Having been at Wintersburg for almost a year and a half, one of the ministries that has significantly impressed me is the SEYO Sports Ministry. Last year I had the opportunity to observe first hand this ministry as my daughter participated for the very first time. During this time I saw the hard work, dedication and commitment of the SEYO Board, coaches, players, and parents. I am truly grateful for the time that so many people put in to make this ministry such a success and positive influence upon our youth. I know our youth are having a lot of fun.

Over and over I meet families who came to Wintersburg through the SEYO Sports program. Their lives have been changed as they came for basketball but through the friendships of Wintersburg members have encountered God’s Love and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They have also discovered that Wintersburg is a place with many different ministries such as the Children’s Ministries, youth groups, or adult Sunday school Programs. Many of our leaders have come to Wintersburg because of SEYO. Many of the youth who played SEYO have learned to serve as Vacation Bible School helpers, youth staff or have gone on share the Good News on missions trips to Mexicali, Japan and Ecuador.

While there are other basketball leagues from which parents and children may choose, my hope and prayer for the Wintersburg Seyo Program is that our young people would develop not only basketball skills, but also skills that will help them as they grow and mature. What makes Wintersburg different is that we are a church that seeks to be a biblically based Christ centered fellowship that seeks to help people of all ages come to a saving knowledge of Jesus and grow in faith and character. The values that I hope we can teach our kids are important and valuable lessons that will last a lifetime. I’m speaking about developing Christ-Centered values and character. I hope that we are instilling in our players, self-respect, discipline, courage, respect, the value of being part of a team and that hard work and commitment pay off. Let’s pray that the Wintersburg SEYO Sports Ministry will do these things and will truly honor and glorify God.

On behalf of the Wintersburg Sports Ministry we want to extend a warm welcome to all our Wintersburg Seyo families joining us this season. It is our hope and prayer, with the return of our newsletter, we can reach out to better serve one another. We will continue to seek opportunities to share and demonstrate the good news our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Have a great year and season.

Our team is the WPC Hot Shots and we’re playing in the girls upper junior division this year. It’s hard to believe that this is their seventh & final season of junior SEYO basketball. I can still remember when they were playing in their first Pee Wee Lower game and they had trouble dribbling and shooting the basketball. Unfortunately, not much has changed in the past seven years. Just kidding girls………actually, they’ve improved a great deal. The Hot Shots are very competitive in a league where teams are constantly adding new players. Here’s the lowdown on our team:

#0 – Karena Kenmotsu (F) – One of the most improved players on the team. Excellent rebounder, defender, and piano player.

#2 – Kariann Akiyama (G) – Good quickness and has a nice spot-up jump shot. Has a quiet personality which is a refreshing departure from the rest of the team.

#5 – Amanda Chiang (G) – Not quiet. Leads the team in steals and has good moves to the basket.

#7 – Katie Daff (F) – Serious growth spurt….will soon be eye to eye with Shaq. Good rebounder and has a nice mid-range jumper.

#11 – Sami Stern (C) – Good sense of humor. Has developed a very strong low-post game.

#31 – Amanda Lew (G) – Good sense of fashion. Fastest girl on the team and has improved her game every year.

#32 – Jessica Avila (C) – Excellent hair styling. Strong rebounder and shot blocker. Also has a nice touch around the basket.

#34 – Alexis Sadakane (F) – The most outgoing player on the team. Plays with a lot of enthusiasm and has an excellent singing voice.

#45 – Lauren Hirano (G) – Lacks speed (inherited from father) but has good ball handling and shooting skills.

I want to thank our coach, Keith Watanabe, for sharing his basketball knowledge with the girls and displaying a great amount of patience. I also want to thank my wife, Lori Hirano, for doing the team mom thing for all these years and assistant coach Keith Kenmotsu .

The Wintersburg Little Hoopsters program has grown over the past 10 years. Utilizing a lower rim and a smaller ball we have been successful in teaching the fundamentals of basketball to both boys and girls, ages five to seven each summer for six weeks.

Each year this program fills to capacity with 120 participants. The children receive their own ball, t-shirt and trophy for participating in this program. We instruct our coaches to be sure that the kids have fun and if they learn a little about basketball along the way then we all become winners.

Please be sure to talk about the Little Hoopsters program to anyone you may know. Registration for this wonderful event starts around April each year. You will be able to get a registration form off the Wintersburg web site.

This year, the Wintersburg Sports Ministry will be holding it's 7th Annual Golf Tournament. It will be at the Tustin Ranch Golf Club, on April 25, 2005. All of the proceeds from our tournament will support and benefit over 400 boys and girls participating in our sports program. This includes our Jr. and Sr. basketball leagues, our little Hoopsters program, and the Girls summer basketball league.

