CEDAR RAPIDS — Sometimes life get in the way of the love of a game.
Cedar Rapids Xavier senior Grace Miller struggled with this when she had to give up her basketball career as she entered her busy, time-consuming junior year.
Now a senior, Miller has helped fill that gap by creating Girls’ Intramural Basketball Association (GIBA).
“I played basketball from fourth to 10th grade and it always was a big part of my life,” Miller said. “It was really hard after I quit because I still loved the game so much.”
However, the creation of GIBA is not just for Miller and her friends. It is meant to create fun and start up, or rekindle, an old hobby.
“For a lot of us we played basketball when we were little and in middle school,” senior Charlotte Richards said. “A lot of us want to start getting back into the game as a hobby.”
There are 55 girls signed up, enough to create eight teams. Each player is excited for different reasons.
Miller aims to create a fun-filled atmosphere for all of the girls playing — and for the spectators.
“Some of us missed playing basketball and wanted a fun environment to play in, so we talked to Mrs. Augustine and she had said she would be our moderator,” Miller said. “I’m most excited to get everyone together and just have a good time with the teams and the games.”
Richards, on the other hand, is looking for an opportunity to redeem herself.
“I am most excited to start playing basketball again,” she said. “I haven’t played basketball since eighth grade so I’m really looking forward to it.
“I need to redeem myself and my basketball skills because in eighth grade I shot a basket and made it, but it was in the other team’s hoop.”
GIBA games begin in March and are free to attend.