Hope Kiwanis Club Hears Hope Bobcat Basketball Program

The Hope Kiwanis Club heard a program on Tuesday (1-13) from Hope Bobcat basketball from Men’s Coach Sam Bradford and Ladies Coach Kelly Muldrew.  They were joined by Coach Phillip Turner and Coach Jonathan Turner.

Coach Bradford opened the program.  He paid tribute first to long-time Hope Kiwanian, the late Floyd Young.

Coach Bradford noted his team was 1 and 3 at the time of the program.  The team defeated Ashdown and fell to Arkansas High and Magnolia.  Coach Bradford said Magnolia has a really good team.  He termed them as “ready”.  The coach noted few of the Magnolia players played football so they had been working on their basketball skills since the beginning of school.

The Bobcats have 5 seniors, 6 juniors, 5 sophomores, and 1 freshman.  The coach says the Bobcats are doing well.  He said Magnolia and Nashville will be the two teams to beat in our conference.  Coach Bradford said right now the team has some struggles in scoring but he says he believes the team will “play until the end”.  Coach Bradford also noted that Hope does not have some problems, such as substance abuse, that some other schools have.  He said his students love the game.  He also noted the coaches have to “share” players and without students playing multiple sports, Hope might have trouble fielding a team.  He also noted some of the injuries the athletes have suffered and talked about the efforts the coaching staff undertakes to keep kids safe.

Coach Kelly Muldrew talked about her Lady Cats.  She noted she 11 active players at the moment and has had some injuries.  She has 3 seniors, 6 juniors, and the rest sophomores.  She noted her 9th grade team only has 4 9th graders, 3 8th graders, and about 15 7th graders.  Coach Muldrew says she believes Arkadelphia is the best team in her conference.   She noted her athletes are working and learning.  Coach Muldrew said she shares some of her students with cheer leading.

The club greatly enjoyed the program.  Having the Hope High basketball coaches is a tradition each January for Kiwanis.