By J.T. Keith
Artesia Daily Press
jtkeith@elritomedia.com

There are many stories about what sports mean to high schools, towns and states. In Massillon, Ohio, where legendary Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown coached the Massillon Tigers before coaching at Ohio State, every boy born in a Massillon hospital is given a football to take home.

In Artesia, a town dubbed the City of Champions because of its renowned high school football team, the boys basketball team has the Bull Pups, started by former state championship-winning coach Bubba Jennings. Jennings said he borrowed the idea from Hobbs.

“I wanted to develop interest in our young kids,” he said. “I wanted the kids to be excited about being a Bulldog and knowing how we do things.”

The program disappeared several years ago but was revived by Derek Conklin, who played high school basketball under current Bulldogs coach Michael Mondragon.

All the kids this season wore the number 25 representing the year. They stood at the bottom of the ramp and led the varsity Bulldogs onto the court to start warmups before each home game.

Each kid was in the layup line and rebounded the basketball then went to midcourt for ball handling and dribbling drills.

“I love having the future Bulldogs running us out before games,” Mondragon said. “It is fun to have our future Bulldogs work on skills and fundamentals.”

Conklin, whose son Kash is a Bull Pup, said his son loves being part of the Bull Pups and playing at halftime. At halftime, between 16 and 20 kids play basketball games at both ends of the court. There are no referees or foul calls, just kids hooping and having fun in front of family and friends at the Bulldog Pit.

The kids play until the three-minute buzzer signals the players to return and warm up for the second half.

“We want to greet the varsity boys as they come on and off the court,” Conklin said. “The plan is to keep the program going and hopefully allow others who want to be involved.”

Another victory for the City of Champions.

J.T. Keith can be reached at jtkeith@elritomedia.com.