Rules

• At the time of the contest, eligible participants must be students enrolled in one of these four divisions:

I—5th grade

II—6th grade

III—7th grade

IV—8th grade

• Essay length is not to exceed 300 words.

• Essay must be typed or legibly printed in ink. Also, the essay must be submitted as written (or typed) by the entrant.

• Essay must be submitted for judging to the Elks Lodge nearest to the address of the entrant.

• Participant must be identified by name, grade, school attending and sponsoring Elks Lodge on the essay.

Judging Criteria

• Originality - 40 points: Avoid the use of trite or worn out words and phrases

• Development of theme - 40 points: Stay focused on ideas and thoughts

• Mechanics and neatness - 30 points: Proper spelling, grammar & punctuation

Awards

Plaques will be awarded by Grand Lodge for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for national winning essays in Divisions I, II, III, and IV.

Monetary awards will be disbursed for each grade level for:

1st Place—$1,000

2nd Place—$500

3rd place—$250

Winners will be announced at the Grand Lodge Session

Application Packet

All applications must include the coverpage to identify the student and local Elks Lodge it is submitted to. Essays must be submitted to your local Elks Lodge by the deadline.

Click here to find your local lodge and download the application packet

The Elks Hoop Shoot is a free throw contest for kids ages 8 to 13 as of April 1, 2023 . The program is free to all contestants and provides youth an opportunity to compete, connect and succeed through hard work and healthy competition. The lessons learned at the Hoop Shoot help kids develop grit.

Grit: The power of passion and perseverance

There are 6 divisions comprised of 3 boys and 3 girls with age groups of 8 - 9, 10 - 11, and 12 - 13.

Please use this Age Group Calculator for absolute certainty of the age group your child belongs in when you complete your registration form in its entirety.

Rules

1. The 8-9 year old divisions shoot four feet in front of the regulation foul line.

2. The 12-13-year-old-boys division shoots with a 29.5” basketball. All other divisions shoot with a 28.5” basketball.

3. All contestants should be given an official opportunity to warm up. Ten minutes is recommended.

4. Each contestant should be given up to five warm-up shots, if desired, before shooting for score.

5. The contestant will shoot their first 10 shots for score, return to the end of the line, and shoot their final 15 shots without additional warm-up.

6. After a contestant is handed the ball, they have up to 10 seconds to make a free throw attempt. If a contestant takes longer than 10 seconds to shoot, a penalty occures and the shot is void.

7. A free throw begins when the ball is given to the contestant at the free throw line. It ends when the try is successful, when it is certain that the try will be unsuccessful, or when the ball becomes dead.

8. The contestant must stay behind the foul line until the ball has touched the hoop, backboard or net. If the line is touched before this happens, a penalty occurs and the shot is void.

9. Ties will be broken by taking five additional shots in the same shooting order until the winner is determined. These points do NOT count (not additional) towards the original 25 shots.

Visit elks.org/hoopshoot/compete for complete contest rules and equipment guidelines.

THE ROAD TO NATIONALS starts at your local lodge with the 1st place winners advancing to the next competition. There is five levels of competition: Local, District, State, Regional, and National. The names and photos of the six Frank Hise National Champions will be commemorated in the Elks Hoop Shoot digital display in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and on the Elks.org Champion page.

Find your local lodge

West District Competition

January 7, 2023

Vulture Peak Middle School

920 South Vulture Mine Road

Wickenburg Arizona 85390

State Competition

Regional Competition

National Finals

Why does the Elks sponsor this program?

SOCCER — The world’s favorite sport now is the United States’ fastest growing children’s participatory activity. As early as the 1980s, Lodges of the B.P.O. Elks began to recognize this phenomenon and support it with league sponsorships as well as developing different skill contests. The Grand Lodge Activities Committee discussed the sport of soccer on many occasions as two of these contests grew to prominent status. In October 1997, a Grand Lodge Youth Activities Subcommittee met in Chicago to discuss the various programs, and from that meeting the Grand Lodge Soccer Shoot Program was developed and implemented. Since 1997, the Soccer Shoot Program has continued to be reviewed and adjusted for improvements. In November 2015, the Grand Lodge Activities Committee met and agreed upon the latest revisions to the program herein. Soccer Shoot is a two-stage contest that best represents the skill levels for the five age groups. There is 10 divisions of 5 boys and 5 girls:

U8 age 4 - 7

U10 age 8-9

U12 age 10-11

U14 age 12-13

U16 age 14-15

Soccer balls will be size 4 for U8 and size 5 for remaining divisions. U8 will compete in the Five Goal Contest and the remaining divisions will compete in the Goal Grid Contest.

