First Baptist Church on the Square will hold registration for Upward basketball and cheerleading with evaluations Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.

Cheerleading evaluations for girls K5 to sixth grade will be held in the New Life Building on the corner of West Haralson Street and Church Street. Basketball evaluations will be held in the Christian Family Life Center facing Church Street. Those wanting to be evaluated for basketball can also come on either date, but due to goal sizes the Saturday evaluation will focus more on children grades three to six.

Practices will begin the week of Dec. 3 and the first game will be Jan. 12. The cost of registration is $65 prior to Saturday and $75 afterward. Some scholarships are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The deadline for registration is Nov. 24.

First Baptist Church on the Square has hosted Upward Sports Leagues for nine years. The Upward Sports program provides a sports experience stressing sportsmanship, teamwork, integrity and respect as much as winning.

The league offers competitive games by balancing the talent on each team and by utilizing a unique substitution system designed to provide every child equal playing time. Participants gain both athletic skills and values for success on and off the court. Through participation in Upward Sports, an athlete gets valuable game-time experience that improves skills and builds healthy self-confidence, church officials said.

To avoid player and parent burnout, the league limits the time commitment to one practice and one game per week. Upward Sports Leagues are 10-week programs that incorporate character-building principles into the sports experience. Although hosted by FBCOTS, Upward Sports is a community-based program and children and volunteers of any faith — or no faith — participate in Upward Sports.

“Last year, we had 287 kids from over 50 churches and some children who were not affiliated with churches participating in basketball and cheerleading,” said Gerry Lord, minister of activities at FBCOTS, “We believe in the program and its goal to make every child feel like a winner, and we are looking forward to a great season again this year.”

More information is also available on the church’s website, www.fbclagrange.org under Activities Ministries or by contacting Lord at 706-884-5570.

Upward Sports is the world’s largest Christian sports league for kids. This year, over 550,000 children in 47 U.S. states and Canada will participate in Upward Sports Leagues hosted by more than 2,400 churches.