God has truly blessed our annual event, and has faithfully provided us with many unselfish volunteers, supporters, and generous Sponsors. Please continue to pray for our Golf Tournament and for our Sports Ministry Program, which is to share and demonstrate the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you can and would like to help, please contact Gordon Gee @ (949) 582-5181 or via Email: TeamGee@ aol.com.

The end of season awards night will be held at Wintersburg Church. Please come and join us as we recognize our young players.

For the last seven years, Jim Tanizaki has been the Wintersburg Sports Elder, his guidance and direction has led to the success of our program. He is moving on to our youth ministry. He will continue to partner with our sports ministry board. We want to say thank you Jim for your effort and dedication to our program. Please pray for the Wintersburg Sports Ministry as we continue to move the program forward.

Wintersburg Presbyterian Church invites you to attend our Sunday school and Morning Worship Service. This is the regular schedule:

Be True to Yourself.
Make Each Day Your Masterpiece.
Help Others.
Drink Deeply from Good Books, Especially the Bible.
Make Friendship a Fine Art.
Build a Shelter against a Rainy Day.
Pray for Guidance and Give Thanks for Your Blessings Every Day.

WPC is planning to put on another summer basketball session. Dates have not been confirmed yet. Ask your coaches to keep an eye out for information.

The next Super SEYO Sunday will be September 11^th, 2005 at Wintersburg Church

At Wintersburg, we treasure children and consider it a precious privilege to minister to them with God’s love and truth. Our world can be a scary place, but it’s our goal to give our children the light of God’s truth to help them navigate their way and find a safe harbor in Him. Our vision and our prayer is, "To partner with families to teach and live out God’s truth and love, so that, in God’s timing, every child will have a vibrant personal relationship with Jesus Christ and both the passion and the skills to make an impact on the world for Him."

Sunday School: 9 - 10 a.m. for ages 2½ to 5^th grade. We offer grade-level classes with an ideal teacher-student ratio to nurture our children’s spiritual growth, as they learn lessons from the Bible, apply them to life, memorize Scripture and create unique crafts to reinforce the lesson.

Mini Church and Junior Church: 10:10 – 11:40 a.m. So that children may see worship modeled for them by their parents and other adults, we invite children to worship with their families in the Worship service. At 10:40 families may continue to worship together as a family or the children may continue their worship experience in Mini Church (age 2½ to 1^st grade) or Junior Church (2^nd to 5^th grade). Mini Church is split into Sunshine Class (age 2½ - 4) and Rainbow class (older 4 to 1^st grade). Children continue to learn more about worship with a time of singing, listening to Bible truths, making a craft, and offering prayers of praises and concerns.

VBS (Vacation Bible School): July 25 – 29, 2005. A week-long summer program that takes over our campus the last week of July. Exciting Bible stories, games, crafts, songs, videos and snacks for ages 3 to 5^th grade. Moms can attend a special Bible class held concurrently. Join us this year as we go on a prayer safari! Registrations available now! Volunteers and donations needed.

Questions? Contact Sue Masamitsu, Director of Children’s Ministry

714.980-1890 or smasam@aol.com

(Attendance at any of our programs counts for participation credit for SEYO.)

March 27, 2005

8:30 – 9 am…continental breakfast in the Social Hall

9 – 10 am…guest speaker, Russ Hodder sharing "What is Easter…really?" for all ages (Russ spoke at our 2003 Christmas breakfast and amazed us with his paintings)

No Sunday School classes

10:10 am…Worship service (regular Mini Church and Junior Church program)

New Life Easter Egg Hunt…for children 3^rd grade and younger in the Keiro playground immediately after Worship service ends 

By the time the next Super SEYO Sunday rolls around next September be aware that some teams may face rebalancing. Some children or parents may choose not to participate in team sports or more families discover that their kids would enjoy participating in organized sports. In the latter case this could cause a particular team to expand over 8 to 10 players. In the former case the team fall below enough players to make take the court. The youngest members of the team may be asked to consider dropping down to the lower age bracket team. Likewise the older players could be asked to move up a bracket.

The Wintersburg Sports Ministry is an outreach program of the Wintersburg Presbyterian Church and is established to serve as an opportunity to share and demonstrate the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is an opportunity for families to participate in a program that will encourage spiritual, social and physical development.

We, the Wintersburg Presbyterian Church, believe that the successful participation in our program is defined by the building of character and self-confidence through encouragement of our young players in the Christian manner. Success is the understanding and appreciation of good teamwork and sportsmanship. Striving to do our best is always encouraged through fairness and concern for the welfare of each player.

The many teams, which are formed each year, represent our church and should, therefore, conduct themselves in a way that is reflective of our Christian values.

.