The “Five Goal Contest” with its succession of smaller target goals lets the youngest participants (U-8) build their confidence as they move down the line. It matches both physical and skill abilities to the challenge they present. The “Grid Goal Contest” uses the specific kick distance, based on age, to challenge the older participants (U-10, U-12, U-14 & U-16) to kick the ball from a specific mark for score, thus developing advanced skills.

The top 3 scorers from each division will receive trophies and first place winners from each division automatically qualifies to advance to the district competition. District first place winners automatically qualify to advance to the State competition. See below for District and State competition locations, dates, and times.

District Competition:

When:

2023 TBD

Where:

2023 TBD

Director contact:

TBD

TBD

State Competition:

When:

2023 TBD

Where:

2023 TBD

Director contact:

TBD

TBD

Poster Contest Rules

• This contest is open to all 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students.

• Posters should be submitted no smaller than 8.5 x 11" and no greater than 11 x 24" in size.

Judging wii be based on the closeness to the theme, neatness, originality, and correct grammatical structure.

Each entry must have the following information on the back of the poster:

• Student's first and last name

• School name, address, and grade

• The Elks lodge name

• Complete and signed Hold Harmless Agreement

Copyrighted characters are prohibited. Any entries containing copyrighted material will be disqualified.

Each lodge will select one winner using the criteria listed above and notify that winner. Winning posters will be forwarded to District Competition. District winners will be forwarded to the State Level Competition. All winning entries at any level become the sole property of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and may not be returned.

Each State Drug Awareness Chairman will choose one overall winner at the State Level Competition. The winning poster will be submitted for entry into the annual National Elks contest and for inclusion in the Elks Drug Awareness Program (DAP) coloring book. Winning Posters may also be featured on the www.elkskidzone.org website - online coloring book and/or in Elks National Foundation and Drug Awareness Program publications.

Essay Contest Rules

• This contest is open to all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students.

• Participants must write their essays themselves but they may get help from parents, teachers, friends, etc., in the form of ideas.

• The essay must be on 8.5 x 11" paper

• No longer than 250 words

• Must be legible and can be hand printed, hand written, typed, or computer generated text.

Judging wii be based on the closeness to the theme, neatness, originality, and correct grammatical structure.

Each entry must have the following information on the back of the poster:

• Student's first and last name

• School name, address, and grade

• The Elks lodge name

• Complete and signed Hold Harmless Agreement

Each lodge will select one winner using the criteria listed above and notify that winner. Winning essays will be forwarded to District Competition. District winners will be forwarded to the State Level Competition. All winning entries at any level become the sole property of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and may not be returned.

Each State Drug Awareness Chairman will choose one overall winner at the State Level Competition. The winning essay will be submitted for entry into the annual National Elks contest and may also be featured on the www.elkskidzone.org website and/or in Elks National Foundation and Drug Awareness Program publications.

Video Contest Rules

• This contest is open to two age groups:

• Pre-high school

• High school

• Participants may be an individual or group

• Video length is no less than 2 minutes and no greater than 5 minutes

• The video needs to be in a generally accepted readable format

• The video is to be submitted on, ideally, a USB flash drive or similar mobile media device.

Judging will be based on the closeness to the theme, neatness, originality, age appropriate language, positive message, and qualifty of video.

Each entry must have the following information:

• Student or Group's full name(s)

• School, school address, and grade(s)

• The Elks lodge name

• Complete and signed Hold Harmless Agreement

• If minor(s) are in the video, an additional release form is required.

Each lodge will select one winner from each group using the criteria listed above and notify those winners. Winning videos will be forwarded to District Competition. District winners will be forwarded to the State Level Competition. All winning entries at any level become the sole property of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and may not be returned.

Each State Drug Awareness Chairman will choose one overall winner of each group at the State Level Competition. The winning videos will be submitted for entry into the annual National Elks contest and may also be featured on the www.elkskidzone.org website and/or in Elks National Foundation and Drug Awareness Program publications.