When the Middle Georgia PUSH fifth grade girls basketball team traveled to Orlando, Fla. July 10 for the Youth Basketball of America national championship tournament, they knew they had a good shot to win. They had lost games over the course of their season, but not many. In fact, they had brought home a first place finish in every regular season tournament they participated in — 12 total. Things would not be any different in Orlando; except that they would win all five of their games by an average of 23.8 points for the title.

Jacquez Nelson founded Middle Georgia PUSH in 2014 with his brother Travis. The organization consisted this year of six teams in four different age groups for boys and girls from Warner Robins, Macon and Milledgeville, but originally began as an 11th grade boy’s team. The teams participate in YBOA and Amateur Athletic Union tournaments. 

Nelson was joined by his brother, his brother’s wife, Mia Nelson and Chris Walton as coaches of the fifth grade girls’ national championship team. 

Nelson said he hopes the recent success brings attention to what PUSH does. And it’s not just about basketball. It’s evident in the team’s name and standing as a 501c3 non-profit that more than just competition is going on. 

“We knew what kind of platform sports provides,” Nelson said. “People start keeping up with your name, keeping up with how you’re living.”

PUSH, which stands for Pray Until Something Happens, strives for a positive atmosphere that puts an emphasis on faith, good character and hard work.  

“We have a conditioning work out, we have skill training. I meet with these kids about three times a week in the off-season. During the season, we’re meeting up four or five times a week,” Nelson said.

On weekend tournament trips during the season, the teams attend church together on Sundays, and often take part in community service if time allows.

And positive things happen for the kids who participate, around half of whom would not normally be able to afford the expenses that come with travel basketball, Nelson said. Regular practices and dedication to the game teach life lessons to the young basketball players, and travel across multiple states provides exposure to new experiences. 

“We’re actually a break away from some of the hardships some of these kids have to go through,” Nelson said. “Some of these kids go through the whole week looking forward to the weekend for us getting them out of town.”

Nelson said that kids from abusive or financially struggling homes, that have a hard time staying out of trouble otherwise, find an outlet in playing basketball. He mentioned one young man whose case worker in the juvenile justice system strongly recommended he keep playing for PUSH.

“She was saying … these kids need this, two hours at practice here — two instead of getting off the bus and going home and sitting in the house all day,” Nelson said. 

Parents pay a fee for their children to participate if they are able, but Nelson takes what he calls a “no child left behind” stance to the program, and that means many of the players, about half, Nelson said, come from low-income households. The team stays active in fundraising in order to fill in the blanks when parents can’t contribute. 

“We’re in Warner Robins doing chips and hamburgers, carwashes, begging for donations,” Nelson said. “A big part of it is fundraising, but when you working together … you spend that much time together, you become a family real quick.”

That’s another benefit the organization gives to young men and women —community. Nelson said that working out and traveling together brings increased relationship skills.

“I got a kid from Blandy, I got a kid from Midway,” Nelson said, citing children from area schools as an example. “By the time they get over here, they ain’t going to be rivals and they ain’t going to be wanting to fuss and fight because they’ve been knowing each other.”

While only the fifth grade girls and boys’ teams were able to make the trip to Orlando for the YBOA national championship this year, and the time and effort put into the Middle Georgia PUSH basketball program doesn’t always result in success in the narrowest sense of the word, it makes it that much sweeter when it does. With a national championship under its belt, PUSH basketball is poised for continued greatness, Nelson said.

Nelson said he is currently looking for sponsors to make tax-deductible donations and ensure that his organization will continue to give kids in Middle Georgia a positive experience through basketball. Email the team at midgapush@gmail.com for more information.