Your sponsoring Elks Lodge will assist you in organizing and running your school contest. The Elks will also see that your school winners are notified of their next level of competition, from the local level right up to the national finals. The Elks National Free Throw Program is open to all boys and girls, ages 8 through 13, regardless of race or creed. The program allows competition with peers, free from outside influence of parents, coaches, or teammates. It teach young people the importance of developing individual skills.
Winners receive trophies and plaques.
The names of national champions are displayed at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. School physical education personnel, often assisted by Elks volunteers, normally conduct the school's contest. For district contests and beyond, costs for materials, transportation, food, and housing are borne by the Order of Elks. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks has always considered the youth of our nation its most treasured natural resource. By affording America's children an opportunity to sharpen individual athletic talents through the largest noncommercial youth coeducational sports program in the nation, we are teaching them lessons of self-discipline, respect, dedication, loyalty and individual responsibility.