Some evenings at the First Congregational Church in Greeley feature worship of a different kind.
A pilgrimage to pay homage to a game that once dominated parks and gyms around town.
"Greeley used to be really known as a basketball town, and I think the last five or ten years it's really gotten away from that," says Mat Roybal Jr. - a Greeley native who's working to re-connect the game he loves with the city that raised him.
“Greeley’s got some of the best basketball players [in Colorado], and they just don’t have the platform to showcase it," says Roybal Jr.
Along with his dad, Mat Roybal Sr., Mat Jr. created the Greeley Titans Basketball Club with one very special and unconventional idea to help field a team.
The Titans don't cut anybody.
"The reason for that being is when we first started this program, we had a difficult time finding kids," says Robyal Jr. "A lot of those kids were brand new to basketball, so we worked with them and were patient with them, and some of them still play with us to this day. Every person brings something to this team in one way or another. Everybody's good at different things. Everybody is of value on this team."
“Back when we started, we just had barely any people," says Ricky Roybal, Mat's younger brother and a player on the Titans. "We had to reach out and beg people to play with us. Now we have 30-plus kids that want to play with us.”
Their no-cut policy not only helps to boost their numbers but also empowers the Titans' players to learn and grow without fear of being sent away.
“We didn’t want to be just another no to these kids," says Roybal Jr. "You don’t know how many times they’ve been told no before. We wanted to be the team that took that chance on them and showed everybody else why they should’ve taken that chance on them.”
What started as taking a chance to fill their team has morphed into proving to clubs around Colorado that Greeley still remains a basketball hotbed.
“Seeing all the Puma, Adidas, Nike [sponsored] teams, and we go out and beat them," says Nate Hinchley, another Titans player. "It’s definitely a big thing where they think, 'we’re just going to smoke these kids,' and we show them what we’re about.”
Over the last three years, the Titans' program has taken off, so now it's time for them to take flight.
“These guys have been working hard, and they’ve constantly been asking me, 'Coach, when are we going to go out to Vegas?' So I said, 'You know what, you deserve it more than anyone.' We’re going to make it happen," says Roybal Jr.
They've got their eyes set on the 365 Grassroots National Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, later this summer.
“I get the chills just thinking about that," says Robal Sr., who helps his son coach the Titans. "It's a dream of theirs, and ours as well as coaches. What we do, it's 100 percent for these guys."
For a team with no sponsors, finding the money to get everybody out to Vegas is challenging.
“A lot of what we do comes out of our pockets too," says Roybal Sr. "I’m not going to stop doing what we’re doing because of lack of money.”
The Greeley community is stepping up. The Titans have already managed to raise funds for a good portion of the trip. But there's still a gap to fill to turn this dream into a reality.
“It would mean everything," says Roybal Jr. "Since we started this club, we didn't imagine it would turn into what it is now.”
“There was a point with the Titans that we were playing [outside] at Bittersweet Park," says Hinchley. "Now we’re [planning] a trip to Vegas for a tournament. That’s just a huge accomplishment for both the players and coaches.”
If you'd like to help the Titans make their trip out West, you can check out their GoFundMe page here.
And when they make it out to Sin City, they've only got one thing on their minds.
“Every time you step on the court, any tournament, any game, the goal is always to win," says Roybal Jr. "I know these guys are more than capable of doing that, so I hope we can get out to Vegas and make some noise.”
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