Teams shoot hoops for fitness, fun

As though a 31-point lead wasn't enough, Wyman "Hamp" Hampton, 51, stole the basketball from an opposing player, who was less than half his age, ran down the court and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the game.

That 3-pointer gave his undefeated MCG/Ga. War basketball team a 98-64 victory over the Castleberry's Killer Bees. The game was played at the McDuffie Woods Community Center gym Feb. 6.

The MCG/Ga. War team is made of players who work at the Medical College of Georgia Hospital and the Georgia War Veterans Nursing home. The Castleberry Killer Bees are Castleberry employees.

The teams are two of the eight in the Augusta Recreation and Parks Department's Men's Industrial Basketball League. The players are workers 18 and older from companies in the area. The other teams in the league are from Club Car, Doctors Hospital, E-Z-GO, Southern Co., Kellogg's and the Augusta Post Office. The teams play 12 games.

Lida Gregg, the adult athletic coordinator, said the department's primary industrial sports leagues are for basketball and softball, but the staff is working to add flag football and volleyball. The department is holding registration for coed softball teams through February.

"We want to encourage participation. People can form a team at their job and come and sign up," she said. "It's a good thing for the workforce to participate in because it boosts morale."

Anthony Brooks, the coach of the post office team for the past five years, agrees.

"Everybody's out here just for the fun," he said. "It's a good thing they have this to give the guys a chance to get out and know their co-workers other than just at work. We try to keep camaraderie within the post office."

Andrew Clark, 19, played basketball in high school and joined the Castleberry's team not long after he began working there because he "wanted some exercise and just to play," he said.

Michael "Scooter" Proctor, of Beech Island, said if he hadn't been playing on the MCG/Ga. War team for six years, he'd "be as big as a house." The games keep the players joking around at work, he said.

"It keeps me in shape," Proctor, 35, said. "And the fun, and hanging out with the fellows."