ICE League eyes big future

MUNCIE – Before the Inner City Educational basketball league started, no one was sure how a league centered around grade-point averages rather than scoring averages would work. Commissioner Tom Lyon wasn't afraid to admit that: "I don't think any of us understood what we were getting ourselves into."

Looking back on the first year of the Muncie-based league Monday night at the showing of "ICE League: The First Season" – a documentary produced by Ball State SportsLink – all involved were in agreement: the league was a success, and bigger things could be on the horizon.

Those who went through this grand experiment, like seventh-grader Onnie Adams, think the ICE League is here to stay. How does he know? He's heard the chatter of his classmates, and he's seen the results.

"I did see a lot of kids grow, especially in the classroom. They're more focused," Adams said. "They're thinking like, 'Man, I want to play. I better keep my grades up.' I see more kids like that, just doing good in class and getting better every day."

One reason the league was so successful, Dylan Stafford said, was because it shifted the priorities of the participants.

"Three kids on my team brought their grades up from a 2.0 to a 3.2," said Stafford, who was the seventh-grade league's MVP. "It's helping kids out for getting into college, getting a job and just having a good life."

A standing-room-only crowd of about 200 people, including Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler, packed room LB 125 in the Letterman Building to see what project supervisor Chris Taylor, executive producer Andy Wright and the rest of SportsLink would show after filming the six-week league that featured four eighth-grade boys teams and four seventh-grade boys teams.

The idea was first commissioned by Jud Fisher of the Ball Brothers Foundation.

"I thought this was going to work," Fisher said, "because at the least, it's going to get more people talking about a system of bringing kids up right and giving them opportunities and then communicating these opportunities to them."

Students needed a 2.0 GPA to participate, and playing time increased as the GPA did. Parents saw the effect of that at home.

"Students wanted to come home and do their homework," said Aaron Phillips, whose son Nick was one of five students to earn a scholarship at the end of the season. "Nick has always worked well as a student, but he really took it to the next level for this. And he ended up getting a scholarship out of it."

Added Aaron's wife, Leslie, a teacher at East Washington Academy: "(Nick) was always on his iPad checking his grades. I always am too, so that was nice to see."

Moving forward, there could be a girls' basketball league and there could be other academic teams under the ICE umbrella. Lyon said he will work with Boys & Girls Club, Buley Community Center, Ross Community Center and The YMCA to see where the league can expand.

But as for the first season, Lyon is proud with what it turned into.

"It was everything we hoped for," Lyon said, "and 1,000 percent more."

Contact sports features writer Ryan O'Gara at (765) 213-5829. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGaraTSP.