The new Sadye Gibbs Martin Community Center just got even better for local hoopers thanks to a contribution from iImpact PC and Plant City-area residents’ help.
A new basketball shooting machine was donated to the community center, along with 50 customized balls to be used with it. The machine, called “The Gun” by manufacturer Shoot-A-Way, was officially unveiled, dedicated and debuted Saturday morning before a small group of donors, residents, members of Plant City High School’s 1982 state championship boys basketball team and city commissioner Mary Thomas Mathis.
The machine is a training device that functions by “shooting” balls out to athletes wherever they stand on the half-court much like if a coach were to lob some passes their way. It can be programmed to pivot and hit multiple areas of the half-court in a matter of seconds so a constant stream of basketballs will come out and find the hands of, say, an entire team of players while coaches are more free to watch them and correct their form. It features a net positioned just below the rim so as to catch most shot attempts whether they swish or miss, which constantly “reloads” the machine. Those in attendance got to see for themselves after the dedication. Many were invited to stand around the three-point line and take some shots.
Of the 50 basketballs to go with it, 20 have been customized to pay tribute to influential figures in the community. They’re stamped with “In Loving Memory: Mr. Eddie C.” and “In Loving Memory: Ms. Barbra Ann.” McIntyre said the group hopes to keep donating new basketballs stamped with “two additional community heroes we want to honor” on an annual basis.
McIntyre said the machine and basketballs serve two additional purposes. First, the donation represents iImpact PC moving on its “‘Programming for our Youth’ Call to Action.” Second, it was also a major step toward the creation of an AAU basketball program led by Ed Lamar Jr. The program, which Lamar said will be called the Plant City Raiders, will host workouts sometime this month and will kick off in January 2021. It will start with a middle school boys team and Lamar said he hopes it will be able to add a girls team soon afterward.
“We’re starting with a sixth and seventh grade team… we’re modeling everything from start to finish where you start in little league with the Plant City Raiders and finish at the high school level with the Plant City Raiders,” Lamar said. “Our motto is ‘Start a Raider, finish a Raider.’ The shooting machine will help us a lot. It will allow our guys to come in and get as many shots as possible up. We want the guys to hit around 100 shots a day, getting their form right and getting elevation. It allows me to work with more than one kid at a time with the machine passing the ball.”
Those who donated and sponsored the effort include Bill and Doretha Adams, Pastor Pee Wee Callins and his family, William and Gwen Thomas, Joe Williams and Horace Moore of WilliamsMoore Law Office, Danielle and Donald Allen and the McIntyre family. The total cost of the equipment was more than $10,000, McIntyre said, and it follows the Optimist Club’s recent scoreboard donation to the community center.
“When we’re by ourselves, there’s not a whole lot we can do,” McIntyre said. “But when we get together to work as a team, we can impact P.C. in such a way that, really, what we do now should be for generations to come.”