TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Inside the gym at First Trinity Lutheran Church, young basketball players are working on more than their jump shots.
Winning in Faith with Christian Athletes (WFCA) is a local program designed to teach young athletes basketball fundamentals while emphasizing structure, discipline, sportsmanship and Christian values.
For some of the players, those lessons are already sticking.
“I was taught that hard work beats talent," eighth grader Dean Roggow said.
Fellow eighth grader Brayden Keidel said he has learned "how to be a team player and how to score points."
More than 40 years in the basketball community
WFCA was founded by Sil Dan, who has spent more than four decades coaching and officiating basketball across Western New York.
Dan has coached at several local schools and spent decades as a certified high school basketball referee. After years around the game, he said he began noticing a gap in youth basketball development.
Dan believes some young athletes are spending hundreds of dollars participating in travel and AAU basketball without receiving enough instruction in basic fundamentals.
"A lot of times too, these kids are going out and playing AAU, you know, traveling all over the country, paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and some of these kids don't even get off the bench," Dan said.
Through WFCA, Dan wants players to spend more time learning skills such as V-cuts, ball fakes and other fundamentals while also developing how they conduct themselves on and off the court.
Unlike many private training programs, WFCA does not charge families a standard fee.
"If your child wants to learn and a beginner, bring them because that's where we start," Dan said. "We start here, and I let them grow here. So it's open to everybody."
A community effort
The program primarily serves boys and girls in grades four through 11, with some flexibility for older students. Dan said roughly 62 to 65 young athletes have participated over time.
The clinics are entering their fourth year, while WFCA's leagues are entering their second.
Dan has also enlisted coaches from across Western New York to volunteer and work with the athletes.
"We're one big community in the basketball community here in Western New York, and we just want to make it better," Amherst High School basketball coach Chris Kensy said. "We want to try to help create equality, opportunity for all kids to just compete and get better.”
WATCH: Winning in Faith uses basketball to teach WNY athletes lessons beyond the court
Sweet Home High School basketball coach Brandon Woods said basketball can also provide a setting for young people to experience challenges that extend beyond sports.
Woods said the program teaches players "how to win the right way, how to lose the right way, how to just come together, put aside differences, and be a part of something bigger than yourself."
Putting faith into practice
Faith is another part of WFCA's mission.
Pastor Jason Christ of First Trinity Lutheran Church said Christian teachings are incorporated into the way athletes are encouraged to compete and interact with others.
"The moral compass that comes from God's word leads us to compete differently, to treat our opponents differently, to treat refs and spectators differently,” Christ said.
For Dan, the ultimate measure of the program's success isn't found on a scoreboard.
"The best part is, when you walk out these doors, you're going to succeed in life,” Dan said. "That's the biggest thing I cherish, and it's important to me to do that and try to instill that in our program here at First Trinity."
It's a message the youngest players can put simply.
"Keep working hard,” sixth grader Cole Bova said. "If you're doing a sport, keep working hard. Don't give up."
