We offer Upward Basketball with Cheerleading and Upward Flag Football with Cheerleading.

Upward Flag Football is coed, meaning girls and boys will play on the same team. Upward Basketball is not coed for 1st-8th graders; the girls and boys play on separate teams/divisions (except the kindergarten division, which is the only coed division in Upward Basketball).

No. Most divisions will consist of two grade levels. A few exceptions will have only three grade levels when low participation numbers make it necessary.

Registration for Upward Flag Football and Cheerleading starts in May. Evaluations are in August. Practices and Games start in September.

Registration for Upward Basketball and Cheerleading starts in August. Evaluations are in November.  Practices and Games start in January.

Practices can fall on Mondays, Tuesdays or Thursdays. Games are always on Saturdays.

Upward Flag Football – Practices normally begin at 5, 6 or 7pm

Upward Basketball – Practices normally begin at 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8pm

Cheer – Practices are normally at 6 with an occasional squad practicing at 6:30 or 7.

Upward Basketball and Upward Flag Football with Cheer Practices and Games are one hour each. Practices run for 10 weeks and Games run for 8 weeks.

This will depend on their grade. We typically begin with the younger teams and work our way through the day up to the oldest division. Games usually begin at about 8:30 am, sometimes finishing in the evening for basketball and finishing in the early afternoon for flag football. 

Upward Flag Football  – Practices and Games will be held at the back fields behind the parking lot at Fruit Cove Baptist Church.

Upward Basketball—Most of our 5th-8th grade athletes will practice at Freedom Crossing Academy. All Saturdays (therefore, all games) will be at the Freedom Crossing Academy Gym, including the two Saturday Practices before games begin.

Athletes from kindergarten – 4th graders will have their practices and games in the ROC Gym located on the Fruit Cove Baptist Church campus.

Your child will receive their uniform no later than the season’s first game. We do try to have them ready for the first week of practices. 

Upward Flag Football – Your registration fee includes the flags, uniform (jersey and shorts), and wristbands. You will need to provide your child with rubber cleats and a mouth guard. We recommend buying more than one mouthguard! We usually sell them for $1.

Upward Basketball – Your registration fee includes the uniform (jersey, t-shirt, and shorts) and wristbands. You will need to provide your child with non-marking athletic/basketball shoes.

Mini: Kindergarten-1st grade
Peewee: 2nd-3rd grade
Junior: 4th-5th grade
Youth: 6th-8th grade
HS Official: 9th-12th grade

Middle School Boys (Grades 5-8) – 29 1/2″
Middle School Girls (Grades 5-7) – 28 1/2″
3rd/4th Graders – 28 1/2″
1st/2nd Graders – 27 1/2″
Kindergarten – 25″

Middle School Divisions (Grades 5-8) – 10′
3rd/4th Grade – 9′
1st/2nd Grade – 8′
Kindergarten – 8′

Unfortunately, evaluations are mandatory.
The evaluation process is critical to creating competitively matched teams. It is not a perfect system, but it does help. So, if your athlete cannot make the evaluations, we will issue a refund. 

Your child has to attend only one evaluation day.

Yes, you can bring your child to any of the evaluation days that we have scheduled, but you must bring them to one.

Anywhere between 30 – 90 minutes depending on the amount of players that arrive at the same time.

You can register your child on the Upward page on the Fruit Cove Baptist Church website:  http://fruitcove.com/upward

Yes.  If you feel that your child can play in an upper division due to his or her higher skill, please register them as a higher grade level.

Please feel free to email us at SportsLife@FruitCove.com or give us a call at 904-287-0996