Wayne Boy, 8, Headed To National 'Elks Hoop Shoot' Free Throw Contest
WAYNE, NJ — A Wayne Township third-grader is headed to Chicago for a national free throw-shooting competition put on by the Elks Organization.
Dylan Bogdanski will compete against 11 other eight-year-olds for the national title in that age group on April 20, shooting 25 free throws in front of a crowd with the hope of becoming the first Elks National Hoop Shoot champion from the Garden State in more than 20 years.
Dylan, who is a student at Theunis Dey Elementary, chatted with Patch along with his father Gary before the big event.
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The Hoop Shoot is a free throw program for boys and girls ages 8-13, which has been “unleashing gritty kids” for more than 50 years. Dylan made it to the national championship after winning at the local, district, state, and regional levels.
At the New Jersey state championship, Dylan had a perfect score of 25 – but the Region 5 finals were a bit nerve-wracking, he said.
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“The New York winner and I tied after 25 shots and it took me four overtimes to win it,” Dylan explained.
He will be the only New Jersey player at the national competition this year, and is representing Elks Lodge #2237 out of Cedar Grove.
Dylan plays travel basketball with the Wayne Police Athletic League team, and is also a flag football and baseball player.
“I just love sports,” he said. “I started (basketball) in preschool, I was four years old.”
Gary said his son “is a very lucky kid” to be connected to both the Elks club in Cedar Grove, and the Wayne PAL basketball team.
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“In each round, the Elks members have been at the contests cheering him on,” Gary said.
Dylan plays basketball daily, and said he will drill in on practicing free throws about a week before he competes on April 20.
And as far as NBA stars he admires, he said, “I have three players: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Steph Curry.”
The Hoop Shoot national championship will take place at Wintrust Arena (home of the WNBA team Chicago Sky, and the DePaul University Blue Devils). The Bogdanskis will head out to Chicago a few days beforehand. Gary said the Elks organization will fly the families out, take them to a Cubs game, and even make trading cards of each finalist.
“They put on a whole special weekend for the kids,” he said. “And it’s pretty cool to see all these kids together; all the kids are fantastic at this point.”
Dylan said he can get a bit nervous competing in front of hundreds of people – but added he “tries to breathe” and block out any distractions when he steps up to the line. His dad, his mom Caroline, and his sister Juliette will be there with other family members to celebrate, no matter if he finishes 1st or 12th in the competition.
And, he has plenty of people supporting him in Wayne. Apart from his family, Dylan said his third grade teammates on the Wayne PAL travel team and their families have been his biggest supporters.
“They have been cheering me on,” he said.
“Dylan is very fortunate to be part of the Wayne PAL basketball team,” Gary said. “It is an unbelievable place to play – the facilities are amazing, their leadership is great, his teammates are all great kids, and all the kids who play at Wayne PAL have fun and get better at basketball.”
Dylan’s competition will be around 10 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday, April 20. You can watch it here.
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