Katy – Granny Basketball is officially official in Katy!
Since July of 2023, Kelly Thornton had been trying to form a Granny Basketball team of her own in Katy. She struggled to find a home gym, enough players, and coaches to lead them, but that has all changed.
“I’m tenacious, I don’t give up easily, now we have our team, we are finally registered we have a home gym here at Katy First United Methodist,” Thornton beamed.
Kelly dabbled in basketball when she was younger but was never super serious about the sport. However, when she learned more about the Granny Basketball league, she wanted in.
“I did play way back in the day in the 80s, in middle school, but my connection was just my friends started playing, I was like that looks super fun,” she admitted.
According to Thornton, there are women into their 90s playing Granny Basketball across the country. The prerequisites include being at least 50 years old. There is no upper age limit and no basketball experience required.
“My favorite thing is the amazing ladies I’ve met,” Thornton said.
One of those amazing ladies is co-captain, Jacqueline Scanlin who appreciates the league’s safety-oriented rules. They aren’t your typical collegiate and NBA basketball rules. There is no running, or jumping, and you can only dribble twice before you must pass. This league pays homage to the original 6 on 6 play of basketball, but there are some additional rules for safety.
“If you fall, everybody yells GRANNY DOWN, and then that granny has to sit out a play to make sure she’s ok,” Scanlin explained.
Scanlin was initially skeptical about the traditional uniforms required by the Granny Basketball Association.
“We just got measured for our uniforms, they’re from the 1920s… back then women couldn’t show their skin, so you know we have to wear the high socks and the bloomers…it’s part of the fun,” Scanlin said.
Hunter Holcomb is one of two coaches of Katy Granny Basketball. His mom is on the team.
“The ladies love it, it gives them all a chance to get out, be active, meet people, and have fun,” Holcomb said.
One of Holcomb’s friends, Isaiah Edwards, was asked if he’d help coach and as a former collegiate football athlete, he was immediately in.
“I was like you know what, I don’t see why not. I looked at it as an opportunity to give back and to help these ladies win a championship. That team in Conroe likes to talk a lot of trash, but we are coming for a title, we have a solid team, be ready for the Katy team to come out and win this year,” Edwards warned.
Follow Katy Granny Basketball on Facebook and join the group! Contact Kelly Thorton within the group if you’d like to help sponsor them or participate in the league!