Youth basketball registration underway in Burke County

The Burke County Recreation Department, the Morganton Recreation Department, and the Valdese Recreation Department are currently holding signups for their winter youth basketball leagues.

Age divisions in the Burke County league are 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, and 13-15, and confirmed programs this season include Christ Classical, Drexel, East Burke, Forest Hill, George Hildebrand, Glen Alpine, Hillcrest, Morganton Day, Mountain View, Mull, New Dimensions, Oak Hill, Ray Childers, Salem, Valdese, and W.A. Young.

All children living in Burke County are eligible to participate, including those who attend charter or private schools or who are homeschooled. Call league director Wesley Hasson at 828-796-4806 with questions or for a list of contacts for each program.

Registration cost may vary by program, and more information is also available on the Burke County Parks and Recreation page on Facebook. Signup dates and times also vary by school but are expected to last until at least early November.

Practices start Nov. 16 and the regular season begins Dec. 5.

As for the Morganton league, its age divisions are as follows: 4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-10. Additionally, the cost is $30 for Morganton residents and $40 for nonresidents.

Registration will continue through Nov. 11 and can be completed online at tinyurl.com/454wvkj9. Games will be held at Collett Street Recreation Center (Tuesdays and Thursdays for ages 4 and 5-6) and Mountain View Recreation Center (Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays for ages 7-8 and 9-10) from Jan. 5 through Feb. 18.

Contact league director Jesse Bunton at 828-438-5371 or jbunton@morgantonnc.gov for more information.

Finally, although Valdese fields teams in the Burke County league for boys and girls ages 7-15, it also offers a co-ed micro basketball league for ages 4-6. The cost is $45 for Valdese residents and $54 for nonresidents, and siblings can sign up at a discounted rate.

Registration will continue through Nov. 9 and can be completed online at tinyurl.com/3mrzm35z. Anticipated program dates are Nov. 17, Nov. 19, Nov. 24, Nov. 26, Dec. 1, Dec. 3, Dec. 8, Dec. 10, Dec. 15, Dec. 17, and Dec. 22.

Contact league director Jonathan Carter at 828-874-6736 or jcarter@valdesenc.gov for more information.

Rader to join World Golf Teachers HOF

GOLF Magazine announced its 2026 class for the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame last month, and one of the four inductees is Dana Rader, a Morganton native who died at age 64 in 2022 after a battle with a rare degenerative brain disease.

A Freedom High School graduate who founded the Dana Rader Golf School in 1997 and is already a member of the North Carolina Golf Hall of Fame, Rader was named LPGA National Teacher of the Year in 1990, was previously chosen as a GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teacher, was the 2015 recipient of the Ellen Griffin Rolex Award (the LPGA’s highest teaching honor), and was the author of the book “Rock Solid Golf: A Foundation for a Lifetime.”

In addition to Rader’s posthumous induction, the following individuals will also be inducted during the 2026 GOLF Top 100 Teachers Summit Nov. 1-4 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.: Todd Anderson, Martin Hall, and Ted Sheftic.

The World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame was established in 1999 and has inducted 22 teaching greats over the years.

EB wrestling program receives grant

East Burke High School’s wrestling program recently received a $10,000 grant from the Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation, as announced in a Facebook post on Sept. 29.

An athletic organization must meet several requirements to be eligible for a grant, and the full checklist of eligibility requirements is available at sportsmatter.org under the “Get Involved” tab.

Grant opportunities are available by invitation only.

Local events postponed

A golf tournament at Silver Creek Golf Club, a monster truck show at Morganton’s HorsePower Park, and the Jimmy Littlejohn Memorial Ride in Lenoir were among the local events scheduled to take place last weekend before being postponed due to heavy rains throughout Western North Carolina.

Silver Creek’s member-member tournament is now slated for this weekend (Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18), with play starting at 10:30 a.m. both days.

The monster truck show at HorsePower Park has been rescheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24, with gates set to open at 2 p.m.

And the Littlejohn Memorial Ride will now be held on Saturday, Nov. 7, with the ride to begin at 10 a.m. at Littlejohn United Methodist Church.

Tickets for the monster truck show can be purchased online at tinyurl.com/wwx8wxe4, while $25 donations to take part in the Littlejohn Memorial Ride — for which all proceeds will go to Cole Rollins, a former dirt bike rider who has beaten cancer multiple times but still has a lot of medical expenses — can be made via PayPal (tinyurl.com/ym337vzj) or in cash the day of the event.