Sixth-grader eyes college scholarship

As a 6-foot tall sixth-grader, Alison Bales feels most comfortable on the basketball court.

"At school, my friends whisper something and I'll have to bend down and say, `What did you say?'' she said. "Here (on the court), it helps to be tall. I wish I could just shrink in school.''

Bales' height helped her Beavercreek Stars select team to a 48-12 finish this past season. Her current AAU team, the Dayton Lady HoopStars, placed second in the state to advance to this weekend's national tournament in St. Paul, Minn. Between the two leagues, Bales, 12, will play close to 90 games this year - more than the 82-game regular season of the NBA.

"I want to play in high school,'' Bales said. "And then I want to go to college on a (basketball) scholarship. My dad wants me to go to TCU (Texas Christian University). My mom wants me to go to Stanford.''

Bales seemed bound for basketball from birth, when she measured 21 inches and weighed 10 pounds, 11 ounces. She joined a YMCA team in the first grade and was taller than everyone else. She could dominate a game because of her height, but she didn't like to shoot.

"She wouldn't shoot because she was afraid of not making it or looking bad,'' said her father, Charles, who attends all of his daughter's practices and games. "So we paid her 25 cents for every shot she took just to encourage her to try.

"The next year, we only paid her for ones she made.''

In fourth grade, she joined the Stars. As usual, she was the tallest on the team. But that didn't make the tough practices or rigorous 60-game schedule any easier. Adjusting to a demanding coach who yelled a lot took time, too.

"You get used to it,'' said Bales, who wears a size 14 AA shoe and will enter 7th grade at Ankeney Junior High this fall. "If you start crying, he'll lay off of you."

Adjusting to the stares and surprised looks from opposing players and coaches was tough, too. Now, she just shrugs it off.

"I think it's kind of funny,'' she said.

Varsity dream goes unfulfilled

Andy Clark began playing soccer because it was fun. He stuck with it because he wanted to make the high school team at Centerville.

"My goal was always to make varsity,'' he said.

But last year he was cut from the team as a senior and hasn't played soccer since.

"I just stood there in awe staring at the varsity list,'' said Clark, who graduated in May. "My whole soccer career, all the years that I had played, were over.''

Clark started playing soccer as soon as he could kick a ball. When he reached fourth grade, he joined Soccer Centerville with his friends. His dad, Marty, became his assistant coach.

For the next five years, he played soccer in the fall, winter (indoor) and spring, occasionally traveling to out-of-state tournaments. He loved the road trips.

He and his teammates would pile into vans and form a caravan to their destination. They'd keep in touch by CB radio. Once the soccer games were over, they'd check out the local attractions. His favorite was a laser show in Atlanta.

Having his dad double as his coach, made things even more fun, Clark said.

"He didn't ever put any pressure on me to do well,'' he said. "He just enjoyed coaching. I remember one time he and the head coach stayed up all night to come up with the starting lineup for the next day's game.''

Andy Clark attended his first high school soccer game in 5th grade and began dreaming about making the varsity.

When he reached high school, he played reserve for three years and was co-captain as a junior. But that spring things began to sour. He said he was arrested for possession of alcohol, an offense he feared could put his last year of soccer in jeopardy. He went to his coach and told him about the arrest. He was assigned 40 hours of community service, scrubbing mildew off the soccer stadium walls and seeding its field.

"I really worked my tail off all summer,'' he said. "Soccer meant enough to me to stay away from the party scene.

"It just kind of irks me that I worked so hard and came up short."

Teen eyes NBA, has backup, too

DeEarnest McLemore loves basketball. At 13, he already envisions a career in the sport.

"I want to become an NBA basketball player or be a coach for high school,'' he said.

McLemore, 13, is a member of the Salvation Army's 7th grade, All-Star basketball team that includes some of the best young players from Miamisburg, Oakwood, Trotwood and Dayton. Salvation Army business administrator Reggie Winters founded the program 25 years ago to bring blacks and whites together and give kids from local communities a chance to compete.

The core of McLemore's team has been playing together for four years, when he joined the Salvation Army's select program as a fourth-grader.

Since then, he and his team have traveled to Cincinnati, West Virginia and Florida for tournaments. Last year, his sixth-grade team won a state title. In fifth grade, he hit a game-winning shot to advance his team to the consolation round of a national tournament.

When he's not playing basketball, McLemore keeps scores and statistics for other Salvation Army teams and earns $5 a game. His mother, a single parent, said she's thankful for the on- and off-court opportunities basketball has given her son, but occasionally wonders if it's too much.

"Sometimes I think he's obsessed with the sport, but it could be something else,'' she said.

He and his mom are already thinking about college.

"My mom wanted me to go to Kentucky, but (former coach) Rick Pitino's gone so I want to go to North Carolina or Michigan,'' he said.

Until then, McLemore plans to spend a lot of time playing basketball. He'll finish his summer season soon and prepare for eighth-grade basketball at Trotwood Middle School next fall.

"I hope he accomplishes his goal'' of making the NBA, his mother said. "But if not, at least I know he wants to teach other kids.''

CONTACT: Susan Vinella at susan_vinella@coxohio.com