FORT SMITH (KFSM)- The Fort Smith Patriots home school basketball team was founded in 2001 and in just their 15-years of existence they have established a very successful program.
"It's a great feeling to see the changes that have happened," said the founder of the Patriots program Tim Hobbs. "And to see how far we have come just from starting out with a hand full of kids and no coaches and nothing really. Now we have some great volunteer coaches we have a great set of parents and families and super kids."
The Patriots and Lady Patriots have combined to win five varsity State Championships and have made National Home School Basketball Championship appearances. In addition recently both the Boys and Girls Basketball teams won their state Championships.
Currently, the National Home School Basketball national rankings for the South Central Championship has the Fort Smith Patriots listed as No. 9 in the Nation while the Lady Patriots Also made the national rankings at No. 5.
"I'm pretty sure it was the first time it happened and it was pretty exciting,"said Lady Patriots senior Chasity Soap. "Because we tried last year and we lost in overtime. It was a good feeling to win this year."
Most of the players have had the same teammates and coaches since their earlier years of basketball..which is something they attribute to the Patriots and Lady Patriots' success on the court.
"I started with these guys when they were on the ten-and-under team," said Patriots head coach Brian Green. "These guys have been together since they were on the ten and under team, so there's good chemistry with me and a good chemistry with the players ."
Junior Joseph Melton cites that the years the Patriots and Coach Green have spent together are not is why they have been able to bond into such a strong team. "Because we have all played together for years it creates kind of a chemistry that is a lot different and has been kind of a successful feature of our team," said Melton.
Thursday Feb. 25 and Friday Feb. 26 will be competing in the regional tournament in Bryant.